Solder Wick

[megahz]

Well I recently got some solder wick and its not absorbing any of the solder when I try to desolder anything, I don't have flux, how can I get the wick to work?

[kxenos]

I have never had any luck desoldering smd's with the wick (at least without extra (the wick has some) flux). I use it only to pick excess solder or clean the pads after desoldering (with hot chinese air). 

[Galaxyrise]

Pull the wick apart a little bit to loosen the weave.  Have a little solder on the iron tip to increase the surface area you're heating on the wick.  But if your wick has no flux, the solder won't really wet to it.  Put a glob of solder on the iron and see how hard it is to get that solder to soak into the wick (without touching the wick to anything else)  If it doesn't wick off the iron, you'll never get anything off your board with it.

[nanofrog]

Some good suggestions, but really, the best thing to do, is either buy a good quality flux and add it to the wick as needed, or buy a good quality wick that already has flux in it (ideally, get both if possible).

Difference of night and day between the good stuff (made by companies such as Chemtronics, MG Chemicals, or Techspray) and the no-name stuff from eBay. More expensive to purchase, but it makes life much easier, and reduces the chance of damaging a PCB (lifted traces and scorching). Making it less expensive and more convenient in the long run.

[megahz]

I just bought MG Chemicals 835 Liquid Rosin Flux, Non Corrosive and Non Conductive residue, 125 ml Bottle from amazon, is that good flux?

[MacAttak]

Yeah, you really just need to get some flux. Be sure you get appropriate flux though!

A good bet is Kester 186. They make a flux pen that is very easy to use and doesn't make a mess. You can generally find it on digikey or ebay for about $5 and some change (plus shipping).

You can dab the pen tip on the wick itself, or you can dab it on the solder blob you want to remove (or both). If the tip is dry then you just press it against the work surface a couple of times to pump more flux into the tip.

You will find that the wick works MUCH better with flux. It also works wonders when applying new solder too. Even when solder has a flux core it can be really useful to have a flux pen handy. Solder that wets easily is awesome. Solder that refuses to wet is 

[Smokey]

Get fluxin!
We have a bottle of liquid rosin flux at work, but seriously if one more person spills that stuff on the rework table I'm going to quit.  At home I got a little tin of paste flux that I picked up at Frys that works great and no worry about spilling it.  It should last me for the next 4 or 5 million years at least and cost about 3 bucks if I remember correctly.

While you are buying more wick, get one of the combo packs in the stackable round containers with a bunch of sizes of braid.  It's super useful to have the right size wick for the job at hand instead of using something that is way to big too way too small.  Plus you can always reuse the containers and they stack small for storage.

[megahz]

sigh... flux+ shipping is like 10$ for 10 ml which is why I bought this from amazon :MG Chemicals 835 Liquid Rosin Flux, Non Corrosive and Non Conductive residue, 125 ml Bottle, for 10$ its like 4oz, is that good?

[Smokey]

Yup.  That's the same stuff we have at work. 
1) Don't spill it on the table.
2) SERIOUSLY DON'T SPILL IT ON THE TABLE!!!!
3) Make sure you clean off the cap threads on the bottle or else the cap will get welded on from dried out flux.

Happy fluxing.

[nanofrog]

sigh... flux+ shipping is like 10$ for 10 ml which is why I bought this from amazon :MG Chemicals 835 Liquid Rosin Flux, Non Corrosive and Non Conductive residue, 125 ml Bottle, for 10$ its like 4oz, is that good?

Usually goes for ~$8.00 or so, but as you discovered, shipping can be nearly as much or more than the item. Small quantity/single item orders may be best to try and find an eBay seller with reasonable total costs. Otherwise, combine as many items as possible from the usual distributors (DigiKey, Mouser, Newark,...), as their shipping costs are actually decent. Get enough in the order, and you can get say $8 - 12 for ground shipping on an order of $50 - 100+ merchandise, depending on weight and size.

If you get it in a bottle, then you'd want to consider a needle dispenser bottle (one with a cap on the needle IMHO), or an empty pen dispenser (Chemtronics CW7000 <2x in the package & they're refillable>; http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Chemtronics/CW7000/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvNdIckKBEZymSxungURxcGQVUERwq7bgs%3d).

[megahz]

Hmm, what I might do is use an old Tide to Go pen, clean it, and scrape off the label (Because I don't wana put it on my shirt thinking its detergent) and fill it with flux

[nanofrog]

Hmm, what I might do is use an old Tide to Go pen, clean it, and scrape off the label (Because I don't wana put it on my shirt thinking its detergent) and fill it with flux

Give it ago.  Worst case, even if it doesn't work, you're not out anything.

[SeanB]

I bought 1l of guess the name flux, and reused a glue roller bottle to dispense it. Next batch will use small nail varnish bottles ( I went and bought some empty ones) to hold it, as they come with a brush.

[robrenz]

Shameless self promotion again, DIY flux bottle here

[Skippy]

What are you trying to desolder? Wick isn't necessarily the best tool, it depends on what you are trying to do.

If you want to know about desoldering I'd recommend watching these Pace videos from off of the 80s:



They are a bit Troy McClure, but they helped me learn immensely about desoldering stuff.