New Toy

[DRANO]

I bought the inexpensive Tenma heated desoldering pump ages ago and haven't had any complaints.
The mouth is larger than you would expect, but that's probably why the suction isn't such a big deal.
I've pulled ICs with 20+ legs off a donor board in a couple of minutes and they were removed clean enough to move over to another board. I haven't lifted a trace yet.

I stopped using the blue suction pens because of the cheap construction and melted tips. The Tenma is mostly metal and much more sturdy.

That being said, the Hakko is certainly the gold standard, but not every violin player can do justice to a Stradivarius

 

[cdnpinballer]

Interesting! Thanks for sharing Drano.

We agree on the blue sucker being a POS!

 

[Menace]

Blue sucker works for me... but I'm sure if I got myself an FR300 I'd agree it's a great tool. I guess for me the blue sucker is more than adequate for the majority of pinball PCB work, but I can see it's merits for things like PIA chips and the like.

D

 

[mwong168]

Doug and I were chatting this morning and he showed me this on ebay which looks very similar to a Hakko 808

http://www.ebay.com/itm/S-993A-110V...d=100009&rk=5&rkt=24&mehot=pp&sd=311132705754

Here is a video of someone who bought one showing how well it works.

I just pulled the trigger and ordered one for $143cdn shipped so will post any additional thoughts after I get it.

 

[Menace]

My only concern is teh vid doesn't show the removal of any large IC's, but not to fear... I will borrow Mike's S-993A and put it through it's paces and report back.

D

 

[DRANO]

My only concern is teh vid doesn't show the removal of any large IC's, but not to fear... I will borrow Mike's S-993A and put it through it's paces and report back.

D

That's exactly what I said to Mike. Anyone can remove a few big'ol caps pretty easily.
On the other hand, the constant suction has still got to be better than using the typical pump style sucker.

And, at this price, totally palatable for the average hobbyist. I don't need to spend $500+ on a tool meant for a professional...
...says the guy who just bought a Festool cart

 

[mwong168]

I got my "Hack-oh 808" knock off from ebay today

Looks like it doesn't come with instruction in Engrish either. I will test it out later on and let you guys know how it goes.

 

[DRANO]

Got mine this morning as well and decided to give it a run for its money.
None of this desoldering capacitors business. I wanted to see how it worked on a small IC with a whack of itty bitty legs.

Here's a pic of a trashed board and a 24pin IC I just took off in about a minute.



The key with this tool (as it was with my cheapo Tenma pump) is to make sure the leg/pin are pressed up against the inside wall of the tip. The hole on the tip is larger than the IC's legs so just resist the urge to centre it. This also keeps the hot tip away from the board surface until you're ready to start sucking.
The ground pins took a bit longer of course but, once I was done I simply pushed each pin slightly with the end of a flathead screwdriver to release them and bingo! The chip just pulled right off with no damage to it or the board.

I make no claims on build quality or how long it'll last but, at least for now, it seems to do the trick pretty nicely.

 

[quarter grabber]

Sweet! Is there a higher quality version of this on the market? Or is this all you can get for this type of tool?

 

[DRANO]

Sweet! Is there a higher quality version of this on the market? Or is this all you can get for this type of tool?

Yeah. The Hakko 808 that Mike mentions in his opening post is the top of the line... But also north of $500 I think. This was under $150 landed.

 

[eh97ac]

How much are tips, filters....etc for the Hack-Oh 808?

 

[mwong168]

Yeah. The Hakko 808 that Mike mentions in his opening post is the top of the line... But also north of $500 I think. This was under $150 landed.

The Hakko 808 has been discontinued and has been replaced by the FR300. The cheapest I have seen it is for $283usd shipped within the US on pinside. It will likely be another $20-25 more to ship directly to you in Canada, 35% exchange and probably HST too. I got lucky and I think Drano did too with our ebay hack-oh and it only cost me $143cdn shipped and no taxes either.

How much are tips, filters....etc for the Hack-Oh 808?

I was talking to Menace and he said he wouldn't be surprised if genuine Hakko 808 replacement parts could fit onto this. I can try to confirm with someone who owns one at some point later. I think for the price and appears to work in the video and from Drano's experience above it should be fine. Unless you have lots of new Sterns and like to cradle balls for longer than usual times blowing up their stock 20N10L FETs which should be replaced with an IRL540.

 

[Menace]

My only word of advice, and Clay seems to suggest the same on his ninja site is to not use this type of tool with the PCB laying on a workbench but upright... Not sure as to why at the moment but maybe by being upright you're not working against gravity as much so you get better results? Things that make you go hmmmm.....

D

 

[DRANO]

Funny enough, I did set the board on my leg upright and used the 'gun' in a horizontal position. Maybe that's why it worked so well

 

[cdnpinballer]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing guys. $143 cad is a steal if the unit works as good as the real deal. I wonder about longevity but I'm sure you guys will be able to comment on that in time.

Interesting comment as well Doug about working with the PCB vertically vs. horizontal. I've only ever done PCB work directly on the bench - PCB horizontal with the gun vertical. I always found this the easiest way without the board falling over and getting damaged. How do you guys suggest working on the board in a vertical position? Do you use some sort of PCB holder rig for this?

 

[eh97ac]

The horizontal PCB positioning works well, it also eliminated the urge to press down and possibly have a pad lift during the "sucking". Remember kids, clean your tip inside and out at the end of every session

 

[Menace]

I don't own one of these fancy desoldering tools, I've got the old fashioned soldapult and my iron and I get along just fine. With these you have no choice but to have the PCB horizontal on your bench. With this desolder tool though the recommendation is to use the tool in a horizontal position while holding the PCB vertical in your hand. I've yet to determine if it's a function of the tool to opperate best in this position or not, but that's what I've seen so far. (for the record the tool does work in the vertical position as well as I have seen it done, but I cannot comment on the effect this may have on the tool long term or the quality of the work in this position)

D

 

[cdnpinballer]

So no specific holder but rather just propping it up with one hand while the other is on the trigger... I'll try that out...... Thanks for the suggestion/tip.

 

[fantasygoat]

FYI, mine died after about 3 months, the tip no longer gets hot. That was after the tip clogged and I bought new tips, only to install it and discover it's broken!

Not sure if it's broken in the tip or on the board.

 

[Fifty]

Guys where's the best price on the 888D? All I'm finding is Active and I know their prices are crazy inflated.