Ha, HA! That's a GREAT write-up. (Why isn't it on the Elecraft builder's resources page?) I'll admit that the latest equipment from Europe that I've serviced is still pre-RoHS, so I've not faced that dilemma - yet.
I've used your "toothpick" approach, but I found it needs have very small mass. I have some dental picks (donated by my dentist). Although the pointed tip is small enough, with the metal handle they have way too much mass and instantly solidify the solder when it's touched. I have taken a thin piece of wire and wrapped it around the tip of the iron so it's heated and used it to push on through the hole. Stick it through the pad and swirl the wire around (if it's smaller than the hole in the pad) to clear the space for the new component lead. Where space is available to reach the pad on both sides of the board (either I've got the component out or I've clipped the leads so I'm just clearing the solder pad) I put the spring-loaded solder sucker on the pad on one side of the board, and heat the pad on the other side until the solder is molten, then push the button and WHACK! it's clear. It helps to leave some of the old component lead sticking out of the pad when doing that so I can put the tip of the sucker over it and it won't slip off while I'm focusing on where I'm putting the iron. That sounds elegant, but the reality is much, much closer to what you describe. Still, it works. Mike S brought up an interesting issue about the strength of lead-free solder joints referencing a paper by Borgesen of Universal Instruments Corporation and Henderson of IBM Corporation: http://www.pcbrc.com/dev/PDFs/WhitePaper-SACfragility1.pdf I'm as 'green' as the next guy but I'll stick with my leaded solder. After all, I'm not planning to dump any of my Elecraft rigs in the land fill anytime soon... Ron AC7AC ----Original Message----- Ron D'Eau Claire wrote: > I wrote, "Lead-free solder melts at a higher temperature than leaded > solder. Higher temperatures mean it's easier > to lift a trace or damage a solder pad if you change a part." This is certainly true. But it's worse than that. What I should have said is that it's much harder to get parts off the board *at all* if they were secured using unleaded solder. It's hard to get even one wire out of a hole! In 1999 I wrote about the joys of component removal: http://www.kkn.net/archives/html/QRP-L/1999-01/msg00445.html Everything I said in this piece goes double for lead-free solder :) However, I must modify my original Technique #8. Rather than use a component lead to clean out a solder-filled hole, I use a very thin stainless-steel "pick" or a toothpick. The solder won't stick to such tools -- a huge improvement over my original method. 73, Wayne N6KR --- http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
