Solder removal

Any tip for getting solder out of the holes after removing components or wires?
I have a pump and some braid but I’m getting into some serious trouble with this.
I’ve ended up loosing my temper and throwing a Rat into the bin cos I heated it up so many times the trace came off.
I had two attempts at a bluesbreaker because solder flowed into an adjacent hole and I ended up scrapping the first board, then last week a wire broke on my delay pedal and I couldn’t clean the hole out so I tried drilling it??? Not a good idea, ended up tracing it back to the next component and just about got away with it.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Stax

Try melting a bit of fresh solder onto your braid and then apply it to the hole using a fairly hot temp setting on your iron.....helps the wicking process get started easier and you can get off the trace faster.

The "Soldapult" is the best device I've ever used for de-soldering. We call 'em "solder suckers" and they work great!

http://www.stanleysupplyservices.com/product-detail.aspx?pn=114-202

"The "Soldapult" is the best device I've ever used for de-soldering. We call 'em "solder suckers" and they work great!"

+100

Solder suckers are the best. I never really got the hang of the braid, it always seems too crowded to use and requires too much heat. The only tip for the solder sucker is to make sure you are up close when you press the button or else you can get some slatter.

Solder suckers are great when there's a decent air seal with the solder joint (or at least a very small gap). You may have to add some more solder to provide a big enough blob to make the air seal. The Soldapullt is indeed the best one, but the little blue metal one from Radio Shack is okay as well.

The braid's great too, but it needs flux to get the solder flowing. The braid is impregnated with flux, but once you heat it, the flux burns off. The flux is the rosin in the core of the solder and it's what the smoke comes from when you're soldering. If you're using the braid and can't get the solder to flow, try putting a drop of flux on the solder. I got a little bottle of flux to reflow the solder on old joints and to help out the braid.

Try to keep the dwell time at temperature to a minimum. You want to be able to transfer sufficient heat quickly and get off. A solder sucker works well and is fast.

Wick is slower to heat up, requires tip pressure and is more likely to lift a pad.

Good Luck

Another voter for the almighty solder sucker. In my experience with soldering 97.5% of the work is preparation. Get everything set up and ready to go with all you tools at hand. Clamp the board you are working on in a solder vice, bundle other wires out of the way and get the heat of the iron in and out quick like. Do it as one movement heat then suck.

yes, get a solder sucker....

+1 Solder sucker

OR

If you take the lead from a mechanical pencil and place it in the hole (standard lead fit exactly in the PCB holes when I tried this) then heat up the solder very quickly while pressing gently with the lead (so as not to break it) it'll pop the solder right out. It doesn't stick to the pencil lead so you can pull the lead out of the hole and go to the next.
This is a tedious method but it works wonders if you drop your solder sucker under your work bench and it vanishes into another realm... :grin:

I prefer wick, but to each their own.

A good trick with wick is to first fill the hole with solder, ann then use a little on the wick as you apply it. Helps to jump start it.

Like everything, wicking solder takes a little practice. However, if you are trying to remove solder from a ground plane, then a hotter iron might be necessary, and lots of care and caution should be used.

As always: wear safety glasses, keep the fumes away from you, and wash your hands after you are done.

Yea sorry, when I said I have a pump I was referring to a de-soldering pump.
The idea of putting more solder on top of the hole and then de-soldering seems a good idea because at the moment I seen to remove all the solder apart from the tiny bit in the hole and that’s when the probs start.
Also like the pencil lead trick, might give that a go.
Thanks all.

Another vote for the solder sucker. I still use the old red bulb. The braid's not bad but you really need to lightly flux it first before using it to get quick and satisfactory results.
Adding a little flux or new solder to an old joint will get it flowing much quicker for removal.