Has Any One Used An Solder Rework Station with an Internal Vacum Pump

sam_sam_sam

Here is the Link To the one that·I bought

Any and all feed Back are·welcome

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=17204+TL

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··Thanks for any··that you may have and all of your time finding them

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Sam

James Long

Sam,

I did some PCB repair for a company a few years ago, and we used vacuum desoldering units. They were not as nice as the one you pictured, but they did work well most of the time.

I would suggest you handle the "gun" very carefully. We had one go bad, and the tip became energized, it killed every chip we used to remove with it. The heater unit in the handle had shorted out to the tip, and was giving all the chips AC. We didn't know until it was too late that the tip was "hot". It cost a fortune to fix that little mistake. We were repairing boards that were un-attainable.

It should be said, the guys in the shop were pretty rough on equipment.

Looks like a very nice unit,

James L

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James L

Partner/Designer
Lil Brother LLC (SMT Assembly Services)

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

'Looks like a nice unit! I have one made by PACE, and it's been an essential tool for years, although I hate having to use it. It usually means I screwed something up. Some things I've learned:

1. Always keep the tip cleaned out for maximum suction.

2. When unsoldering a lead, wiggle the lead slightly once the solder is melted and while sucking out the solder. This will help to free it.

3. Don't leave any lead or pad heated up for too long. It's easy for pads to delaminate from the board if you do.

4. Sometimes you may have to add solder to a connection you want to desolder in order to "prime the pump".

5. Don't throw away your solder wick just because you've got the pump. It will still come in handy occasionally.

-Phil

sam_sam_sam

James L

I would suggest you handle the "gun" very carefully. We had one go bad, and the tip became energized, it killed every chip we used to remove with it. The heater unit in the handle had shorted out to the tip, and was giving all the chips AC.·

Thank You for letting me know that

Phil

1. Always keep the tip cleaned out for maximum suction.

2. When unsoldering a lead, wiggle the lead slightly once the solder is melted and while sucking out the solder. This will help to free it.

3. Don't leave any lead or pad heated up for too long. It's easy for pads to delaminate from the board if you do.

4. Sometimes you may have to add solder to a connection you want to desolder in order to "prime the pump".

5. Don't throw away your solder wick just because you've got the pump. It will still come in handy occasionally

Thank You For these pointer on how to use one

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··Thanks for any··that you may have and all of your time finding them

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Sam

Tracy Allen

A few points to add to what JAmes and Phil have said. I have one made by Hakko and have been using it for years. But I am on my second or third tip unit.
-- Keep tinned on the ring at the tip so that it makes good contact. Buy a tinning block, available atRat Shack too.
-- Clean the tip by keeping a piece of stainless steel wire handy just a little less than the inside diameter of the tip. Sometimes pieces of solder get stuck in there, and then things get worse as the air flow is restricted. If it gets really clogged up, then it is a royal PITA to clean it, and if that happens you will have to take off the tip and then a focused heat gun on the barrel can help a lot. Better to keep it clean incrementally.
-- The above is especially true when using lead free solder which has a higher melt temperature and a knack for glomming up the works.
-- Learn to hold it up near your ear and learn what it sounds like when the air flow is good, and clean it if it sounds constricted.
-- Take the tip off occasionally to keep it from corroding in place.
-- Clean the interior frequently to remove the accumulated solder. Wash your hands--it's a dirty business!
-- Gravity can be your friend, to help solder fall down.
-- Use a heat gun to heat set on gentle air flow to heat up the entire workpiece to 140 to 150 degrees C, and that preheat will help the desoldering tool. Especially important with leadfree. It alleviates overheating heating a pad at one spot.
-- If you are designing a PCB with through-holes, leave generous space around the pins and wires. It is very hard to desolder pins that are jammed into holes with little to no clearance.

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Tracy Allen
www.emesystems.com

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Tracy Allen said...
If you are designing a PCB with through-holes, leave generous space around the pins and wires. It is very hard to desolder pins that are jammed into holes with little to no clearance.

Yes!! This a very good point that deserves extra emphasis!

-Phil

sam_sam_sam

Tracy Allen
Thank You for your reply and ALL·OF THE INFO··· ·
And all of the GOOD ·s

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··Thanks for any··that you may have and all of your time finding them

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Sam

RickB

Try to find out who actually makes it. Are the consumable parts, filters, tips, and heating elements really available? How much do they cost? (no prices for those on mpja website) The rise time of the vacuum pulse is important. Compare it to others such as Pace. Like soldering irons, these things run hot, and there are more parts to degrade under those conditions. If you only use it once in a while, no problem. But if you use it more or less all day long like I do in a repair shop, you will need a stock of repair parts on hand. Even a good one like the Pace needs frequent replacement of consumables. I would be very suprised if one that cheap can stand up to professional usage.

Rick

sam_sam_sam

Rick

· It look like it is made for mpja

Are the consumable parts, filters, tips, and heating elements really available? How much do they cost? (no prices for those on mpja website)



·These parts·I also order filters, tips and cleaning rods

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This at the ·bottom of the Page there those parts and the prices
filters, tips and cleaning rods·all of the parts in green i also order

If you want to find all the parts just change the 17213+TL to the part # you are looking for

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=17213+TL·Cleaning Wire for 1mm Tip

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=17209+TL· Heater
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Replacement parts Available:
17208-TL: Handle/hose assembly
17209-TL Heater
17205-TL: 1mm tip
17206-TL: 0.8mm tip
17207-TL: 1.3mm tip
17210-TL: Small Solder Filter for Handle
17211-TL: Larger Filter for Base Unit
17212-TL: Cleaning Wire for 0.8mm Tip
17213-TL: Cleaning Wire for 1mm Tip
17214-TL: Cleaning Wire for 1.3mm Tip

The temp controller works very well and the pump seem to have enough power for what

I was doing with it tonight·( removing leds from an low voltage yard lights power board here is the link to them·http://www.doctorled.com/p11.htm )·as far as how well it will hold up i do not know that yet

I have a 137·ESD·soldering station that i have had for 3 years the controller went bad so i had to buy a· new one and will see if could repair the old one

Here is the Link to it

http://www.howardelectronics.com/xytronic/137ESD.html

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··Thanks for any··that you may have and all of your time finding them

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Sam

Post Edited (sam_sam_sam) : 5/1/2008 11:39:45 AM GMT

sam_sam_sam

·Tracy Allen

This has the best thing ·that you gave me on this

Clean the tip by keeping a piece of stainless steel wire handy just a little less than the inside diameter of the tip. Sometimes pieces of solder get stuck in there, and then things get worse as the air flow is restricted. If it gets really clogged up, then it is a royal PITA to clean it, and if that happens you will have to take off the tip and then a focused heat gun on the barrel can help a lot. Better to keep it clean incrementally.

This seem to happen when there is a lot of solder on the board where I want to remove a compoant

Now i tryed to set the temp at 700 * F this seem to help but dose not keep it from happing

I do not want to go much higher than this because of burning up boards

Sometimes pieces of solder get stuck in there, and then things get worse as the air flow is restricted.


If it gets really clogged up, then it is a royal PITA to clean it, and if that happens you will have to take off the tip and then a focused heat gun on the barrel can help a lot.

This very true

I like this Desoldering Station alot· · >>>>> but·keeping the tip from·clogging up·makes me···· and·a·royal PITA when it happen

I know love parts of it and hate parts of it but what can you say


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··Thanks for any··that you may have and all of your time finding them

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Sam

jmalaysia

I've used several different brands of desoldering stations, and all but the one I currently use (Pace MBT with snap vac) have been less than "great" as far as suction goes. This one has a burst of suction when you first engage it that pretty much does all the work for you. Usually a desoldered component will just fall right out with this one. It takes a pretty light touch to avoid damaging foils. Put the tip on the joint with slight pressure until the solder flows, then press the vacuum trigger and rotate the tip (with the lead of the component inside the tube) for maybe 2 seconds. It is important to keep a fresh tip because they become razor sharp after a while and can easily cut through foils. Also keep the filters and tip clean. The cleaning wire for the inside of the tip is a must (or you can use a paperclip). The most common mistake I see is bearing down on the joint too hard and tearing up foils and just plain leaving the tip on too long. If you don't get a component completely desoldered then resolder it and try again. It's much harder to desolder something that is half desoldered.

Another thing I do (unconciously) to keep the tip from clogging is to tilt the handle (tip up) and hit the vacuum again to pull the molten solder down into the holding container.

sam_sam_sam

jmalaysia

Thank You for your reply and the tips I will try this and keep these thing
in mind when i using it



The most common mistake I see is bearing down on the joint too hard and tearing up foils and just plain leaving the tip on too long. If you don't get a component completely desoldered then resolder it and try again. It's much harder to desolder something that is half desoldered.

Another thing I do (unconciously) to keep the tip from clogging is to tilt the handle (tip up) and hit the vacuum again to pull the molten solder down into the holding container.

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··Thanks for any··that you may have and all of your time finding them

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Sam