Customer Reviews

Solder Sucker

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I never thought I'd have a reason to use a de-soldering pump, but recently I found myself disassembling the power supply of an LCD TV. The TV manufacturer had placed inferior capacitors on the circuit board of the power supply and after 2 years, the TV would not turn on. After much research, I found that I could swap out the bad capacitors myself and save a ton of money. So I purchased the desoldering pump to help remove the old solder from the circuit board by vacuuming up the hot solder so that the capacitor can be replaced. Though I had no experience with circuit boards, I was able to complete the task successfully, and the TV now works like new. The desoldering pump worked perfectly, and I can honestly say, "This product sucks!"

This one works ok, but I found this pump to get clogged with hardened solder easier than other pumps I've used. Maybe mine has a defect or something but it seems that the suction isn't quite what it needs to be to get the solder all the way into the base. Instead it will sometimes get stuck in the rubber tip and after 4 or 5 joints will clog the tip up so the cleaner bar won't go all the way in and you have to take it apart and clean it out to do more.

First, I'm assuming this is the same sucker that Radio Shack sold - it sure looks the same. I was happy with it initially, because it was solidly made, and easier to use than a squeeze bulb type. However, once I got my hands on an Edsyn DS017 Soldapullt, I thought differently. The DS017 creates a stronger vacuum and moves more air, so is much more effective removing solder. I'd advise spending the extra $15 for the real thing.

I bought this one from Rat Shack since I needed a desoldering tool right away, but I wouldn't recommend it. It works, but just barely. Two reasons it's not good: the pump barrel just isn't large enough to move a sufficient volume of air to pick up enough solder. Also, when you release the plunger the pump "recoil" makes it hard to keep the tip on the work. Get the Edsyn Soldapullt® Deluxe Desoldering Pump instead. It has a much larger barrel and doesn't suffer from the recoil problem.

I was reluctant to purchase this item due to all the negative reviews. Since all the other solder suckers also have all these bad reviews, I decided to purchase this one and try it out.

I am not certain what the bad reviews are about. There seems to be two complaints. I want to address those with my experience.

1: Does not suck the solder off the board.

I used this several times to repair a LCD monitor. It had no problems sucking the solder off the board. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the solder sucked off the solder point. After reading the bad reviews, I was expecting a lackluster job but it was cleaner than a solder braid.

I can only surmise that the people who are having problems are not jamming the tip right up against the lead and the soldering iron tip. Don't worry about burning the teflon, it will be fine as long as you are not holding it against the soldering iron for several minutes.

2: Device Jams from solder

Again, I was pleasantly surprised after a few solder joints were sucked clean, when I recharge the unit, it discharged a film of solder. Apparently this unit is self cleaning. Perhaps there was a problem with previous designs. My experience is that the solder is ejected when you recharge the unit.

I think one of the problems that can cause this unit to jam is if you do not jam the tip right up against the lead, iron tip, and board. The solder is only partially sucked into the device so some of it gets stuck in the tip, jamming it.

If this device is used properly, the solder is sucked clean off the board and then ejected after a few uses.

Anyone out there wondering if they should buy this, I would highly recommend it. Test it out a few times before using and see how good the suction is. If it doesn't appear as if the suction is working then the unit, most likely, has a leak somewhere. Open it up and lube the rings and you should be good to go. Use silicon lube.

This unit works 100x better than solder braid. Save yourself some aggravation and use this for board repairs.

Felix

Do not buy this. I recieved this today, took it out of the package and after 10 minutes of normal use the microscopic plastic threads gave out. Horrible design, how anybody would think that putting tiny plastic threads on a fitting which is supposed to hold a spring in place excapes me... asides from falling apart after 10 minutes it jams up ALL the time... I repeat DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM!!!!!

Haven't used it very long, but it's solid and sucks solder as well as the $20 weller model so far

I knew this product would be fairly cheap, but it broke after one use. The top half of the Solder Sucker is plastic and it threads into a metal bottom half. This connection point is bad and it just breaks apart. I guess I can just tape it together. I don't understand why they don't just make the entire thing plastic.

I got this product thinking it was good enough for sucking the solder from the power jack of a laptop I have. Boy, was I wrong. First off, the tip is huge and you have to quickly get in there while the solder is still hot n soft or you missed your chance and have to reload and try try again. It can get really aggravating - seriously. In order to make this product work for me, I got a pair of pliers and pinched the tip to my desired width/etc. until I could do what I want with it. NOt a long term product - short term; a throw-away item at best. Luckily, I was only off 4 bucks with s&h and all.

It works perfectly and it's self cleaning ... what more could you want???? Did I mention it was cheap?

Been using it for 2 weeks solid now .... no problems at all .... going to order some more that's how well I like it :O)