Easy Way to Desolder and Remove Through Hole Connectors or Components

Just a quick video about de-soldering components. I hope you will find it useful.
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[@WillianMS]

Boy, I was like 1 hour trying to desolder a 3 pin switch. Watched your video and did it in less than 3 min. Thanks a lot!

[@Xw3dn3sd4yX]

This is a fantastic video you've made here! It's very concise and to the point and with the magnification it's so much easier to see what's happening and what to do. Thank you very much! I've been going about this all wrong, but now I know better thanks to you!

[@queasyRider3]

No kidding. At least to me it seems counter-intuitive. But, there it is on video, obviously working very well for you. I'll just need to try it myself. Thanks to Robert for posting a useful tip.

[@jiperey]

I often use a bare copper wire, that I solder all along the pins I need to desolder. This wire acts as a heat spreader. It is more or less the same technique as yours, except it needs much less solder. Anyway, great video, that will help many people out there. Thanks, Robert.

[@JuanPabloCisneros2207]

I use a desoldering pump and when the amount of solder is small enough I use the desoldering copper wire. Sometimes adding lot of heat in a transistor or ic can be not that good to the part

[@PETATNISSEN]

Good tip! Will test it next time.

[@phr3ui559]

is this safe for ICs? will the high temp be bad

[@colhany]

Unless you have a desoldering station, I think this is the best and fastest way to do it. I use this method because I don't have a desoldering station.

[@mikechristy1840]

Thank you for this video. Desoldering is a bit intimidating to me after a few not so good attempts, but this helped. I also realized that flux helps as well and I was able to successfully remove some wires and clean the holes on a PCB just now without much issue.

[@casianfd]

Excellent!! Just what I needed - I was a bit stuck with one of my first soldering projects and now I am keen to go back and give it another try :)

[@yukayuyu3844]

My method is to remove the plastic part holding them together and then remove the pins one by one, heating them up and quickly pulling them out with tweezers. Quick and hassle-free, as long as you don't really care about ruining the part you're removing.

[@RobertFeranec]

I sometimes do that too - especially for some headers it is very simple to remove the plastic.

[@JeffGeerling]

I ended up going that route (pulling individual pins) on a rather expensive CO2 sensor that I had messed up... and ended up screwing up some of the pads, and had to toss it out. This method (bridging the pins with solder) would've probably worked better to save the component (and saved me a few bucks!).

[@zz3709]

This! One by one is there safest way to preserve the PCB.

[@KnaufL]

@@JeffGeerling that's because you're a software guy and should stay away from hardware 😛

[@GeneralHowToTutorials]

in my case I care very much about the part I am removing...

[@PatchworxStudios]

And now do it with 20 pins.

[@SwingMotor]

Same as 5 pin connector 😂😂

[@Faiver]

Buy desoldering gun 😅 ~10$ for simple iron with integrated manual suction pump and ~100$ for semi-professional fully automatic desoldering gun.

[@dylanm.3692]

​@Faiver I got a hot air gun for $13 on Amazon. But yeah, this method is good for small connectors.

[@d2vmusic]

Thank you very much for this advice. I'm about to replace a soldered-in battery on an old Yamaha synthesiser so I'm gathering as much information as I can about PCB de-soldering. I have now ordered some braid as you have used here.

[@SoLCollectR]

Man you make it look so easy. I gave the most difficult time trying to clear the solder from the holes

[@goku445]

you tried adding more tin too?

[@brettmcclung8704]

Thank you so much brotha, man I would have ruined my lucky break to have come across the component I needed if I hadn't seen this, and it worked so surely and smooth 👍I was just about to start burning it until I used this method

[@icemanv16999]

Awesome tutorial. Finally desoldered small ARK connectors only accessible from the bottom of the PCB. Thanks :)

[@udance4ever]

@2:40 thank you for the tip to add more solder if you're having trouble cleaning the hole. this video saves me having to buy a solder sucker - I only have 2 holes to clear to replace a battery & it's clear from this video I can get the job done w the wick that is arriving today!

[@russbilzing5348]

I never thought of this simple method. Thank you.

[@omarelmasri7749]

Thanks for the video, Robert! Was wondering if you could make a series on tools and some hardware tips. Would be really helpfull for beginners and hobbyist. Particularly when it's from a professional like you.

[@dobdoa3691]

Solder sucker works great and you don't waste solder. My experience of 40 years in electronics.

[@RodHartzell]

Brilliant! I would have never thought of doing that. Thank you for sharing!

[@imqqmi]

Low melt solder to the rescue, that's a lot easier and less likely to damage and burn the pcb. Also works on very large pin counts and multi layer boards with large copper planes. A soldering iron with a large power/heat delivery capability is also handy in such cases (ie 200W in a large chunky copper tip with sensor as close to the tip as possible), to get the lead free solder to melt to get the low melt mixed in.

[@madGambol]

Very nice and simple way. Just had a problem removing a part and this should do it. Thanks.

[@RobertFeranec]

Hope it helps.

[@peterbigblock]

Great tip, will try this when desoldering switches today!

[@johnbos4637]

This is a good technique and works for small surface mounted parts too (flood with solder and heat with iron until the part is loose). This technique has been known for many years. For multi-layer PCBs this technique will definitely NOT work because the inside layers act like a heatsink and take the heat away from the part. You will use a full roll of solder and still get nowhere. Even with a dedicated powered desoldering tool you can not remove through-hole parts on a multi-layer PCB. Most of the pin holes can be cleared but the VCC and GND holes will remain blocked. The secret is to use some hot air to heat the PCB to about 150 degrees C first, then use the desoldering method of your choice and the part will come free much more easily.

[@Graham_Wideman]

I concur.

[@chetananam9141]

Excessive heating results in removal of the tracks & pads, resulting in a damaged pcb.

[@ideegeniali]

@@chetananam9141 150°C is safe for PCB, you can keep that preheat temp for many minutes. I preheat to 150 °C with hot air fountain from below the pcb. Once pcb is preheated, any soldering or desoldering becomes way easier and quick and very little thermal stress to pcb

[@chetananam9141]

@@ideegeniali nice to know that. Thanks!

[@timhofstetter5654]

Heat the joint, then tap the board against your bench. The solder has far more inertia than anything else, so when your board stops on contact with the bench, the solder continues on and flies off the board. Also... at times, a vacuum solder "sucker" can be very helpful. And... if you don't care about keeping the part you remove, it's often best to cut all its leads above the board. Then you can desolder them one at a time without wasting your expensive solder.

[@robert574]

Another "do the opposite of what I usually do including mess it up" instruction. This worked great. It would have never occurred to me although I do add solder trying to trying to get my solder wick to work better. I have a jar of flux now and I just lay the wick on top of the flux paste and press the tip of the iron on the wick to liquefy the flux and the wick soaks it up. Then it works much better. My solder wick always looks terrible and tarnished like I found it in the street somewhere. My system is similar to yours except when I get done the traces are gone and stuck to my solder wick. I just ordered a temp controlled iron to keep the heat down (from china). Hope it works ok.

[@abrahamalviarez5870]

simple, yet, extremely useful, I was wondering how to do this without the little vacum pen, now I can fix my xbox controller bumper button! thank you Robert!!

[@Prober61]

Completely opposite of what I have been doing for almost FORTY YEARS! Thank you!

[@starseeddeluxe]

Haha. Yeah, I've been soldering for 30 years, and had no idea that you could do this. It's so simple that you feel really silly knowing you never thought of it. I was sitting here dreading removing a capacitor, haha.

[@lorencing]

Great advice, helped me a lot, thanks.

[@inguanara]

this tutorial was great, i really enjoyed it!

[@Jessica-dq7ng]

Thank you for this video! You helped me fix my baby monitor! 😊

[@jrinventormusic]

wow. that is awesome you just helped me so much thank you from NY!

[@LiftoffLumberjack]

Thanks for the knowledge boost! Dropping a like and comment to help you rank higher in the KZbin search results.

[@markzalesky8632]

That worked! Very helpful video!

[@ThinkDriving]

Amazing video so simple thank you 👍👍

[@billglass5160]

Thank you for the advice. I will try it!! Up until now, I have separated each pin by cutting the plastic part and then individually removing each pin. I don't have much luck in cleaning the solder from the holes with the wick. I use a solder sucker on the bottom side while heating the top side.

[@herr_kukuffs]

Hello Robert! Thanks for the great tip :) I use the same technique for such things! I would kindly add - sometimes I add some more flux on the tin-plugged hole before putting the copper wick and/or increase a bit the solder iron temperature. Most problematic it's the through-hole pad, which connected to the massive ground plane!

[@RobertFeranec]

Thank you Igor PS: Yes, that problematic pad is exactly a GND hole connected to plane. Great tip!

[@nedstar7378]

Excelent, it works great. I manage to desolder double 6 pins little pot meters without damaging the circuit board. You save my day, thanks for sharing. B.t.w I not used the clip.

[@hammaadhussain9974]

Legit works like magic Slavs are true heroes

[@WeiJian393]

this is way better than the other technique I saw.

[@Demosophist]

You, sir, are a life saver!

[@123decoeli]

Great demonstration. Thanks!

[@kushlavr]

I foud this tip wery useful long time ago. First time I saw it in your 100 evry day hardware design tips. And also I test it on several kind of components (2 rows 40 pins IDE hard drive header -> easy peasy) Thanks!

[@RobertFeranec]

Yes, I mentioned this in some older videos. PS: I wanted to try my new microscope and this was a good topic

[@kennethdante]

Thank you for the good techniques.

[@dragan143]

Oof. Wish I had looked up this video before I had attempted to desolder some pins like those in the video. I might have been able to salvage the pins. Great tip! Thank you for the video.

[@xConundrumx]

Better way, use a piece of copper wire (single core) as a thermal transfer aid. Cut it to size and add it to the connector, add tin an it will ensure the heat spreads around. Best part, you can shape the wire to fit on more complicated pin layouts and still get the heat spread out evenly over all pins.

[@VeritasEtAequitas]

Yep. Do you have any tips that would work on 2 very widely spaced, very long rows like an ESP32 Pico D4 / pico kit?

[@ciatangallaghe2485]

Used it. It worked. Brilliant sir

[@alvaroprietovideos]

Thank you, it was very useful for me

[@spud3607]

Thank you, great tip! Everyday is a school day.

[@jayenoble2901]

Your a true craftsman good tips!

[@yasirmehmood663]

Thank you very much for your informative information sir 🙏

[@davidklbecek827]

What can I say except you're a legend

[@user-my9jz4dl1p]

Great tips!!! THANK YOU

[@kc_ee]

That is super useful. Thank you.

[@rajendraharsora8006]

Well done bro your video is very helpful for me.I like your method.God bless you from India 🙏

[@andrewtrushinski3848]

Good video. Very clean work here.

[@user-fd4iu1wg1g]

Awesome video, thanks for sharing

[@breannestahlman5953]

Thank uyou, very useful for me total beginner.

[@tomjoad1060]

thank you very much for this lesson!

[@Frankaccino]

Having a game controller and trying to replace the joystick without any soldering wick or soldering gun has proven really hard to me. Hopefully this method will help me out! Thanks for such a wonderful video!

[@joshserna9983]

Super helpful, thank you!

[@user-fj3lg3pg5d]

WOW THIS WORKS LIKE CHARM, THANKS ALOOOT

[@Xerkies]

2:30 THANK YOU, ive had solder stuck in the hole and took a while trying to figure out how to get it out

[@jimspc07]

I know someone who removed memory chips from a large mass array with a gas torch on the solder side and a screwdriver sliding down the chips on the top. Recovered hundreds in minutes. That was old days now simmilar is done with SMT and no one complains.

[@kacperbardecki3671]

Hero. Now I know to add more solder on stubborn holes and try again. Surface tension. 🤯

[@manolopidiong8659]

thank you for the TIP on desoldering..

[@bobbymoss6160]

Nice tip. Thank you.

[@sopunths9315]

This is great!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

[@garyvanremortel5218]

A lot of the soderwick has flux skips ,so make sure your braid is fluxed well. I prefer a hand solder sucker or Hakko desoldering station.

[@wiimancool1]

My go to method too! Good video.

[@martinmeo]

Great tip. Thanks!!

[@curtkeisler7623]

Thank you for showing that to me!

[@rickexe802]

this is so helpfull, thank you for tips to repare my broken keyboard

[@collie737]

With magnification it shows me that I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. Great video 👍

[@dave3130]

Nicely done 👍🏻

[@dgb5820]

Really good trick and tip

[@VeniceInventors]

Nice tips, I've been struggling with the wick, and one difference I noticed in your video is the presence of flux, whereas my desoldering wick is as dry as can be. Next time I need to clean through holes I'll try adding flux to the wick.

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

The brand name of the desoldering braid you use really matters. I've found only the name-brand braid to be reliable. The cheaper no-name stuff often does not work well at all, and I've even found some that was made from copper-plated aluminum wire. If you take the cheap route, you'll have a difficult time. Get the good stuff.

[@8180634]

Flux is your friend, use lots of flux. Clean it up when you're done with alcohol.

[@udance4ever]

​@@8180634do you need to clean up flux that is embedded in wicks that include it? what is the technique w alcohol exactly? do you just rub it in? I'm a noob to all this & have to take on all this over the wkd!

[@k.chriscaldwell4141]

Awesome. Great video. Sometimes the counter intuitive method-add more solder-is the way to go.

[@ukaszpochron4263]

Thanks, it's a great idea

[@Harrison2253]

Great tip ! 👍

[@amratsingh5206]

Very good. As always.

[@RobertFeranec]

Thank you Amrat

[@____________________________.x]

I am famous Chinese reseller of quality ICs, I use old washing machine heated by propane torch to remove everything from boards… 💁‍♂️ good business, much trust, very genuine… 😹

[@____________________________.x]

@@VishaP-uu6zc no, look at reviews from family, all celebrate, many five stars. No returns

[@agoogleuser8492]

Your hand is so steady!

[@Gengh13]

When I'm not in my bench with the desoldering iron, I also use this method. Sometimes I also do it this way because it's really fast.

[@Katosnakes]

great work, thanks

[@yeso8205]

nice cleaning and brush, admire

[@3nertia]

Use flux instead, you'll save solder, save your solder wick, and save time AND mess :) It's worth investing in an Engineer SS-02 solder sucker - it's the only one I've found that actually works as it has a silicone tip that you can stick directly on the solder joint! Use the solder sucker first then grab the rest with solder wick/desoldering braid

[@shader26]

That is a great tip!

[@mikebruestle218]

Robert, You can put moldable clay or Play-Doh under your parts when soldering and using your camera. It will help keep them in the camera shot, and stuck to the table.

[@CogitoBcn]

Why should I put Plau-Doh under my parts? I don't even want to show my parts on camera! 🙄

[@stevenholton438]

good tips thanks

[@user-kh9hp2tq2c]

Good job men👌🏼👌🏼

[@richardgray131185]

Can I use the solder wick/wire and soldering iron to create circular holes in a pcb board where the pin connectors are fitted?

[@hammadmustafa440]

Amazing. Thanks a lot

[@jimdunleavypiano]

I would recommend using a solder sucker pump to remove components. Your method will work on a connector but not so good for components that might be damaged by heat.

[@blueskky9996]

On smaller boards I put a towel on the edge of my workbench and then quickly but gently tap the board on the table after heating the solder to melting point. Another way I like is to use a dremel type tool with a cutting wheel to cut the legs on the component then can remove the pins one by one with pliers and soldering iron. I only do this on components that are no longer functional.

[@shimxininahi8024]

Multiple pin removal technique is great. I wonder how do you remove the ICU chips?

[@alphabeets]

Use desoldering braid that has flux embedded in it. If it does not come with it, add your own flux. Makes a BIG difference.

[@ArthurIslamRU]

Thanks 👍, Dear Robert! You're very Cool teacher

[@RobertFeranec]

Thank you Артур

[@ArthurIslamRU]

@@RobertFeranec You're welcome!

[@Thankz4sharing]

My ancient blue plastic Soldapult solder sucker still works fine. I could see using this alternate technique in rare cases, but certainly not for a five pin connector on a single layer board.

[@DanielOliveiraViolao]

Great! Thank you!

[@Yo.m]

thanks friend your idea help me out to remove a peace :D

[@I-AM-FOREVER97]

Life saver!🏆

[@kanuh]

very useful video