Re: Hakko 470 desoldering tool - awesome!

Work with it for a month or so and see how you feel then. I felt just
like you when I got my Hakko 808. Then after a while you have to run
the little wire up the nozzle to clear it out, which at first, fits
perfectly, no biggie. Then the hole starts to get plugged w/ more than
solder (I guess) and the wire won't fit anymore, or gets REAL TIGHT, so
I have to either replace the tip, or ream it out w/ a real small drill
bit, etc. I actually got the wire stuck so bad I could not remove it.
I ended up cutting it off with some dikes flush w/ the tip and tossing
it. Next, from time to time you have to remove the tip and the barrel
while it's hot (with a wrench or slip-joint pliers) to clean out the
tube behind the nozzle tip. Now they did supply a nice tool for that
cleanout job, but you still have to remove the tip and barrel, then
clean, then put it back on, w/o burning yourself!

Granted, my 808 is by far better than the solder pullers, braid, bulb
thingies, etc., but they're still not perfect. Now, if there were a
button to push that would cause a clean-out wire to activate
automatically, THEN it would be perfect - shoot, I'd even settle for a
better clean out wire that I could actually insert everytime w/o it
bending or me having to do odd things to get it inserted. Having to
disassemble the tip and barrel to clean it is a real pain, especially
if you have to do it one and hour or so as you work on the big stack of
boards.

also, and I'm sure this is true w/ any desoldering tool - in order to
unsolder a dual-sided solder joint, you have to heat the bottom up
enough to melt the solder on top too - half the time the heat required
will lift the bottom solder tabs - I hate that!!!


steve (cargpb10 - sigh)

.

Loading