Vent: Stop using solder wick for everything when you should just flux it

I was over at Mike's shop last Thursday watching him try to desolder a through-hole cap on a Pioneer receiver board. He spent 5 minutes with the wick, pressing down hard, lifting pads, making a mess. I told him to just add fresh flux and hit it with the iron for 3 seconds. Came right off. I see this all the time - people think wick is magic but it just pulls heat away and rips traces if you don't prep right. Has anyone else noticed new guys refusing to use flux first?

3 comments

3 Comments

seanlee7d ago

Yeah, the part about "pressing down hard" is exactly what gets me. I read this old service manual from the 80s that said you should never push down on the wick, you just let it sit on top of the joint. If you're pressing hard you're already damaging the pad. The flux thing is key because the wick needs flux to work anyway, and old joints have none left. I actually watched a guy on YouTube explain that if your wick isn't pulling solder within 2 seconds, you need more flux. He was right. People treat wick like a sponge but it's more like a straw - it has to be wet to pull. That crusty mess faith684 mentioned is just burned flux and oxidized solder. A tiny dab of fresh flux before you even touch the wick changes everything.

faith6847d ago

Dude, isn't it maddening? I watched my buddy try the same thing on an old Marantz board last month. He kept pressing that wick into the joint, just burning the board and leaving this crusty mess. I finally grabbed my syringe of flux and put a tiny drop on, touched it with the iron for maybe two seconds, and the component leg just slid out clean. The wick was totally blocking the heat transfer and making everything worse.

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troy8321d ago

What kind of solder were you using - that 60/40 stuff melts way different than the lead-free junk?