How to use a solder sucker

If you ever venture into the world of electronics repair then you'll need to be able to remove components soldered onto a circuit board. There are different ways to accomplish this. By far the best is desoldering tool like the Hakko 808. These are basically a soldering iron and a vacuum pump in one tool. It melts the solder then sucks it out of the joint. Very effective, but also very expensive.

There are less expensive options out there. Solder wick (a.k.a. desoldering braid) is probably the cheapest. This is basically a small spool of braided copper wire. You put the braid on the solder to be removed and heat both with a soldering iron. As the solder melts it's literally wicked into the desoldering braid.

The other inexpensive way to remove solder is using a tool called a solder sucker. A solder sucker has a spring-loaded plunger that when released creates a small vacuum effect through the nozzle. The theory behind a solder sucker is simple, but getting them to work is a different matter. I've found two different approaches to using a solder sucker.

The first is to use your soldering iron to melt the solder and at the same time hold the tip of the solder sucker close to the joint. Then in one quick motion pull the soldering iron away, put the tip of the solder sucker over the joint, and press the button to release the plunger. This technique works, but it's very difficult to get it just right. The problem is you have only a fraction of a second to suck up the molten solder before it cools and solidifies. Using this method I found it sometimes took half a dozen attempts before I was successful.

The second approach is one I stumbled upon be accident but works very well. First use your soldering iron to melt the solder to be removed. Next, add still more solder to the joint. The goal is to create a relatively large blob of molten solder. Now bring in the solder sucker and as soon as the tip of the solder sucker is touching the molten solder press the button. Do NOT remove the soldering iron, leave it there. Because the soldering iron remains on the joint the solder remains molten. Molten solder, like water, has surface tension which means it will stick together. So once some of the solder starts up the tip into the solder sucker, the rest of the solder will follow it. I find this method to work very well for removing solder. It usually removes all the solder on the first try.

Now this technique may not work well if you don't have a small soldering iron tip. I would suggest you experiment first on some junk circuit boards. Good luck and happy repairing.