i am just now getting into chipping and tuning, trying to build some ecus, but i totally suck at soldering and desoldering. i figured i might be better if i get a good solder/desolder station. rught now i am using the bulb style desolder tool from radioshack. it takes like an hour to heat up, and pretty much sucks. if you dont get everything out the first try, its hard getting the rest out

whats you suggestions?

 

A solder vacuum makes life a little easier.

I've always been using Solder wicks. My mom works at an electronic company and she brings home the solder wicks they use at work. And it works awsome. You can get some solder wick at your local radio shack or hobby store, but its hit or miss type of deal. I bought some before that didn't do jack ****.

I've done atleast 30 ECU's never had a problem.

 

just use the wicks man...although i do kind of like the kind of vacuum deals that look like huge syringes

 

There was an entry on the pgmfi wiki that recommended cutting the bulb in half and duct taping it to a vacuum cleaner tube. Also I think adding new solder to the joints helps it melt faster.

 

There's definitely better options, but I chip 10-20 ecu's a month with that bulb sucker p.o.s. It takes some time to adapt to using, but it really works pretty well. The ones on the ends of the eprom and some other spots, that are ground planes, require more heat...something you'll learn the more you do them. Where you put the capacitors tends to require more heat as well.

I found an easy trick with it if you only suck out a portion of the pin. I take the solder and dab it in the opened tip of the iron. It closes the hole, and then I go over the pin and just push lightly on the bulb. It'll basically quickly add the solder to the half empty pin. Once really full with fresh solder, it just seems to suck out much easier. It's what I always do and works well.

 

http://www.hakko.com/english/product...akko_fx951.jpg
Thats what I use.

 

I use the wicks, they work pretty well

 

wicks work good, but the best thing you can use is a vacuum plunger. it lookes like a syringe but when you press the plunger down it is held in place against a spring. when you push the button, it releases the hold and as the plunger moves up it creates a vacuum at the tip. you obviously have to heat the solder up with your iron till it's liquid then move it out of the way and suck up the solder with the plunger as fast as you can. trust me, if you do alot of desoldering this is what you need....

 

BTW, if I was you I'd get rid of that POS RadioShack soldering iron and upgrade to something better. you'll definitely notice the difference. at the top of the spectrum i'd recommend a metcal sp-200 which can be bought for around $330 from techin-tool.


if you don't want to spend that kind of money, i also recommend the weller WTCPT which is like $112 from techni-tool.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RC000E &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There's definitely better options, but I chip 10-20 ecu's a month with that bulb sucker p.o.s.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah....that is a POS. Once you switch, you will ask yourself what the hell took me so long to make that decision.

This is what I use....works great...

http://www.hakkousa.com/2006/d...age=1

http://www.hakkousa.com/2006/d...age=1

 

thanks for the links guys. i was actually ready to throw down 450 on ebay on a unit that does soldering and desoldering. but i just dont want to buy something that isent going to work from me. 450 is my limit for a complete machine that will do everytihng with the push of a button, lol.

i found that with the bulb, if i dont get it all out the first time, it works better if i add more solder, then suck it all out. i am getting a lil better with the bulb, it just likks my hand and alot of times the tip moves when i try to relise it. its kinda hard to use with two hands

 

The vacuum stations are the way to go.

For the cheap route, that blue vac syringe works really well. I use that instead of the bulb style now. I heat from one side and syringe from the other.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Blown90hatcH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Yeah....that is a POS. Once you switch, you will ask yourself what the hell took me so long to make that decision.

This is what I use....works great...

http://www.hakkousa.com/2006/d...age=1

http://www.hakkousa.com/2006/d...age=1

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I was actually looking at that hand held-vacuum pump all in one desoldering iron. That's pretty cheap and looks decent.

The biggest thing that kept me from buying a desoldering station is 1; my boy works for a place that builds boards and he was drying to gank me a station free and 2; they are expensive.

I will say, that after doing so many ecu's with that bulb pos, you'd be surprised how quick I got with it. It isn't NEARLY the pain it was in the beginning.

I was just holdin off until SS Autochrome came out with one...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RC000E &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Yeah, I was actually looking at that hand held-vacuum pump all in one desoldering iron. That's pretty cheap and looks decent.

The biggest thing that kept me from buying a desoldering station is 1; my boy works for a place that builds boards and he was drying to gank me a station free and 2; they are expensive.

I will say, that after doing so many ecu's with that bulb pos, you'd be surprised how quick I got with it. It isn't NEARLY the pain it was in the beginning.

I was just holdin off until SS Autochrome came out with one... </TD></TR></TABLE>

After a couple hundred with that stupid bulb, it only took me once to scrap out a board to realize I needed to buy some good ones. Few hundred ones later and no issues. Takes less than a minute to desolder a board now.

 

but what are you using. model name and part number, that what i want to know

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SQ is the SQUAD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">




</TD></TR></TABLE>

thats what i used with not so many problems. i liked it.

 

The copper wick works out pretty well. Just be careful about which one you buy. Ive bought one from a local electronics store and it didnt work very well. Then I bought some from radioshack and it made the job so much easier. So I would recomend going with the radioshack brand.

 

If you dont want to spend alot of money I have found a method that seems to work really well for me.
One day I was using the braid crap that everyone seems to like so much when I got an idea. I had a automatic brake bleeding tool that I use when I need to either bleed brakes or suck out any kind of fluid from something. I heated one side of the board with the iron while holding the suction tube on the other side of the board and it worked great. Not only will you be able to socket ECUs but you will be able to bleed brakes too. You will need some form of air to run the bleeder though.

I couldnt find the exact model I have but this is basically the same thing I have but the unit I have is the much cheaper copy of this unit.

 

I use Hakko equipment. These are almost 5 years old now and I use them everyday and have had zero issues. If you do any kind of volume electronics repair or ecu socketing I recommend these. You can get them together for about $200.

Hakko 808 desoldering gun:


and the Hakko 936 soldering sation:

 

i went into a local store today to look at some units. i had about $300 to spend. i got some minor misc stuff and ended up getting the weller wesd51 solder station. if i ended up not liking it ill return it. the sales guy told me weller was pretty good. i just liked the fact i got if form somewhere local, so that if i dident like it it would be easy to return. i also got a philmore s2157 desoldering pin. its a one heand unit and works perfect. heats up quick, it ran me $29 but was worth every penny compared to that radioshack unit

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Blown90hatcH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Takes less than a minute to desolder a board now. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh hell....I didn't know we were talking like that. Man, that's fast as hell. With the bulb junk it takes me probably 10-15 min to desolder a P28 to be chipped. Man...less than a minute, hell even three minutes....that'd be pretty nice.

 

i got some pics of my new set up. to anyone who dosent have a deosldering station, should get this pump pen that i got, it works grat. its alot better than the radioshack bulb sucker.

this is the unit, i can desolder a ecu in about 5 mins, takes less than 5 mins to be fully heated


this is my setup. the weller unit is nice, i prob could of gotten something cheaper but i had cash and let the sales man sell it to me

 

just updating, everytnig works good, just keep it clean. i prob done about 15 ecus at this point, i am getting better

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MADMAX_zero &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Hakko 808 desoldering gun:

</TD></TR></TABLE>

The best dam tool for the money!! I can chip an ecu in 15 mins with this thing! I have done over 100 ecus and its still running strong! Just keep good maintence on it and your golden!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iBrandon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The best dam tool for the money!! I can chip an ecu in 15 mins with this thing! I have done over 100 ecus and its still running strong! Just keep good maintence on it and your golden!

</TD></TR></TABLE>


Yup. Just empty the solder collector, clean the tip, and change the filter once in a while and it will last for years and years.