Powered desoldering 'plunger' solder sucker

[stevehertz]

I only recently found out about this novel solder sucker that is basically the common or garden solder sucker that we all know and own, but in this guise it is integral to a heated iron. So you don't have use two hands, thus enabling you to use one of your hands to hold the PCB steady, some solder, whatever.

They are available here: https://kitronik.co.uk/products/2610...-solder-sucker
Has anyone tried one? It would be nice too know if they're any good before I waste my money. Saying that, it's not as if they're expensive, if I only got a couple of years out of one and it worked well I'd consider it money well spent.

[Freya]

mine blocks up easily, the picture doesn't show the unblocking wire it comes with, bit of a pain IMHO

[davebms]

hello all , I have one that looks identical (came from maplins) on mine
you can take the sucker part out. I had it a year before I found that out
its been good

dave

[davebms]

try a forum search ..Maplin Desolder Iron/Pump cleaning.. its got pics
looks the same ?

dave

[elanman99]

I bought a Kitronic one (about 2 years ago) and after using it two or three times gave up with it.

I found it too hot to hold after 20 minutes use, also I was only able to depress the plunger by holding it differently to the operate (suck) position, so I was unable to sequentially de-solder a row of joints without a lot of extra hand movements. I few days ago I saw a video advert for what looks like the same tool and it was edited so that solder removal was fast and seamless.

To me it had no advantage over an unheated sucker in one hand and the soldering iron in the other (but then that does require the PCB/joint to be in a stable position)

Ian

[Hartley118]

I’ve used a Maplin heated solder sucker for a few years. I find it’s ‘one handed’ action very useful. At first it was very effective, but lately seems to have lost some of its ‘suck’. I guess it might need unblocking, so I must follow up that reference.

It has plenty of heat and will even serve as an emergency high capacity soldering iron. Priming the spring-loaded plunger does require a strong thumb though.

Martin

[high_vacuum_house]

Slightly OT, I have a weller desoldering iron with a vacuum pump in the base unit.

Mine blocks up when in use occasionally and when it does, I shove a wirewound resistor leg up the nozzle whilst operating the pump. This clears the blockage easily and cheaply.

The diameter of the legs on wirewound resistors varies depending on physical size, therefore you can find one that fits quite easily.

Christopher Capener

[Diabolical Artificer]

Yes, I bought one, it has powerful suck on it, however the nozzle is a bit big, shame they can't be changed. Also mine gets very hot, in the end it's hanging up with the left handed BNC to right handed BNC leads, olive de-stoner and other odds and sods. However it did exceed at one thing, getting old film caps, trannies, heatsink's and big resistors off scrap PCB's.

I looked at one point at hacking mine so it was powered like those proper desoldering guns. I got it working by using a reversed compressor, but the lack of interchangeable tips, the digfficulty of fitting a filter etc made this untenable.

Andy.

[Phil G4SPZ]

I had one of these, bought from CPC. It worked well, but only lasted for three weeks longer than the guarantee period! After being left on for perhaps 20 minutes, I noticed that the heat had started melting the plastic where the three screws hold the element to the plastic body, so it took on a bent appearance. But as Ian says, it got too hot to hold for continuous use anyway, and the mains lead was too thick and stiff.

I bought a different replacement, similar price (there are basically two styles of these devices on sale, carrying various or no branding, and of Chinese origin) but this time with only a 30-watt element and a much lighter, flexible 2-core mains lead. No CE-mark on it, so I Meggered it before use and it's fine. It also works well and I do find the one-handed operation very useful.

[mickm3for]

Hi you can get 2.5mm nozles (orignal) and 1mm, got a pack of 10x (5 2.5 + 5 1mm) around £3.00 usual place e--- Mick

[factory]

I'm not sure I would want to use something that is not temperature controlled on anything I wanted to keep.
Have you considered the budget de-soldering station (also made by Duratool)? We had one at work which seemed OK for the price, but it did require regular tip replacements, to avoid damage to circuit pads/traces from worn out tips.

https://cpc.farnell.com/webapp/wcs/s...Bo8IwlNA%3D%3D

David

[Norman Raeburn]

To be honest i had one of those, always blocking up, i put it in the bin. I also had a Weller DS900? it wasn’t great either. I also bought one of those Duratool ones which blocks very easily and was a pain to disassemble and reassemble. I went back to good quality desolder braid. If you are removing multi pin chips then Chipquik is the stuff, low temperature solder. Flood the pins with it and the chip will lift off. The spelling may not be correct but will find it. It’s not cheap but works very well. Norman

[stevehertz]

Reading back through the posts, I think I may have room for one of these in my armoury of tools. Most of the objections are not a problem to me. In general I won't be wanting to use it for long periods of time or on tiny stuff, and the blocking I feel I can live with, work around. I've looked at 'proper' desoldering units in the past and I just can't justify the cost for something that I use occasionally for hobby use. I mean, in many situations I use solder wick anyway, but I just thought that this, as a one handed solder sucker may be slightly easier to use than a soldering iron in one hand and a plunger sucker in the other. I may give one a go.

Thanks for the input and viewpoints to those who responded.

[Andrewausfa]

My initial experience was the same as Phils, worked well a few times then the heating element gave up the ghost. Had it less than a month I would think. I have bought another which still works. I use an extra large paper clip to unblock the thing.

Andrew

[stevehertz]

Oh I get the thing about Chinese reliability, it's a given. But saying that, most suppliers on the auction site are paranoid about getting negative feedback, so they tend to play ball on faulty item issues.

[Goldie99]

If you're concerned about receiving the desoldering iron, or general quality, I can recommend the Velleman item, direct from their site. They also have the spare tips etc. listed:

http://www.velleman.co.uk/contents/e...der_Tools.html

The build quality seems actually better than expected for the price, and I've had no problem with it in the past couple of years, but to be fair it's not heavily used (I prefer braid for smaller pcb joints). Biggest 'bugbear' is maybe the thickness & (lack of) flexibility of the mains cable.

Alan

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Goldie99

If you're concerned about receiving the desoldering iron, or general quality, I can recommend the Velleman item, direct from their site. They also have the spare tips etc. listed:

http://www.velleman.co.uk/contents/e...der_Tools.html

The build quality seems actually better than expected for the price, and I've had no problem with it in the past couple of years, but to be fair it's not heavily used (I prefer braid for smaller pcb joints). Biggest 'bugbear' is maybe the thickness & (lack of) flexibility of the mains cable.

Alan

Great, thanks Alan.

[MotorBikeLes]

I have a Weller (Also a DS900 I think) but I have not yet used it. It was given to me after I had bought Duratool soldering/desoldering station. However, that burned out the soldering iron, due to the PSU going 100% on.
This week, visiting our local amenity site, I found a W.E.R 8508D SMD desoldering hot air gun. No SMD tips. Not switched it on yet, maybe this weekend.
I used to use the Philips desolder braid, but once it got a bit old, it stopped doing its job. The expensive US made stuff (Chem tool??) is good, but I suspect that will fail if not used whilst fresh. I don't do so much these days, so it matters.
With the duratool, if it blocked, I used to apply the soldering iron as well as the heat from desolder unit. After a while, it always cleared.
Les.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by MotorBikeLes

I have a Weller (Also a DS900 I think) but I have not yet used it. It was given to me after I had bought Duratool soldering/desoldering station. However, that burned out the soldering iron, due to the PSU going 100% on.
This week, visiting our local amenity site, I found a W.E.R 8508D SMD desoldering hot air gun. No SMD tips. Not switched it on yet, maybe this weekend.
I used to use the Philips desolder braid, but once it got a bit old, it stopped doing its job. The expensive US made stuff (Chem tool??) is good, but I suspect that will fail if not used whilst fresh. I don't do so much these days, so it matters.
With the duratool, if it blocked, I used to apply the soldering iron as well as the heat from desolder unit. After a while, it always cleared.
Les.

I agree about solder braid losing its wicking abilities over time. I keep a little bottle of flux and dip a length of the braid into it before use. The difference is dramatic.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Goldie99

If you're concerned about receiving the desoldering iron, or general quality, I can recommend the Velleman item, direct from their site. They also have the spare tips etc. listed:

http://www.velleman.co.uk/contents/e...der_Tools.html

The build quality seems actually better than expected for the price, and I've had no problem with it in the past couple of years, but to be fair it's not heavily used (I prefer braid for smaller pcb joints). Biggest 'bugbear' is maybe the thickness & (lack of) flexibility of the mains cable.

Alan

I've ordered that one with a spare tip. Just over £14 all in including postage.