Subj : Re: Soldering was:Changes
To   : Dave Drum
From : Jeff Thiele
Date : Wed Feb 23 2022 07:55 am

On 23 Feb 2022, Dave Drum said the following...
 DD>  JT> The one I have my eye on for about $150 has a suction pump in it as
 DD>  JT> well. The soldering and desoldering tools are separate, although
 DD>  JT> connected to the same base unit.
 DD> 
 DD>  JT> https://amazon.com/YIHUA-Desoldering-Station-Soldering-Iron/dp/B07RTX
 DD>  JT> V
 DD> 
 DD> I had a station with a vacuum pump - when I was doing a lot of VCR 
 DD> (remember those?) repairs. I founf I seldom used it as the portable 
 DD> solder sucker was much more handy - and I didn't have to listen to the
 DD> vacuum pump clattering away when I was trying to concentrate.

The soldering/desoldering station arrived yesterday and I used it a bit last
night. I was previously using a soldering station with a dial to control the
temperature, and this is superior in a few ways.

It heats up much faster than the old iron. Much faster. It also has more
sensors and emits a tone when the iron or desoldering tool are heated to the
desired temperature. It maintains different temperature settings for the two
devices. The desoldering is very clean.

Due to the nature of the power switch, only one device can be heated at a
time. The vacuum pump does not operate all of the time, but only when the
trigger of the desoldering tool is pressed. I suppose it would become
bothersome to change back and forth a lot, but I tend to solder a lot more
than desolder. I only really desolder to fix mistakes. Once I get the hang of
this desoldering tool, I think I could be ready to attempt some restorative
component replacements.

Jeff.

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