A good "solder sucker" is also an excellent investment, as is some narrow desoldering braid and a little rosin flux, either in a pen or small bottle.
Although elegant, the powered solder suckers are not necessary. A good spring-loaded unit will do the job 99% of the time. They sell for US $10 to $15. Where the sucker isn't convenient, the braid works FB. I also keep a little rosin flux around, but the only place I've used it in conjunction with Elecraft gear is with solder braid to de-solder filled vias and pads. Many have reported a few of those to clear when doing the mods in question. I did. I don't put the flux on the board, but rather add some to the tip of good, narrow solder braid, then press the braid against the via with the iron on top. I raise the temperature of the iron to 750 - 800 F when doing that to compensate for the heat absorbed by the braid. The flux mainly stays in the braid, cleaning oxidation from the braid itself so it will more quickly wick up the solder from the board into the braid. The action is obvious as the copper braid turns silver with solder. That's how the vias on the left side in the VFO noise mod document were cleared. In that case, the 1/4 watt resistor leads are a very close fit in the vias and a thin probe pushed gently into the opened via compresses the thin layer or solder remaining to provide the needed clearance. If you look closely at the photos you'll see a little flux on the board. It's virtually clear - a sure sign it wasn't over-heated. That flux is absolutely safe there; it will not damage the board in any way. Remember that rosin flux is only active when it's up around the temperature of melted solder, and if your K3 gets hot enough to melt the solder off of the boards the flux will be the least of your concerns, Hi! As others said, a little practice before 'diving in' is an excellent idea. If you don't have any scrap boards around, places like RadioShack have little project boards that are an inexpensive way to get the feel of your iron before working on the K3. Ron AC7AC ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
