On Thu, 2007-06-14 at 10:47 +0200, Rikard Bosnjakovic wrote:
> On 6/14/07, Alan B. Pearce <A.B.Pearce@rl.ac.uk> wrote:
> 
> > I get taught that the flux is there to help the solder wet the two parts of
> > the joint. In the case of solder wick it helps the solder wet the copper in
> > the wick, which makes the solder flow, and then the wicking action happens
> > because the solder can now stick to the copper in the wick.
> 
> Which reminds me that I've had a roll of solder wick for, like, 10
> years or so, but never ever managed to get it to work so I've always
> resorted to using the solder suction instead.
> 
> I'm sure I've applied the wick wrong. The times I tried it I put the
> wick atop of the solder-pad (or whatever) to be removed, then the
> solder iron atop of the wick, heating the wick and the solder up. The
> solder melt, but the wick never "ate" the solder.

Chances are it's bad solder wick. I've found the cheaper brands just
don't work very well. There are cases were a "solder sucker" is a better
idea (i.e. cleaning out holes on a 20 layer PCB), but in general I find
solder wick much more useful.

TTYL

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