How to Remove Solder that Won't Melt? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: superscott319
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 03:20:40 am
content: Even as a beginner, this is pretty bad.So I'm working on my first real electronics project which involves desoldering a number of components from a PCB and soldering on new ones. I've since realized what some of my mistakes were such as using cheap solder which was also too thick. I'm not sure what went wrong with the desoldering process but getting the solder to become molten so my solder sucker and wick could remove it was very difficult. Eventually I was able to remove all the old solder but not without making a mess of the board. Adding more solder only made it worse.Right now I'm trying to clean the existing solder off the board but can't get it to melt even when setting my iron to a high temperature. Applying solder wick doesn't absorb it. Maybe all the flux burned off and that's causing it not to melt? What would be the best way to clean up a PCB that's been badly soldered like this?Thanks for any advice.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 03:40:35 am
content: Jesus tap-dancing Christ, that poor, poor PCB!My suspicions: 1) "High temperature" ain't as high as you think. 2) Corroded tip - not making good contact with the solder to transfer heat. 3) Lead-free solder was brought to this world by Satan himself. Try cleaning the tip with a gentle brass brush or a wet sponge and lots of flux and fresh solder, then clean the board with isopropyl alcohol, then flood the board and the solder wick with liquid flux. Try again.Looks like you may have ripped up a couple pads. If so, sand/scrape away the solder mask around them to expose the copper, then repair with wire.If your soldering iron is a $10 RadioShack special, then my diagnosis is "fucked".

author: superscott319
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 04:08:12 am
content: Quote from: c4757p on August 17, 2013, 03:40:35 amI'm using a decent quality soldering station (X-Tronic 4010) that cost about $80 and even when raising the temperature to it's max setting, 480c, the blobbed solder shown in the picture still won't melt. There is what appears to be some corrosion on my tips so that could be the cause. As for the solder, I'm using some cheap unnamed stuff that came along with a PC repair kit so it could possibly be lead-free.I will try your suggestion of cleaning the tip and board although I'll need to order those items. What kind of flux would you recommend for cleaning a soldering tip and the board? Would flux pen or the brush on kind work better?Thanks once again for the help.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 04:19:40 am
content: OK, 480C should be plenty. Though, a warning - not all soldering stations that can be set to 480C can actually maintain that temperature when applied to a large thermal mass.I have had cheapo soldering tips that disintegrated in lead-free, you might want to try something different. (That ugly blob looks exactly like my first foray into the sadistic hell that is lead-free solder, so I think that's what you've got. Either way, the stuff already on the board is definitely lead free.) I useKester 44 (eutectic)- don't gasp too much at the price, remember, that's a full pound of it. It's a bit thicker than what Dave and company recommend, but I like it.Either type of flux will work, and I find both equally convenient, so just get whatever you think you'll prefer. I think you'll find that a lot of things magically start working better with a liberal application of flux

author: Sigmoid
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 05:01:39 am
content: Quote from: superscott319 on August 17, 2013, 04:08:12 amI'm quite certain that the heat isn't getting from the tip to the solder.My little experience with corroded lead-free is that adding a generous amount of solder to the tip, so you have a gob hanging off, and applied to the problematic joint will eventually get the heat conductance in order and the joint melted.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 05:11:41 am
content: Kester 44 is excellent solder, I've used it for many many years. There are several things that can be wrong but start with the solder (and I don't mean the solder on the pcb). Can you melt solder you have on hand with your iron? Does the solder smoke? Is the tip silver with solder and is the solder clinging to the surface of the iron? If the solder does not smoke it's not flux cored, if the soldering iron tip is not holding solder and a nice silver colour it's dirty.Use your solder as a tool, apply a fresh bit to an already soldered joint to get the melting action started. Be quick no "flux smoke" means that you need to speed up. Adding extra flux is good but most professionals I know just use solder unless working on surface mount stuff and then they tend to use other tools (like hot air) to get the job done.Get in the habit clean tip, fresh solder on tip, if the soldering iron ends up back in its stand then clean tip and retin the tip.

author: andyturk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 05:12:34 am
content: Quote from: c4757p on August 17, 2013, 03:40:35 am

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 09:20:16 am
content: I think that the black around the solder gives it away (looks like soot), your iron is too hot and you are applying heat to the area for far too long. This usually comes down to not enough or no flux, placing the iron to one side in order to see the solder ( a mistake made by many beginners) you should place the tip firmly on top of the joint and not keeping the soldering iron tip clean and not cleaning the joint before hand (there could easily be a coating put over the board after soldering in the factory). Also check that your solder is flux cored I have seen people try to solder with plumbers solder that does not contain flux cores.

author: sub
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 10:12:39 am
content: Quote from: Sigmoid on August 17, 2013, 05:01:39 amDo this. And not just for lead-free, but any time where you want to get heat from one place to another in short order. Still add some fresh solder so that the joint gets flux, but a blob of solder will touch the joint with far greater surface area than any tip will.

author: tld
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 12:22:45 pm
content: Quote from: sub on August 17, 2013, 10:12:39 amDo this, he's right. Also, there's a difference between adding more of the crappy possibly lead-free solder, and adding something like kester 44. Even if you got burned (pardon the pun) adding crappy solder, I'd still add more when you have some decent leaded, first for thermal-transfer from iron to the stuff you want to remove - don't worry abou getting everything in one go - and then for mixing with the old stuff, to get all of it off.Oh, and leadfree solder isn't the work of the devil. You need a political comitee to come up with something that bad. ;ptld

author: bookaboo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 01:06:21 pm
content: Practice practice practice is what you need, I'm willing to bet everyone in the forum hacked something as badly as that when they started off.Grab some boards that are total scrap, watch a bunch of relevant youtube vids then remove and replace components until you are competent.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 01:29:56 pm
content: Is it just me that has no problems whatsoever using lead free solder?

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 01:38:50 pm
content: Yes.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 02:22:30 pm
content: Nobody spotted that this looks like a computer motherboard with multilayer thick copper ? And he's trying to replace the capacitors ? You can see what looks like the staggered pins of a pci connector top right of the picture.So, This board is probably 2 ounce copper ground and power planes... So you will need a soldering iron with a high wattage to be able to heat the damn thing to melting point ! Cranking up temperature is not the correct way ! The poor soldering iron simply doesnt have the -oopf- to get that 'heatsink' up to temperature

author: ablacon64
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 02:24:37 pm
content: Quote from: c4757p on August 17, 2013, 01:38:50 pm+1! Lead free sucks....On topic, it's easier to remove solder by adding new solder to the joints. For large, heat dissipating areas, use low melt desolder wire.

author: PA4TIM
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 02:44:46 pm
content: About desoldering. This is one from a series.And I think you realy need to look at this series about soldering and repair. Also from Pace and made in the 80's but it tells you all the things you need to know and you will see it handles all the mistakes you now made.Most important are a good soldering station at the right temp, with the right tip, that also can hold this temp on boards like yours. .Good solder and sometimes flux.The right technique,Knowing and recognising the board and construction.I think your board is dead. All solderpads are missing and probably the vias too. So the innerlayers will now be floating

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2013, 03:53:47 pm
content: Lets start a new standard!

author: eKretz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2013, 05:26:59 am
content: By the description given, it sounds to me like the guy's iron tip is oxidized all to hell and gone. This is blocking the heat transfer from tip to solder and is why the solder won't melt. He needs to scrape/clean the oxidation off the tip and re-tin the tip.

author: Corporate666
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 18, 2013, 06:52:28 am
content: Oh my god!Not to sound like a jerk, but you really butchered that board. It's probably trash. Or at least it's going to be a bitch to repair, and without kicking you while you are down, if your skills and equipment are such that this is your result, I don't think you are going to be able to repair it.Solder is not magic stuff - nor does it require flux to melt. It does require flux to flow and stick nicely, but it will melt without it. If it is not melting, the joint is not coming up to temperature. Turning up the heat on your iron isn't the solution. Fixing the heat *transfer* issue is the solution. I am guessing-Your iron is not capable of maintaining temperature well. I know you said it's an $80 iron, but an iron of that price is made for about $8 in parts and sold to a reseller for $25, so it's not likely to really be that high quality.-Most likely, I bet you are using the wrong tip. I looked up your iron online. Look at this picturehttp://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/710JxEv7QeL._SX466_.jpgYou need to be using the middle tip - a relatively blunt chisel. That board has lots of copper pours which will suck the heat away quickly and prevent the solder from reaching melting temp. You are going nuts with a red hot iron and all that does is locally burn the shit out of the soldermark and traces - and the result is the pic you posted.To make this work1) Use the right tip2) Have your iron set to the right temp3) Apply liberal amounts of flux so when it does melt, it flows4) Use an iron that can maintain temp and deliver the heat into the joint5) Make sure your tip is in good shape6) PRE HEAT the board!!!! Use a cheap skillet from Walmart to raise the board to 150-200 degrees (F) over ambient, and voila, you just unloaded 150-200 degrees of heating work from your ironAnd to put the dickhead hat on again in closing, seriously, if things start to go to shit, next time STOP and figure out what's wrong and fix it, or you'll end up with that mess again!

author: true
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2013, 07:36:00 am
content: Quote from: eKretz on August 18, 2013, 05:26:59 amNah, sounds to me like a cheap crap iron that isn't getting up to temperature, and doesn't have the heat recovery / wattage to deal with the copper heatsinking on the board. And looking at the board where he did remove parts, his too high of a temperature (when it worked) wreaked havoc.superscott319, get a better iron. preheat the board if it has large copper fills. use the proper tip if you aren't already. don't use such high of temperature, it isn't helping you.

author: eKretz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2013, 08:28:35 pm
content: Quote from: true on August 18, 2013, 07:36:00 amObviously that was the initial problem, and for certain the board has been severely damaged by his approach. I was responding to what seemed like the only question I saw: why won't the solder melt now? And again, if it melted well enough when he originally commenced work to use a solder sucker or braid, it was obviously melting solder fine when he started, and now it won't. So what changed? My guess by that description is a severely oxidized tip. To the O.P.: Is your iron's tip black?

author: superscott319
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2013, 03:30:07 am
content: Quote from: c4757p on August 17, 2013, 04:19:40 amBeing how difficult it was to melt the solder already on the board for desoldering, you're probably right that it's lead-free. I watched a number of how-to videos on how to desolder PBCs and it seemed pretty easy but maybe they were working with lead solder on those joints. The only other two possibilities would be heat from my iron not making contact with the joint or my cheap desoldering pump. Also I'll try that Kester 44 solder out, thanks for the tip.Quote from: pickle9000 on August 17, 2013, 05:11:41 amIf I apply fresh solder to most of my tips, it will melt and smoke. The ones that show signs of being oxidized have trouble melting fresh solder and none will stick to it. I'll try your advice on adding more solder to a joint to melt it. Would there be any issues with mixing lead solder with lead-free simply for the purpose of trying to get the join molten for desoldering? Also from what I'm reading here buying some supplemental flux to have on hand for such situations will be very useful. I see there's many different types of fluxes available. Which would you recommend for a decent all purpose flux?Quote from: G7PSK on August 17, 2013, 09:20:16 amI was placing my iron on the side of these joints for that very purpose, so I'll be sure to correct that. How can I place the iron firmly on top of joints with tall leads though? Also my solder does have a flux core but I'll be upgrading to some better stuff soon.Quote from: bookaboo on August 17, 2013, 01:06:21 pmIndeed, this board I'm working on came from a broken amplifier that I was trying to repair, and I have a few old PCI cards that I'm practicing on. Oddly enough, desoldering some of these old PCI cards worked out really well for me while this amplifier was much harder. Perhaps they used lead solder on them.Quote from: free_electron on August 17, 2013, 02:22:30 pmThe board I'm working on in the photos actually came from a broken mini amplifier and components I removed so far are two LEDs and a dual gang volume potentiomoter.Quote from: PA4TIM on August 17, 2013, 02:44:46 pmThanks, I'll take a look at those soldering training videos. As for the board, I figured it's probably dead but it was broken to begin with so that's not a problem.Quote from: Corporate666 on August 18, 2013, 06:52:28 amThis is just one of several old and broken boards I had lying around so I'm using these to practice on. I'll keep all that in mind though. If it's true that this iron isn't capable of maintaining temperature well, would you recommend upgrading to one that can or will proper tip maintenance and technique suffice for now?Quote from: c4757p on August 17, 2013, 04:19:40 amBeing how difficult it was to melt the solder already on the board for desoldering, you're probably right that it's lead-free. I watched a number of how-to videos on how to desolder PBCs and it seemed pretty easy but maybe they were working with lead solder on those joints. The only other two possibilities would be heat from my iron not making contact with the joint or my cheap desoldering pump. Also I'll try that Kester 44 solder out, thanks for the tip.Quote from: pickle9000 on August 17, 2013, 05:11:41 amIf I apply fresh solder to most of my tips, it will melt and smoke. The ones that show signs of being oxidized have trouble melting fresh solder and none will stick to it. I'll try your advice on adding more solder to a joint to melt it. Would there be any issues with mixing lead solder with lead-free simply for the purpose of trying to get the join molten for desoldering? Also from what I'm reading here buying some supplemental flux to have on hand for such situations will be very useful. I see there's many different types of fluxes available. Which would you recommend for a decent all purpose flux?Quote from: G7PSK on August 17, 2013, 09:20:16 amI was placing my iron on the side of these joints for that very purpose, so I'll be sure to correct that. How can I place the iron firmly on top of joints with tall leads though? Also my solder does have a flux core but I'll be upgrading to some better stuff soon.Quote from: bookaboo on August 17, 2013, 01:06:21 pmIndeed, this board I'm working on came from a broken amplifier that I was trying to repair, and I have a few old PCI cards that I'm practicing on. Oddly enough, desoldering some of these old PCI cards worked out really well for me while this amplifier was much harder. Perhaps they used lead solder on them.Quote from: free_electron on August 17, 2013, 02:22:30 pmThe board I'm working on in the photos actually came from a broken mini amplifier and components I removed so far are two LEDs and a dual gang volume potentiomoter.

author: superscott319
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2013, 03:30:30 am
content: Quote from: PA4TIM on August 17, 2013, 02:44:46 pmThanks, I'll take a look at those soldering training videos. As for the board, I figured it's probably dead but it was broken to begin with so that's not a problem.Quote from: Corporate666 on August 18, 2013, 06:52:28 amThis is just one of several old and broken boards I had lying around so I'm using these to practice on. I'll keep all that in mind though. If it's true that this iron isn't capable of maintaining temperature well, would you recommend upgrading to one that can or will proper tip maintenance and technique suffice for now?Also from where I work, using a skillet to heat up my boards isn't practical. Would warming it up with a heat gun have the same effect?Quote from: true on August 18, 2013, 07:36:00 amThe brand of iron I bought seemed relatively unknown but it had decent reviews on Amazon. I took the chance and ordered it over more well known brands such as Weller and Halko because it came with a bunch of tips and other useful accessories.Trying to learn soldering with a cheap iron may not be the best choice so what would you guys recommend if I were to get a second soldering station?Quote from: eKretz on August 18, 2013, 08:28:35 pmMy iron's tip isn't black but it's no longer shiny and solder will no longer stick to it.Thanks for all the helpful advice everyone, I really appreciate it.

author: robrenz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2013, 03:46:59 am
content: I am going to get crucified for this but It has worked for me for 40 years. Get yourself some Nokorode paste flux (Zinc Chloride) at the local hardware store.You don't use it to flux your electronic joints!Just dip your iron tip into it until the solder will wet onto the tip. Wipe the tip on your wet sponge and then solder with good rosin based flux and solder. whenever the tip starts to not wet well give it a dip in the Nokorode again.

author: Corporate666
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 19, 2013, 04:10:38 am
content: Quote from: superscott319 on August 19, 2013, 03:30:07 amI have no experience with that particular iron, so I can't say if it can maintain the heat to your board, but if you look on eBay, you can pick up a Pace (Heatwise or ST series are good) for under $100. I have those at the shop as well as Metcals (the Metal cost something like $1,200) and I much prefer the Pace to the Metcal - it heats up faster, can deliver more heat, cheaper tips, tips last forever, etc, etc.Lots of folks like the Hakko units as well, but I'd say Pace is a pretty big step up from a Hakko, IMO.

author: true
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2013, 05:32:05 am
content: Hell, I use an Atten rebadge on my bench and it works fine to a point. But I also have a thermometer and have verified temperature, and I know that it can't do motherboards or PCI cards with large ground fills well, so I have a better iron for that. Yeah, it's all $$$...

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2013, 07:03:02 am
content: Quote from: robrenz on August 19, 2013, 03:46:59 amMost likely it will be in the plumbing section. Like he said, this is not for electronics soldering (it's designed for plumbing) and acid flux can eat away at the metal if not cleaned properly.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2013, 07:36:56 am
content: It is not the cost of the iron or the solder that makes a good joint it is the person who is doing the soldering, it does not mater how good or bad the equipment is if the operator has not yet got the skills he/she will never get a good solder joint.A good operator will be able to make sound joint with a six inch nail a piece of lead and some tallow. All good equipment will do is make the task easier.Before attempting to solder boards it is a good idea to practice soldering pieces of wire together and then move onto laying down solder onto a piece of plain copper clad board write your name with solder. You can feel when the solder is melting and flowing correctly and with practice you should just about be able to solder blindfold.When placing the tip of your iron on the joint try to get as near as possible right over the joint, if the wire is poking through the board get the tip right up to one side of the wire and as much onto the joint as possible, as they say cleanliness is next to godliness and this applies to soldering especially, clean the iron tip (get one of those brass mop thingies) as well as a sponge, flux the joint even if all you are doing is desoldering as most oxides are refractory in nature and will withstand temperatures far in excess of what the soldering iron can achieve (some oxides will withstand the heat of an arc as all welders can attest)When I first started to solder all I had was an copper bit on the end of handle and a paraffin blowlamp to heat it I was taught by an old man who knew all the tricks and within half an hour was able to make perfectly good joints on wire and I used it to build my first radio, electronic controlled irons are very nice and make life easy but are by no way essential.Keep practicing and you will get there without the need to rush out and spend mega bucks on solder and equipment, in fact if you master what you have you will find that when you get a better iron you will that much better and wiser.

author: Sigmoid
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2013, 01:38:36 pm
content: Quote from: superscott319 on August 19, 2013, 03:30:30 amWell, since you spent $80, you could have gotten this:http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU/I grew up on these things, they (rather, their older counterparts) were the de facto standard soldering iron at all the school activities I attended.It's far from being the BEST soldering iron you can get, but it's a very decent one.

author: Randall W. Lott
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 12:53:24 am
content: It looks like you tried to dig the pads out! Solder wick should suck it up without an issue. You're doing something very wrong or your tip is horrendous.

author: Corporate666
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 01:51:29 am
content: Quote from: G7PSK on August 19, 2013, 07:36:56 amHave to disagree there... if I put a pencil tip in my Metal and try to solder a row of 0.100 screw down terminals on a board with a 2oz copper pour on each of the pads, it's never going to work - the board has a higher ability to suck heat from the joint than the tip->board interface can deliver.Same joint with a fat chisel tip and nice iron would be no problem.In this case, I see lots of copper pours on that board... so if he doesn't have the right tip, it's not going to work no matter what technique he uses.

author: 0utsider89
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 22, 2013, 06:38:04 pm
content: This looks like the job for aWeller Soldering Gun.

author: eKretz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2013, 10:44:33 pm
content: Ahhh!! Kill it with fire!!LOL

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 23, 2013, 03:14:01 pm
content: Quote from: Corporate666 on August 21, 2013, 01:51:29 amI mostly use a 60 watt electronically controlled iron for every thing but just today I acme across a job that the expensive iron would not touch simply due to the fact that in order to get rapid heat up and close temperature control the tip has to be light in weight (whatever the tip shape) To do the job I got out my old 25 watt Antex that cost about a tenth of the other iron as it is not electronically controlled the tip is a largish chunk of copper which stores a lot of heat and will unload that heat in a hurry when required. So it is not the cost of the iron that is important in many cases its the tip weight but it is also the operator that is important if he/she has not the skill to recognise what is going on it is most unlikely that a good joint will be formed and in many ways a simple iron is a lot easier to learn with, no need to worry if the control is set to the right temperature etc and I expect that most people on this forum drive their iron by feel not by this or that temp.setting you only get this feel by practice, you don't learn to ride a bike by learning which gear to use you learn to ride the bike first then you learn to use the gears (quite likely your first bike wont have gear changes) And yes by the fact of what you say you have the soldering skill to recognise that you need to change the tip. But these skills have to be learnt, it is no good spending mega bucks on equipment and material and expecting to make a perfect solder joint but some with the right skills can take the crappiest of irons and the mankiest of solders and flux and still get a passable joint.

author: envisionelec
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2013, 06:57:09 pm
content: Quote from: superscott319 on August 17, 2013, 03:20:40 amAs a former car audio repair person, I see stuff like this ALL the time. It is fixable but it won't be pretty. You need to clean your tip using a Sal Ammoniac block. That will remove the corrosion and other junk. Next, get a quality leaded solder and flux and blob it on to the existing lead-free solder. Be generous. Then using more flux and braided desoldering wick, remove it.Clean the board up using isopropyl alcohol (even the cheap drugstore stuff works...) or lacquer thinner (preferred!). Install your new parts and scrape away the solder mask from where the pins were connected. Anywhere "upstream" is fine. Using 26 or finer solid, insulated wire, solder the wires to the component and the PCB. This is a simple two layer board and it looks like most of your functional traces are right on the bottom!Verify that the whole mess works then...Get out the two-part epoxy and go to town securing the leads in their holes. Don't let epoxy get into the pot(!). Another option is to place shipping tape on the top of the board, dam the epoxy in the holes and wait for the epoxy to cure. Redrill the holes and replace the pads with a kit (very expensive) or copper tape. I've done all of these successfully, depending on what cosmetics are required.And don't do that again.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2013, 10:38:22 pm
content: If you want to desolder something, first, decide if you need the component afterwards, or not. If not, than cut the component on the top side, if possible and desolder them one by one. If you need it, than you dont want to remove the solder on the bottom side. In fact, you want to solder the three terminals together. After that, all terminals are molten, you can apply some force on the other side of the component an pull it out. Dont force it out with the iron, it will break you tip.You were using your tip with too much temperature. Anything above 350 degrees could burn your board. First, as envisionelec wrote, you need to clean it. Use tip activator, wet sponge made for this or brass solder tip cleaner. And for god sake, buy leaded solder. Lead free is completely useless.Also, if the solder doesnt melt, be patient, and dont increase the temperature. If you have a second iron somewhere, take it, ask someone to help.

author: PedroDaGr8
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2013, 06:24:43 am
content: Quote from: NANDBlog on August 27, 2013, 10:38:22 pmAll excellent advice. A clean tip AND TINNED tip is hugely important. The tip should be bright and shiny with fresh solder on it. Otherwise it doesn't transfer heat as well. I'm sligtly farther along in learning how to solder and recently encountered this as well, possibly. I didn't read this whole thread but I have seen with some lead free solder it forms an oxide coating on the surface which won't melt. A healthy dose of rosin solder and it cleans right up and melts quickly and easily. Using this method and a solder extracter I was successfully able to depopulate an entire old power supply. I got to the point I could desolder most pins in under 1 sec. Heatsink pins took the longest because they often used SO much solder.

author: open loop
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2013, 08:23:32 am
content: Looks you are starting out on soldering and like myself when I started things where not pretty, you just need to practice with the iron you have. BTW the iron you have is way better than the one I had back in 1982 you DO NOT need a new or better ironjust practice and practice some more. I am still practicing even after 30 yearsI think that you had the iron at too high a temp and it as already been said that temp is down to feel ( Except on really expensive SMT rework systems). When the temp is too high and you leave the iron switched on the tip oxidises and then in some cases would need a thorough clean and re-tin. When the tip gets really old it is unable to take solder and is pitted and corroded. I have even seen 1mm holes in tips before now.What I use to re-tin my tip is a little 1/2oz pot of TTC1 but this seems similarhttp://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/4910-28G/473-1099-ND/1278246The problem may be that the iron tip is too small and when you apply it to larger area it losses temperature. Also as has been correctly said that the heat is not getting from the tip to joint and if you are using lead free solder then this will make matters worse, try with a rosin cored leaded solder.If you want to really spend money say 80 dollars then get some IPA ( isopropyl alcohol) and use this to clean you board/s. Some tip cleaner and attach this to your rework station using double sided sticky tape-now it will never get lost. Cut up some 2" cotton squares from an old cotton shirt - you can also buy lint free pads from digikey or similar.Some thin rosin cored leaded solder is probably on your shopping list.I would also look at chip quick as this is very useful stuff and it is not just for chips. I have used it where I wanted to recycle some connector off a board. I have removed 20 way connectors with before now and this would have bee perfect to remove a two gang pot from the amplifier board you were working on. Dave has done a video check out eppisode #437.Want another iron? I would recommend a heavier duty cheaper iron as this would be usefull in some cases where you are working on heat sinks etc. something like.http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/WP35/WP35-ND/251718I have two irons one for SMT and he other is for "heavier" work. The key thing with soldering it is a skill and needs practice, more practice and some more. Been soldering since the 80s and all of my friends think I am amazing at soldering but when I am at work and seen on he shop floor by my colleague Sarah who does soldering every day all day she just shakes her head and says "give that to me and I will do it properly". Trust me there are different levels of good when it comes to soldering.

author: dfmischler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2013, 04:28:18 pm
content: Quote from: open loop on August 29, 2013, 08:23:32 amI worked (as a bare metal programmer) at a place where most of the technicians had ratings toNASA-STD-8739.3 or the previous standard. I told them I had been soldering since I was 8 years old. They laughed and said my soldering still looked like I was 8 years old. Actually, I learned a lot from those techs and one said I should go ahead and test for my rating, but I never did. At this point I don't get enough practice to maintain that level of proficiency.

author: jamesb
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 02:04:56 pm
content: FWIW, I too have had good success with desoldering very crappy quality solder by forming a sort of alloy with my leaded solder and then wicking the resulting blob away.