Cga.8086 wrote:hahahhahhaah
you know, desoldering gun is one of those things that i always wanted but could not buy because of its price. I fe […]
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hahahhahhaah
you know, desoldering gun is one of those things that i always wanted but could not buy because of its price. I feel the pain of trying to replace capacitors, i completely feel the pain.
to take out the capacitor is actually very simple and easy, you have to put extra solder touch both legs, and on the back you pull the old cap away.
But once the holes are covered with solder...... pain, its just pain and more pain to get it out.
there has been times that i did extreme and risky measures like inserting a needle on the hole while it has been heated (you can risk on ruining the pad or lifting the pad), because the desoldering wire did not work to take it all out.
There are alternatives to a desoldering gun. I want one as well, but can't justify the price for a good one.
With desoldering wick, it helps a lot if you use some solder flux paste. Just put some flux on the desoldering wick before using it to remove the solder and it helps suck up the solder a lot better.
The other cheap option is a solder sucker. It is basically a spring loaded plunger. You press the lever down till it clicks and then when you want to remove the solder, you melt it with the iron, and then put the solder sucker there, press the button and it sucks the solder away.
I also have a super cheapo desoldering iron. It has a bulb on it that you squeeze and then release to suck the solder away. Works ok for certain stuff but I basically never use it.
For through the hole capacitor removal, I just melt the solder on one leg, tilt the capacitor to pull the one leg out as much as I can and then do the other side. A couple repititions like this and they come out pretty easily.
And I have found that it always helps to use solder paste/flux no matter what. Stuff comes out so much cleaner. Doesn't matter if the solder has flux built-in. It just isn't the same.
As for what I would get.. hmmmmmmm
Some good AT cases.
A few more sound modules.
An 8 or so port KVM.
Good speakers for my retro systems.
A few different controllers and keyboards I would like to have.
Probably have quite a bit left over after that.. so a few sound cards I would like that I don't yet have.