12W pencil point soldering iron too small?

[Kill_A._Byte]

I have a 12 watt Weller iron and I cant seem to get it to melt the solder off a board I am trying to pull the caps off of. I can melt the solder off a roll, but I cant melt the solder on the board :eh?: What is my problem?
Thank You,
Killa

[Son1990]

Are u sure its not melting. In order to get the solder off the board without suction beads or a de-soldering iron, you need to scrape the solder a way, bit by bit.

[Kill_A._Byte]

Well it took about 10 min to get 1 lead loose off a cap. You think I need to get some of that de soldering braid?

[Son1990]

I would suggest that or a De-soldering Iron.....those are the ones with the big suction bulbs.

[Kill_A._Byte]

Thank you for the reply s.
I'll go see what the shack has.

[Flip-Mode]

Get a decent 30-35W one and it will work fine, it takes 3-4 mins to heat up and then it will melt solder like butter.

[Son1990]

Yes,
a more powerfull one should make a diffrence but there really is no hastle with the beads or de-soldering iron

[Kill_A._Byte]

Get a decent 30-35W one and it will work fine, it takes 3-4 mins to heat up and then it will melt solder like butter.
I thought something with lower wattage would be better for soldering on a PCB.
I found a desoldering iron at the shack for $11.00, guess I'll give it a try.
I'm hoping I didn't kill the board. I may have gotten a lil rough wid it when I couldn't get the cap out. :temper:
Thanks again guys,
Killa

[four4875]

12 watts isnt much, it's probably just disipating the heat through the copper layers on the board. the RS desolderign irons... not so good for components that fit really tightly in their holes, but.. ive used one to pull the VGA connector off of a mobo to put it in another.. a little girl managed to rip it off of the board when she was unhooking it for her mom... :-/

anyways.. what i do... usually add a little solder to the connection, use an outside edge to heat the pin and add a bit of solder. then squeeze the buld with my thumb, pin in hole of tip, then move the iron around so it rubs all the way aroudn the pin, hopefully melting the solder and moving the pin all the way around the hole. keep on moving it around but and let off on the bulb, to hopefully suck i nthe solder. trying to keep the bit flat on the board to get as much seal as possible, so it sucks through the board. then pull the iron away, and squeeze the bulb somewhere to blow out the solder. inside an empty pop can works well, and a glass full of water does too. popcan is harder to spill tho. then the solder should be out of the hole, but it might be stuck to the side a little, but pops off with a little push with like a screwdriver.

tons of practice is the best way to get it down, i've stripped a couple of dead PSU boards, of all components, so it was jsut the bare PCB. mostly caus i was very bored a the time and had no net, and somewhat for practice.

hope this helps some, and dont stress the board too much, they're usually multi layered and can be difficult to work with.

[Kill_A._Byte]

Thats how I got half the cap off the board, with the add a lil solder trick :) .
I Gave up on the board and bought one in the classi section. I plan to de solder all those caps after I get a better iron and a solder sucker... hea, I might jus get out the turbo tourch and have at it, I'll teach that board for not givin up the caps.
Thanks for the advice,
Killa

[Archer36]

Desoldering for me is a nightmare, I have the vacum pump and the braid and both never seem to get the solder out of the hole.

[Son1990]

Desoldering for me is a nightmare, I have the vacum pump and the braid and both never seem to get the solder out of the hole.

hmmm. always work fine for me

[Flip-Mode]

Ummm...for pulling stuff out off the board I just start pulling it while heating the soldered part until it come out.....never had a component that didn't get desoldered.

[SolidxSnake]

Tin the tip?

[four4875]

solidxdnake, i think it's just a matter of the 12 watt iron being not enough power to keep feeding it all heat to melt the solder. boards usually have a solid copper layer as a ground, that works pretty good at disipating heat. a 12 watt iron is pretty tiny, and with the board acting like a heatsink, can be difficult to deal with.

[SolidxSnake]

solidxdnake, i think it's just a matter of the 12 watt iron being not enough power to keep feeding it all heat to melt the solder. boards usually have a solid copper layer as a ground, that works pretty good at disipating heat. a 12 watt iron is pretty tiny, and with the board acting like a heatsink, can be difficult to deal with.


But still, 3 watts can't be THAT much different, right? My 15w iron can handle any PCB job ;)

Well, except for those giant 1-foot diameter PCB holes LOL

[four4875]

ive had trouble with a 30 watt iron getting a board to heat up caus o how it diddipated heat. i tihnk some boards just have athicker ground layer that conduct better, and if its the groud leg of the cap, will be in direct contact with that sheet of copper, and could cause troubles.

[ThePCGuy]

I simply rock the caps (so far the only electronic component on a board I've had to replace) one side to the other while heating the legs of the capacitor. Heat one, rock the capacitor in the opposite direction, then do the same to the other. I then use a straight pin on the face of the board in the hole, I then touch the back side of the board with the soldering iron to the soldering pad until I can push the pin through. Works like a charm for me.

- Jim

[hitokiri_808]

12w isn't a lot. I have a 35w desoldering iron with the bulb on the end, works like a charm for me. Better than desoldering braid imo.

Since I got it not a single electronic leaves my hands without being stripped of valuable components. :p

[SolidxSnake]

After finally getting the hang of it, desoldering braid is the ****ziz

[four4875]

the irons are good for removin caps and similar, but SMD cleanup is a pain in the pooper. thats where the braid gets really good.