West Florida Components

We’re always adding new electronic components, parts and supplies to our inventory. This week, one of our new products is a solder sucker, which is a ‘must have’ for anyone that works with electronics and solder.

Crafted in Germany by Amax, this solder sucker is a pump style solder remover. Use it on heated solder to remove the solder from your boards and components. It comes in the original manufacturer’s packaging with instructions for the use and care of your solder sucker.

Here are some basic desoldering instructions:
1. Heat your soldering iron. Push down on the plunger until it clicks to arm the soldering iron.
2. Clean your soldering tip. Place the soldering tip on the side of the old joint. Apply some fresh solder on the old joint to help the old solder soften.
3. Set the plunger on the solder sucker. Place the tip of the solder sucker on the old joint as close as possible to the soldering tip.
4. Release the plunger by pressing the button.
5. Repeat until much of the old solder is gone.
6. If any of the old solder is left in PCB holes, you can heat the old joint again and using the soldering tip on one side and a miniature flat screwdriver on the other, gently rock the joint back and forth lightly to loosen up the tiny leads on the components.
7. You may need to repeat this process again when there is a stubborn joint.
9. Remove your component carefully; taking care to not damage the board.

We hope you’re going to be just as excited as we are! West Florida Components is now carrying a line of solder guns and irons! You can choose from a battery operated 15W solder iron  (perfect for marine repairs on in the field projects) all the way up to a 150W dual heat full featured gun. All the electric soldering irons and guns are proudly made in the USA by Wall Lenk Corporation and they are guaranteed for 5 full years.

All of the soldering equipment can be used for a wide range of projects, from electronics to lawn and garden equipment….and cutting and smoothing jobs like leather and wood burning.

Most of the guns and irons in stock are ‘kits’ – that is, they come with multiple solder tips and a supply of rosin core solder to get you started on your soldering projects. Are you just learning how to solder? Check out our guide on the basics of “How to Solder” which gives plenty of pointers for soldering newbies.

Soldered joints, if improperly done, may need to be ‘desoldered’ or the solder removed in order to resolder them. A poorly soldered joint can result in failure of the electrical circuit over a period of time. This can happen for a number of reasons. Low quality solder or failure to properly clean the surface before soldering or even lack of proper technique and corrosion of the joint due to leftover flux, movement (shake) of the joint before the solder has cooled may all cause a poor soldered joint.

There are other reasons you might need to desolder a joint. Desoldering and resoldering may also be required in order to replace a defective electronic component or if you are troubleshooting an electrical circuit.

One common method of desoldering is to use a desoldering pump which is a vacuum pump similar in operation to a bicycle pump in reverse. The spring loaded plunger breaks the solder and gets sucked away by the pump. Repeated operation of the pump may be required in order to completely desolder a joint, or you can also use the solder pump to take up the bulk of the flowing solder and finish up the job with solder wick. Either way works – the solder wick is more expenisve so you may want to use both if you have a large job. Be careful – the pump should be operated carefully so that no damage the PCB or the electronic components occurs.

A solder wick or braid is an alternative to desoldering pumps. Here the copper wick is placed over the joint and the solder is melted by means of soldering iron. The solder gradually flows into the wick and hence gets removed. The wick must be removed from the PCB before it cools down as otherwise it may damage the board.