De-soldering Wick - What to get?

A general forum and a place for initial or prospective users. See Manuals/Documentation
Click here to enter
Contact a Forum Administrator
If unsure where to post, post in this sub-forum.

Moderators: jsmcortina, muythaibxr

Post Reply
ErnieJones
Master MS/Extra'er
Posts: 385
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2014 4:44 pm

De-soldering Wick - What to get?

Post by ErnieJones »

Hello!

Kind of a dumb question, perhaps, but I need to get some de-soldering wick. I was recently watching a YouTube video where a real pro was showing how to do SMD work and I saw that he re-used his wick over and over with no issues.

That kind of made me wonder because I tend to go through wick pretty fast. Either I'm not re-using it enough or perhaps I'm not using the right stuff or quality stuff.

So, if there are any soldering pros out there who have a recommendation I'd love to hear it.
Thanks you;
Ernie
billr
Super MS/Extra'er
Posts: 6828
Joined: Sun May 15, 2011 11:41 am
Location: Walnut Creek, Calif. USA

Re: De-soldering Wick - What to get?

Post by billr »

All I can say is some brands work a lot better than others! I have had drastically different results, using same size wick, same iron, same operator, etc. For me, the bare-copper wick seems to work better than the pre-tinned wick. I have brand names I could give, but that stuff is kind of generic; I don't know if the brands I have are even available now.
Hey_Allen
Helpful MS/Extra'er
Posts: 84
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:00 am

Re: De-soldering Wick - What to get?

Post by Hey_Allen »

In my experience, any decent brand solder wick seems to work well.
That being said, some appear to oxidize if they sit around for a while, and are near impossible to use after that.

The last batch that I bought had a good amount of flux in the wick which is nice in how well it starts wicking, but does make a mess that I have to clean up afterward!
Josh
-greasy fingered tinkerer
ErnieJones
Master MS/Extra'er
Posts: 385
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2014 4:44 pm

Re: De-soldering Wick - What to get?

Post by ErnieJones »

Well this is the thing, I don't solder much at all but years ago the wick I used to buy from a local electronic distributor was noticeably better then this thin crap that I'm getting which is oxidized right out of the pack. On the other hand, it was $2.29 but I'd rather have some good stuff like I used to get back when the supplier was still in business :roll:

But....I had a goot feeling about this one so I ordered up some => http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0976598032

Apparently it's Japanese and it it's 3mm wide and looks similar to the stuff the YouTube soldering pro was using. I just checked the stuff I picked up this afternoon - .050" width No wonder it's crap but that's all that's available locally.

Anyway, with 10 rolls of the new stuff coming I'm sure I won't be buying wick for many more years :D
Thanks you;
Ernie
Post Reply