>There is a better alternative than lifting pins individually:
>Make a large solder blob that covers all the pins, then hold
>the board at an angle and slide the iron around the pins until
>the solder is molten on all of them at the same time, at which
>time the chip falls off the board.

I would not like to try this with a 44 pin or larger chip, unless I was not
wishing to save the PCB. The amount of heat required would soon cause pad
lifting.

>Clean up the board with desoldering braid, and the chip with flux.

This is essential even for two or three pin devices like r,c, diodes and
transistors.

>This method is faster and less likely to damage the chip or the
>board.  But hot air is best.

Hot air is definitely the best, but large chips are best done with the
appropriate air deflectors/guides like Wouter mentioned. I haven't tried
using a paint stripper, and suspect that it would need some care as there is
no heat control, so you don't know what temperature the air is. Maybe a PIC
project here to control the temperature ...

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