Here's a tip if you have one of those desoldering guns like Bil is showing at the beginning of the video: If you use it a lot and don't want to go out and buy new filters all the time, but a little wad of steel wool into the glass tube in front of the filter. It will catch the tin before it reaches the filter and the actual filter will last a lot longer. The tube fills up a little faster but replacing a tiny bit of steel wool is much cheaper than a filter, and probably a little more friendly to the environment too, because it may be possible to recycle steel and tin but not a filter.

Thank you. I didn't know a lot of what you have demonstrated. This is very helpful

Super video. I really learned a lot. Many thanks and a Happy New Year

Careful! R63 definitely got contaminated with bizmuth alloy when cleaning up the ChipQwik. ;)

Great video mate! Thanks!

Thank you. Good luck. 😊👍

on a difficult part such as a smd IC or something with a large ground land underneath the pad, a electric heat gun works in a pinch, but you have to be careful as you can cook the board. give it a go you will be surprised how well it works. but it can blow the parts around if the gun is on high.

What I really need is a good thorough video about using *and maintaining* a desoldering gun. It seems to me that I must be doing something terribly wrong based on the performance I get. The manual has been praised for being thorough and well-written, and I’ve read it cover to cover multiple times and followed the instructions to the letter wherever possible. One issue: The manual tells me to clean it after every use and gives me some silicon grease “for cleaning” but only tells me how to unclog it with a pin and drill piece... no instructions on what to apply the grease to so I put it on the cylinder, inside and outside of the spring filter, and O-ring seals. Perhaps I’m supposed to ram this gunk down the desoldering nozzle?! I unclog it constantly because it clogs constantly but even when it isn’t clogged it just doesn’t remove solder as well as it should. When it was brand new I got about ONE good use out of it before performance suffered terribly (removed an Atari 800XL cartridge connector to correct a mangled pin). It seems that I can only get about one or two good pulls between cleanings, which has led to a lot of damaged traces, stuck pins, and ruined projects/repairs. Even a freshly cleared tip that was used to clear one small component and still pulls solder will freeze up when I try to run the pin through it, requiring the drill. I have to do it every few pulls or else it just clogs... or worse (appears to empty the holes but doesn’t). One large DIP can take me an hour due to constant clogging and clearing. Either I’m doing *something* terribly wrong or this piece of junk just doesn’t pull strongly enough. The impressions of other people make me think it’s just me. I’m following all the advice I’m aware of including adding grease leaded solder to every connection (working on older non-RoHS electronics anyway). It’s an Aoyue Int701A++ from 2016 but it has the older, “more-robust” AC motor as opposed to the newer DC motor version. Even if my specific equipment is to blame, such a video would help anyone experiencing the same uncertainty as me with any similar equipment. It seems to be a big missing hole when I search for videos about these things. I’ve been using it semi-regularly for two years now and I’m at the end of my patience since my drill piece broke for a second time yesterday while in the middle of several huge projects so I can’t even brute force my way through like I have been. If I’ve been doing it wrong I really need to know. If I’ve been doing it right it would’ve been great to know while I still had a warranty. :(

Really helpful thanks :3

Great info..great tshirt! That is Tommy Bolin? Thanks Bill

Any tips to desolder motherboard LGA sockets? I bought some old motherboards that could be refurbished by replacing the sockets. Any pointers on the right equipment would be great.

Nice shirt!

good video

great video. Would you say 350 celsius is on average a safe temp to heat without losing pads?

Bil Herd, could you please put in the comments the sites you use to buy your desoldering equipment. Particular the ZD-985. Thank you.

What is that plunger tool you are using at then end of the video called?

thanks!

Hi, very good tips but I have a big problem removing SMD and through holes DIP parts from boards that have conformal coating silicone applied to protect these boards against humidity. Do you know to remove this protection? Regards, Fernando Pompeo call sign PU2PLL Brazil

What flux is that?. It's not rosin for sure

nice tech ! but too expensive to me....

OMFG! Bil Herd has the same desoldering station that I have! ç_ç

isn't the infared device dangerous for your health?

tin foil, not just for hats

Got goosebumps when you started to scrub with the solder wick... Don't do that please.