Best Desoldering machine/gun/tool...

I need to recap a large recording console and I'm looking for best desoldering tool .......  best result at a fast rate....?

I've been satisfied with my Goot tool:

http://www.howardelectronics.com/goot/tp100as.html

I also know folks using this Denon:

http://www.howardelectronics.com/den-on/sc7000.html

I've also heard positive remarks about a similar Hakko tool, but don't know the model number.

Bri

I recapped a whole 26 channel tac matchless with the same goot tp100. Works well, heats pretty fast, you can adjust the temperature. I never used another one so i can't compare. I got it because a friend who has been in the business for 40 years is using the same.

There is a guy from taiwan on ebay that has a good price as well, i got a .8mm tip from him.
Good luck!

Pierre

Hakko 808, will be cheaper, and would still be of good quality i guess.
Now beeing that big chunky thingy in hand might cause hand fatigue after a while....
The cheap chinese one i got has a simple hand gun, without the pump, pump is an external one.... (Aoyue 474)
Even if the cheap chinese fails, their parts are cheap, well at least over here in Europe.


T.

Having been doing this for DECADES....

Learned that you require a SHORT path for the vacuum.

For years I used a "industrial grade" PACE machine which had the vacuum pump in a 'base unit" with a vacuum hose to the hollow point heater "handle'.

Bad design.

Bri

Yes maybe, you know better. And seems logical, since the vaccum will perform better on short path of course.
But it works nicely after about a year (surprised actually), and if the pump dies, it's only 20Euros.

T.

EDIT: The "Goot" looks nice, and well made.

The "whole deal" with any desoldering tool is:

1.  Heat the 'old' solder.

2.  QUICKLY suck out the old solder, including the "through holes" on 2/whatever sided circuit boards.

Having a quick "rise time'" for the suction/vacuum is critical.

Apparently, some systems with a "soldering wand" will maintain a vacuum inside of the tubes connected from the base station to the hand set.

Other systems have to suck out the air inside of the flexi-tube between the base unit and the tip before solder begins to be sucked.

OTOH, a smaller tool means a shorter suck path.

Bri

I use this one with success:
http://www.howardelectronics.com/xytronic/988d.html

Hakko +1

Do yourself a favor and get the Denon SC-7000z.  It is the best tool for desoldering.

I recapped an 80 channel SSL 4000g with it... plus 1000's of other parts... in my over 10 years of using them.

The ease of cleaning the filter.
The ability to switch it over to "hot blow" which is an excellent method for cleaning out the dust and junk after you have "pin cleaned" the nozzle.

The ability to use it as a great soldering iron. I have done many, many, many jobs where its all I take...

It is a great tool.

I've got a METCAL MX500. It was expensive but it's bloody wonderful !!! It's superseded now
but all consumable spares are still stocked. 10/10 from me.


Frank B.

at work we have wellers, i forget the model number,. At home I have somethingthe 988D i picked up from howards electronics. Both are desolder irons i.e. not guns but wands. They both work well.  Whatever you end up buying, it will take a small learning curve to get to using it properly. Be careful when you turn the vacuum on as you can pull a trace if the solder is not flowing.

I'm going to have to agree on the "short path" since I own and use large Weller units which absolutely suck......

I'm looking into the Goot and the Den-on units but how's the balance using the unit?

Thanks everyone for your input appreciated .... ;D

Brian Roth said:

Having been doing this for DECADES....

Learned that you require a SHORT path for the vacuum.

For years I used a "industrial grade" PACE machine which had the vacuum pump in a 'base unit" with a vacuum hose to the hollow point heater "handle'.

Bad design.

Bri

Click to expand...

jwhmca said:

Do yourself a favor and get the Denon SC-7000z.  It is the best tool for desoldering.

I recapped an 80 channel SSL 4000g with it... plus 1000's of other parts... in my over 10 years of using them.

The ease of cleaning the filter.
The ability to switch it over to "hot blow" which is an excellent method for cleaning out the dust and junk after you have "pin cleaned" the nozzle.

The ability to use it as a great soldering iron. I have done many, many, many jobs where its all I take...

It is a great tool.

Click to expand...

+1 million times!!!!!

Ordered Den-on SC7000z.........hopefully everything goes well.......

Interesting topic.

I was thinking about buying this one: http://nl.farnell.com/weller/wr-2000d-uk-eu/desoldering-station-wr-2000d-uk/dp/1821376?ref=lookahead
Of course it's expensive, but as buying Weller stuff is usually a long term investment, it might be worth it.
Anybody with any experience on these things? Used the older version of this one, and liked it quite a lot.

Also, does anybody know what the difference is between the SC7000Z and the SC7000?

Mic

Just got myself a denon sc7000. I can't recommend it enough, it's fantastic! Best investment I've ever made. I'm a very happy boy, after just one day I can't imagine how I ever worked without it!

I've tried a few things before, used to have a weller wand thing with external pump unit. That was crap, used to get clogged up all the time. Then the heater packed up and I couldn't get hold of a replacement from weller. Take note...

I had one of these cheapo chinese ebay ones for a bit.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New-Hot-Air-Gun-Electric-Desoldering-Repair-Tool-Kit-220V-240V-/261104711503?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item3ccb0db74f
When it works, it works pretty well, but after a year it's on it's 3rd heating element and 2nd pump motor. Spares are cheap but there's a line somewhere where the time spent maintaining the thing is more than the time it'd take to just use desoldering pump/braid for desoldering anyway. And it's not very safe, no fuse or protection circuitry in there. If any of you do get one of these make sure to change the fuse in the plug for 1A or less, mine came with a 10A. The PWM controller packed up and put full mains voltage on the heater and it overheated and melted the plastic housing. Time to chuck it in the bin.

If you're really on a budget...
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?id=SD0170205&Ntt=SD0170205
Novel idea, haven't seen them before. I got one, it works ok. Heats up pretty well. Bit easier than using a desoldering pump and an iron. The opening on the tip is about 2mm, not very precise. Seems like it's a new product idea and they haven't started making different size tips yet. Make sure to keep the tube clean, it gets clogged easily. But for £5 we can cope with that, buy a few for spares!

If you have the money, get a denon. I've just started replacing the switches on a console. 2200 odd switches, 35000 odd pins to unsolder. I tried doing one channel with the cheap chinese desoldering gun, it took an hour. With the denon it took 20 minutes. What can I say!?

"Goot" user here.
Bought 5 years ago, desoldered tons of components, never had a single problem.
Great tool, I cant imagine working without it.

I'm reviving this old post to see if anyone has had the same problems with their Den-on 7000z guns as I do. 
I've owned two of these things and both of them have had the same intermittent problem.  After working with them for a bit, the heat regulation fails, and the iron get's hotter and hotter to the point that the metal tube is glowing red.  The temperature pot does nothing, the led is solidly on, so you have to shut it off.  I can get between 20-45 minutes of work in before this starts.These guns are great when they're working.  It'd be great to fix this one persistent problem.

Contact Howard, they have the parts and can tell you what is faulty.
I have discovered one of the most important things in soldering equipment is availability of parts.
They all fail and need service at some point!