Eaton.HFED%hi-multics@sri-unix.UUCP (03/06/84)
Some desoldering techniques that I have heard of or used: 1. Hand held solder sucker ball and soldering iron. (pros are good with these) 2. Vaccuum pump with desoldering iron. (excellent and expensive) 3. Propane torch and chip puller. (used on surplus boards only) 4. Special multiprong tips which desolder all pins simultaneously. 5. Solder wick and soldering iron. (I always blow etches) 6. Clip pins off chip using GA54-2 cutters from Diamond Tools then trim leads on new chip and solder them to stubs from old chip. The cutters have carbide steel tips which actually crush the pins across their widest points. A cheap tool will not hold up in repeated use. As you can tell by the length of this entry this is my method of choice for replacing bad chips. With the other methods that I can afford, there always seems to be some type of plated through hole damage. 7. One of my fellow technical types uses a variation of no. 6. He takes a hammer and screwdriver, puts the board on a sturdy flat surface and smashes the little buggers to smithereens (the chips that is) then reuses the old leads just as before. That always makes me nervous but he does it with high density memory boards with no ill effects. 8. Spring loaded vaccuum plungers and iron. (so-so) That's all I can think of at the moment. Bon Apetit. Jesse Eaton @ HI-MULTICS