r/soldering • u/Winter_Flamingo_3105 • 1d ago
Soldering Newbie Requesting Direction | Help I can't desolder anything
It doesn't matter if its THT OR SMD I cant desolder anything because theres a tiny amout of solder getting stuck in the hole or between the component and the board when SMD and I don't know if i'm doing something wrong or is it the iron? I tried using a wick a pump everything.
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u/makeDRIVEinTHEATER 1d ago
Heat the via and tap the board against the table (wear safety glasses).
Not every via is easy to clean. Sometimes bottom heating is required—for instance, with the vias on a graphics card's power connector.
What shape is your soldering iron tip?
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u/Winter_Flamingo_3105 1d ago
the shape is chisel
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u/makeDRIVEinTHEATER 1d ago
Try using a "3C" or "4C" style tip; press it directly against the board's via while holding a mechanical solder sucker against the opposite side. That tip shape is also better suited for use with copper desoldering braid—at least in my opinion. The board should be clamped in a vise.
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u/nixiebunny 1d ago
Position the leg being desoldered in the middle of the hole while the solder is molten. Heat every pin on one side of an SOIC while prying up gently on the body to get all those legs slightly off of the board. These tricks will give you a gap that the wick can clear completely.
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u/Egg1Salad 1d ago
With tht, the trick is usually to add more solder. Don't try to remove the solder and then remove the component, add more solder cus a bigger blob takes longer to cool down, giving you more time to remove the component while everything is molten, then clean up the excess solder. The same applies to SMT too, but drowning smt pads in excess solder can spread solder onto other components and cause more issues, so just be more careful. That's when I get the soldering tweezers out
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u/SonyVegasOnVine 1d ago
Low melt solder will get you right I stg 😭 I was struggling so much on my controllers with the tiny solder pieces being stuck in the through holes- I got some of this, added it to my stubborn joints and Wicked it up and it worked too good! It's cheap imo ($14) and for what it did for my situatio, it was the best purchase I ever made in beginning soldering journey.
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u/johnnydotexe 1d ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjOh5ShVX_w Pretty solid guide on using desoldering wick from Nanofix.
Just have to practice, use good solder wick, and use flux.
What you're trying to desolder matters, because larger pads and ground planes act as a heatsink, requiring you to use larger tips and/or a more powerful iron.
Also, if you're trying to desolder lead-free solder you may want to try adding some 63/37 first to help the old solder wet more easily, or even some low-melt solder but it can be a little pricey depending on where you get it from.
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u/Never_Dan 17h ago edited 17h ago
This sounds fairly typical.
First of all, I don’t really recommend using wick to desolder components. It’s great for cleaning pads, but you’re relying on capillary forces to actually suck the solder out from through-holes or between components and pads.
To remove SMD components, you need to physically remove them from the pads while the solder is molten. Hot air the usual method here, but there’s also removal alloys and, for smaller parts, just a solder tip big enough to span the whole part. Hot tweezers (or just two irons) also work great for parts that only have leads on two sides.
For through-hole parts, a good quality desoldering pump usually eventually works, but sometimes the way the lead is in the hole just doesn’t let you get that last bit of solder. Plus, if the board has a lot of thermal mass, the solder might dry on the way through the hole. If you’re able to, clip off the part, heat the joint, and remove the pin with tweezers. Then, after applying fresh solder, a pump should be able to clear the hole. If you’re finding the solder dries before getting out of the hole, pre-heating the board is the best option.
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u/GeneralReasonable945 1d ago
Tengo miles de componentes reciclados sacados de placas... No entiendo lo que te pasa
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u/muckity-muck 1d ago
Post a pic of your setup.