<disclaimer>
None of what I have written following is directed at any particular person. It's general commentary. Its purpose is to try to help the reader.
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Quoted from Elicash:I own a $300 Hakko desoldering tool and even with this, it is nearly impossible to desolder ic chips to where they just come out easy.
I have a Hakko FR-300 manufactured late 2014. It worked great when I first got it. Then I started getting holes that weren't completely clean and getting pulled pads and traces. I've had to do a few repairs and learned how to do it without jumper wires (if possible) and without eyelet repair (too expensive for me). I regularly cleaned the nozzle.
One day I went further and cleaned the diaphragm and the pump area. It involved taking the tool apart. What I found was flux in the plastic piping and in the diaphragm area. I cleaned it all out. After putting it all back together it sucked. No ... really. It sucked (better). So I would give the tool a thorough cleaning (pump area) every now and then.
After multiple cleanings I eventually found the valve flap had been worn away. Presumably from the hot flux hitting it and just chipping away at it. I tried flipping it around or just hobbling along. I even thought I would need to buy a whole new $300+ tool. Then I went browsing on the Hakko website and found the plastic part. A couple of bucks. After another couple of cleanings I decided I had had enough of struggling with the tool. I finally replaced that plastic part. When I got it all back together it was like a brand new tool. It was 6 years since the tool was brand new so I forgot what a brand new tool felt like. Now the tool really sucked. Holes so clean that the IC does pretty much fall out.
Quoted from Elicash:I did an NVRAM install but I cut the chip off the board before desoldering. Much easier to remove each leg instead of the whole chip. And the traces take less heat and don’t get pried on. You sacrifice a $7 chip, but don’t damage a $400 board that is obsolete and nearly irreplaceable.
I recommend this to people who aren't experienced or confident that the IC will come out cleanly. I 100% agree that sacrificing an IC that is a couple of bucks is definitely the better way to go. I will however respectfully disagree that the boards commonly worked on by people (WPC CPU and System 11 CPU) are "nearly irreplaceable". I make reproductions of both of those boards.
Quoted from Elicash:That video is unfortunate because he makes this seem like an easy job, but the risk of damaging these irreplaceable boards is very high.
Quoted from Pin_Guy:since he cut the entire part of his video out all the way to the point that he resumed with a socket installed I assumed he damaged his board and cut all of that out so I stopped watching the video at this point.
I also 100% agree with these two statements. That video is misleading. I had the same reaction as Pin_Guy with the editing. You can see the holes aren't clean and then suddenly everything is good. That's not realistic.
The following are things that I do. There is no correct or incorrect. Technique is an art form gained with experience.
- I always add fresh solder. It's for both the fresh solder but more importantly the flow induced by the fresh flux. Plus it preheats the pads and solder.
- I always lift the board so that it is upright. You can use a Panavise if you want but I just rest it against the bench. The way the video shows the board horizontally. The vacuum de-soldering is fighting gravity. You don't want to fight gravity. If the board is vertical gravity has much less of an effect.
- When applying the nozzle to the pad (in the vertical position) I always wiggle (move) the nozzle around the pin in both the X and Y axis. This allows the pin to move freely, spread the heat to melt all the solder and provides the best chance to vacuum out all of it. I keep wiggling the nozzle while vacuuming to get as much of the solder out with the highest probability.
- The holes don't always clean completely. When that happens I add fresh solder and repeat the above. The second application is usually enough to get a clean hole.
- Once I have the clean holes I then grab each leg with needle nose pliers and move them to make sure they are moving freely. If they aren't then I would consider and another addition/vacuum cycle.
- If all the legs are moving freely and the IC doesn't come out with ease then it's likely there's a tiny around of solder still holding the legs in place. A gentle pry (and I mean GENTLE) is usually enough to break the small solder bridge free. This is an art form to know how much pressure to apply before saying enough and doing another addition/vacuum cycle. This art form is much like knowing how much Magic Eraser to use before stopping.
The single most important thing to take away from all of this is to KEEP YOUR TOOL CLEAN. Nothing beats a clean tool.