Component removal with a heated air gun

The Pace Desoldering machines I've used all have internal pumps. You should distinctively hear the pump when you trigger it. Some use a foot pedal, others have a button switch on the iron's handle. If you hear the pump & still no suction, check the filter (s) and tubing for obstructions.

I am curious if anyone tried removing electronic components with a "hot air gun". I have a Raytheon RayChem HT-900B "Compressed air heater", which is supposed to blow hot air at temperature of about

900F from a 1/8" ID or so nozzle. It requires a compressor, which I have.

In a related vein, I got the Pace PRC 2000 soldering/desoldering stations, picked them up from a military base. I was hoping to keep one and sell another.

The good news is that both are labeled "Serviceable".

I printed out the manual. It is actually for a different model, as it turns out.

I am a little puzzled by a few things. The desoldering tip heats up rapidly to the desired temp, but the vacuum does not come up. Connecting a pedal did not help. I may be wrong, but I thought that the desoldering tip heats up solder and then vacuums it inside.

The soldering tip does not heat. I am not at all sure why. I will mess around with one station soon, as soon as I finish other things.

i

Good guess in general, but I do not think that this station is of this nature. It is supposed to have a pump. I think that I did not connect something properly or did not switch some things as necessary. I thought someone could have some good guess.

Everything is possible. Usually the situation is the reverse, the item says unserviceable but actually it is working, more or less.

I will check if there is any voltage on the connectors where the gun connects to, and perhaps resistance in the soldering piece. I did not have time to look at it in depth yet, I want to make better progress on my inverter.

i

Thanks. Yes, that's how I understand it should be. There is no motor noise whatsoever, I think that the pump does not turn on for some reason.

There is a foot switch that I attached to the back, pressing it does not help. I think that it is something simple and stupid.

i

Sounds great! I have all the necessary stuff, it seems. Will try doing that.

that's too brutal for me.

Yes... But it is military labeling, no third parties involved.

Thanks. Will do as you say.

i

Yes, done it a lot of times.

For surplus boards, I use a B&D paint stripper, mount the board in a vice, wear a heat-proof glove on the left hand, and blast away. A stainless-steel dental pick helps to lift things off the board. I have recovered hundreds of SMD parts that way, and have had 1 failure to my knowledge. An even more brutal approach heats the whole board, then bang it on the bench hard, and watch the parts fly off!. I also know of folk who have used a propane torch to do the heating.

For a more professional approach, both Pace and Leinster make small hot air guns that I have used successfully to remove small BGA parts.

That may mean little for surplus items

AFAIK, all Pace stations have an internal vac/pressure pump. Check the obvious things, fuse, switch, etc, or it may be a bad pump.

Barry Lennox

This Raychem gun is intended for use with solder sleeves (a length of heat shrink tubing with a preformed ring of solder in the center.) Solder sleeves are used for applications such as attaching a jumper to the braid of a coax cable. These guns run quite hot and I suspect would easily damage a circuit board.

Be sure to use dry compressed air. Condensed drops of water in the air supply can crack the heating element, which is expensive.

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-- Steve