LIKE THOSE WHO SAID,
cut away the plastic case , carefully (sharp pair of sidecutters are
best !)
the pins are just sitting in there held by the solder.
to save damaging the tracks etc.
simply
a-    turn board upside down  & hold 1" off table
b-    place iron on the solder holding that pin till you see the solder
change(goes shiny)-by slightly moving the iron around the pin the solder
melts quicker
c-    tap the board on the table & the pin should just fall out
i've done this hundreds of times with minimum track damage
you can then ( once solder cooled & with clean tip of iron) just run
iron over the hole & the solder will run & leave the hole open.

most people have probs. becasue not all the solder melts before they try
to remove the component
then more heat needed , track lifts etc.etc.

adding more solder to the joint prior to removing hepls
then you don't need to leave the iron on as long !

glen

Alice Campbell wrote:

> hello all,
>
> can anyone tell me how to remove a 18-pin socket from a pcb? i, kind
> of, um, may have melted a hole in it messing with the crystal caps.
>
> thanks,
> alice