Reddit reviews ECG J-045-DS Electric Corded De-Soldering Iron, 420 Degree C Tip Temperature, 45W

This thing made desoldering switches so much easier than my solder sucker.
$20 on amazon

Amazon

Nice - you'll be glad to have that variety of tips, depending on what you are working on! If you have any spare Christmas money, I'd recommend picking up one of these self-adjusting wire strippers - it sort of matches your color scheme too! And if you do a lot of de-soldering (anything with lots of headers or through-hole IC sockets), a desoldering iron can save a ton of time compared to your solder wick and desoldering pump.

A few other things that I've found useful (mostly repairing electronic keyboards / synthesizers, although I'm hoping to get more into Arduino / Pi soon):

Hakko wire cutter

Helping hand

Hemostat / Forceps

Digital multimeter with audible continuity tester

If this is just a one time job and you don't have any other soldering tools you could use this pretty easily: https://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Electric-Soldering-Temperature/dp/B00068IJSG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1497024421&sr=8-2&keywords=desolder+tool+tip

It will get the job done. I've harvested switches from 30+boards using a tool like this. It is tedious, but will safely remove the switches from the PCB.

I am using this currently but this is coming in the mail tomorrow ;) along with some more lube and solder.

Edit: I have built all of my boards with the Weller without any issues. I also have a desoldering iron which is 10x better than the pump. If you ever plan on desoldering pick yourself up the desoldering iron for the extra 10 bucks. The solder pumps will break and you will end up spending that much on them anyways so its definitely worth it.

From my expirence a soldering pump and braid will work but a cheap desoldering iron like this will work best and will be much easier.

ECG J-045-DS Electric Corded De-Soldering Iron, +420 Degree C Tip Temperature, 45W https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00068IJSG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_3idKAb0PPDPBT

I've done two desolder jobs with this one and it is flawless and clean. Nice strong suction, but more importantly the exhaust is also equally forceful for when you need to eject the solder keeping the iron clean, and minimizing down time from cleaning. Really awesome and worth the premium.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068IJSG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As /u/Harakou commented, make sure to have desoldering materials. But for desoldering several switches at a time, I had trouble making progress with a regular solder sucker (the braid is very useful for small scale rework). So I bought a desoldering iron for several Planck and Ergodox rebuilds.

And to add to /u/deaconblue42 , a flux pen helped me a lot whenever I struggled to get good wetting action (watch the videos, it's a thing).

There is also this de-soldering iron for a couple bucks more. Which I have personally found to be very effective & pretty durable to boot. The only 2 issues with this one is no temp control (which is an issue with both irons) so you have to work quick to ensure no damage to the PCB you're working on. And the tips get eaten up pretty fast but thankfully are replaceable.

This bad boy right here. It is admittedly the nuclear option, but I work on a lot of old fragile boards that will lift a trace if you look at it the wrong way. I also tend to replace a lot of 40 pin DIPs, which is freaking annoying. It can be had much cheaper, but grainger was the first link that popped up.

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Before I invested in that, this or this were my favorite styles of desoldering tools. Much more reasonable, and pretty damned effective.

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edit:

Also, if you can, cut the legs from the top side and clear the holes without anything in the way.

How much are you going to be making electronics a hobby? If you're just going to be soldering some boards occasionally you could save a bit on the iron and get this Weller. Also a cleaner. If you go with the 888 that will have a wire cleaner built in. I'm getting old so I personally would recommend at least a magnifying glass. I have this helping hand The clips didn't do much for me but the glass did. There are times where the switch pin just gets lost and the glass helped a lot. I also picked up this kit when I started, primarily for the sucker, but I thought the other tools may come in handy. So far they haven't, other than the solder. The first time I tried to use the sucker I could not get it to work correctly, I just wasn't getting enough of a seal around the hot solder, thinking I'd melt the tip, so I ended up buying a different pump that I still have never used, because I eventually DID learn to use the cheaper sucker. I also can't make solder wick work properly, apparently. If this is your first time soldering/desoldering I recommend getting a cheap practice kit that you don't care if you ruin. I can recommend this one as it has you intentionally foul up joins so you can learn to fix them. You won't need strippers. Flush cutters would be helpful if you need to trim the pcb mount legs off your switches (like Zealios, which you will if you have a GH60 Satan pcb) or trimming LEDs. Work mat would be helpful to keep your work area clean but not necessary. You will need a small screwdriver but I can't remember what size. Tweezers or one of these grabber thingies are always helpful when the screw flips sideways when you are trying to seat it. I used this solder on 3 builds so far and have had no issues with joins failing.

The best way to remove a switch when you don't have a desoldering iron like this (you can get cheap ones too, like this one or this one) is to basically use a mix of a solder sucker and wick to suck up as much as you can. Then stick a screwdriver under the switch, and alternate heating and pulling out the two contacts until the switch pops free

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068IJSG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You could always spend the bucks for something like this. It's not much, and if you're gonna be in the keyboard hobby for a bit, it's a tool you're just going to want to have handy anyways.

Are you using a pump? those are awful. Either use a wick, or one of these bad boys If you ever desolder switches you will thank me.

I had some small amount of experience with soldering beforehand when I redid about 80-100 NES/SNES/N64 carts with battery holders. After that I successfully transplanted the chips from a broken Goldeneye board to a donor board. I did all of the carts with just a desoldering iron (https://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Electric-Soldering-Temperature/dp/B00068IJSG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1504568020&sr=8-3&keywords=desoldering+iron), no soldering iron because of necessity. I did the Goldeneye switch with just a cheapo soldering iron though. One tip - the solder on the carts is a little hard to melt. It helps to add a bit of fresh solder to the existing joint to help melt the old solder.

Get a DEsoldering iron:

https://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Electric-Soldering-Temperature/dp/B00068IJSG

I typically use a Hakko FR300. Takes about 10 minutes to desolder an entire board. It's the cheapest quality option for basic desoldering before you get into decent rework stations that cost thousands.

You could try this http://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Watt-Desoldering-Iron/dp/B00068IJSG/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1453981477&sr=8-7&keywords=desoldering+pump

I'm guessing the biggest problem you'll run into with this is clogging and maybe not sucking out all the solder. Probably a step up from the hand sucker though.

ah I see, maybe try amazon uk? https://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Electric-Soldering-Temperature/dp/B00068IJSG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1482362986&sr=8-3&keywords=desoldering+iron

Here is the one I used on us site

a) yes, it seems pretty much the same. For the most uses, most DMMs (Digital Multi Meter) will work just fine. Your basic needs are to have a couple of different ranges for both voltage and ampacity readings (i'm refering to the accuracy of the readings here... a DVM generally has 3 or 4 characters on the screen to describe the charactieristic. one range will cover, let's say up to 2 millivolts, and the next will cover up to 2 volts, the next up to 20... you'll figure it out). another major tool on the DVM is an audible continuity tester. these just make a tone when you have a clean circuit path between points a and b. Big help. That one you linked up seems pretty decent.... when you start wiring houses or something, then you can think about upgradign into a fluke handheld or a benchtop if you're doing big fancy circuits, but that'd be fine for quite a while.

I'll tell you, my Iron Experience is pretty dang limited. but this is what i know. As far as a soldering iron goes, one of the major considerations is the power rating, i.e. the wattage ratings... i think mine is about 30W, and it works just fine. If i had my druthers I'd go to one of those variable ones that can get up to ~800 degrees. I'd also definitely consider one that comes with a proper resting stand. An operating soldering iron is a pretty big safety issue, in that it is a burning hot iron tip hanging around on a surface that may or may not be covered in flammable material or human flesh.

As far as de-soldering irons go, at school i have access to those fancy powered vacuum ones... I just take any desoldering tasks i have over there because they are the cats meow. I've used those l'il non-powered vacuum tubes and i think they are going to take a lot of skill and training to get to use efficiently. i didn't like them. I've never used or seen this type

Here's every desoldering tool I've used so far, from worst to best:

1. The one that came with my soldering station: lasted a week before falling apart.
   
2. The one I bought from radioshack. Lasted 2 weeks before falling apart.
   
3. ECG J-045-DS: Awkward to use, doesn't suck very well, no temperature adjustment, takes a long time to heat up, sprays hot solder everywhere instead of solid chunks like with the non-powered pumps.
   
4. Tenma 21-8240: Recommended by someone on this sub. Has similar issues to the ECG, except it's far less awkward to use and it does have decent suction. However, the handle is poorly insulated so it gets pretty hot after a while.
   
5. Engineer SS-02: Biggest issue with this one is dry solder getting stuck in the silicone nozzle, but that's been happening less and less as I've used it more. Good suction, good construction, no need to use a second outlet.
   

Well, the FC660M isn't backlit. All switch and LED solder points are through hole.

Use this: https://smile.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Electric-Soldering-Temperature/dp/B00068IJSG/

https://smile.amazon.com/ECG-JT-103-Replacement-J-045-DS-Soldering/dp/B0195UZP1Y/

And you'll need one or two tips per keyboard.

Far, far easier to control than those stupid spring loaded suckers. Squeeze bulb, push onto solder point straight down with the pin going straight in, release bulb, squeeze bulb again over a tin can you dump your solder into... push onto next spot.

Tips wear fast but it's a much easier and more controllable process to develop a muscle memory routine for.

Thanks! Soldering isn't too hard (I also was afraid of soldering). It's intimidating at first, but after a couple hours of doing it, you'll get more comfortable with it. Getting a cheap mech to practice soldering/desoldering on would probably help you get acquainted with the whole process. This is the soldering iron I used, and this is what I used to desolder. I also used this to clean the tip of the soldering iron in order to make it perform more consistently.

That cheapo one is the other one I had been considering, but people complained that it clogged very easy (reviews here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00068IJSG) , whereas the one I linked did not. However, I look at that and think "yeah, but the pump is easier to use, I bet."

As far as cheap-as-hell tools go, I'm kind of hoping I made a decent call. I should make an excuse to use it in the next few days.

Oh, and I'm sure this isnt it, but a lot of games will set the "zero" point of a controller to whatever position it's at when it starts up, so sometimes if you start it up and have the stick moved ever so slightly it will do this on a normal controller.

And really, this is whats happening on broken controllers too which is why you get the drift.

And this is what a desoldering iron looks like if you're curious:http://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Watt-Desoldering-Iron/dp/B00068IJSG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409456528&sr=8-1&keywords=desoldering+iron

I don't have one, but you can also use a regular iron and a solder sucker (i do this) and some solder wick (I also do this). It's just easier with that tool.

Not really sure on getting a different iron. De-soldering really depends on what you are de-soldering. Here are some things you might want to look into:

• De-soldering braid (solder wick)
  
• Using a hot air gun like the kind used for paint stripping (hopefully with some temperature control)
  
• If you are doing through hole maybe something like this https://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Watt-Desoldering-Iron/dp/B00068IJSG/ref=sr_1_4?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1466953703&sr=1-4&keywords=desoldering

buy one of these and put on your favorite podcast or music playlist

http://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Watt-Desoldering-Iron/dp/B00068IJSG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1462203511&sr=8-5&keywords=desolder+pump

With this there's 0 technique required.

EDIT: if you want to remove all of the old solder, get a soldering wick.

I had a much easier time using this than I did trying to use a spring loaded sucker. If you get one use your soldering iron to liquify the solder first then use this in your other hand to suck up the solder.

A desoldering iron would have made short work of those joints and reduced the time and effort required.

Excellent work and post!

I gotta put a plug in for this guy.

I used this to desolder a B.mini with relative ease. All it takes is a bit of patience and you're good to go!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068IJSG/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Works very well.

Have you considered a dedicated desoldering pump like this? Should be easier than the cheapo vacuum ones or solder wick.

I recently bought a cheapo desoldering iron that I haven't had a chance to burst out, this one here and while I haven't used it yet logically it seems to be the easiest way to desolder as long as it works. You almost even could get a free hand if you were clever with it.

As an avid hater of desoldering braid, $25 for that tool was worth it to save my frustration.

I'm a huge advocate for desoldering irons honestly. It's super easy to use once you get used to it. Squeeze, apply desoldering iron to the solder point, melt, release, pull away and clear it.

It doesn't get leads 100% clean but those few it doesn't, it's just a small amount stuck in an awkward position.

EDIT: It's morning, I'm not awake and spelling is the enemy.

I've had really good success with a desoldering iron. It has generally worked a lot better for me than solder wick, although I've never used flux, as I see other people here recommend. I do often add some rosin core solder with lead to the joints, though, in order to lower the melting point.

You would need a desoldering iron.

The process is tough and time-consuming, but it's pretty much your only option.

https://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Electric-Soldering-Temperature/dp/B00068IJSG

It works pretty well, but it tears through tips. I would say that one or two keyboards is about the life of a tip. It also starts to cool off if you do too many switches at once. However if you desolder and remove like 3 switches at a time it works great.

http://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Watt-Desoldering-Iron/dp/B00068IJSG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458832039&sr=8-2&keywords=desoldering+iron

there is this, but still more expensive than the radioshack ones that work just fine.

You have to have good temperature regulation and a bit of patience to make wick work. I use a desoldering iron which works well but struggles a bit with cheap lead free solder and makes your hand sore pumping the bulb thing over and over.

25w: http://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-025-Watt-Soldering-Iron/dp/B0002GLZM4/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1323322365&sr=8-5

Desolder iron...fantastic unit: http://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-045-DS-Watt-Desoldering-Iron/dp/B00068IJSG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323322365&sr=8-2

There are other versions as well, just search ECG soldering