Do You Need A New Solder Sucker

[KL27x]

That is crazy. I have only ever pressed the plunger with my right hand while still holding the iron. It's not nearly as fast as that. Your vid makes desoldering guns look slow!

[miguelvp]

On top the calculator keys?

What gives! or am I missing something?

To me it looks like the soldering iron is off and just demonstrating how fast he can desolder pins but not really doing so.

I still use one of those Radio Shack desoldering Irons (40W I think) works great if you don't linger around, otherwise it will burn pads.

[joeqsmith]

On top the calculator keys?

What gives! or am I missing something?

To me it looks like the soldering iron is off and just demonstrating how fast he can desolder pins but not really doing so.

I still use one of those Radio Shack desoldering Irons (40W I think) works great if you don't linger around, otherwise it will burn pads.

The calculator's buttons were sticking and need to be replaced.  I thought it would be quicker to unsolder them from the top.   

[tooki]

Actually now the price is the same between Amazon.de and their own website Not sure about the shipping cost through Amazon, though.

Umm... no...

Their website: €22.71 + €5.02 shipping = €27.73 (gone up a few cents since the other day)
Amazon.de: €20.99 + €3.33 shipping = €24.32

You sure you weren't comparing amazon.co.uk, where their GBP prices are indeed the same? Or maybe it's because you're in the EU, whereas CH is not?

[janoc]

Yes it is possible that the prices for CH are lower, because you have lower VAT (if they even charge it to you, since you are outside of EU). For me it came to the same price +- few cents, I didn't compare the shipping, though.

[amc184]

Now I am curious how people use them.    If I have a lot of work to do, I hold the iron in one hand and the sucker the other.  I rotate my wrist and bang the plunger on my leg to set it.

I do usually use my thumb, partly because I prefer not to move it away from what I'm working on, and partly because my last one had a fixed shroud that covered half the plunger (so using anything other than your thumb wouldn't work).  I usually don't do enough work with one that fatigue is a problem.

[AF6LJ]

I love my DS-017 it is older than some of you out here and still works like the day it I bought it (back in 1978).

[Cubdriver]

Now I am curious how people use them.    If I have a lot of work to do, I hold the iron in one hand and the sucker the other.  I rotate my wrist and bang the plunger on my leg to set it.  I made a short video to better explain it.    The Soldapullt can take a fair amount of abuse. 

That's exactly how I've always re-cocked one of them too.  A quick rotation of the wrist and press the plunger against either the bench edge or my leg, whichever happens to be more convenient.  I thought everybody did it that way.

-Pat

[tooki]

That's exactly how I've always re-cocked one of them too.  A quick rotation of the wrist and press the plunger against either the bench edge or my leg, whichever happens to be more convenient.  I thought everybody did it that way.

Probably not, given that most solder suckers look like the one below, with a channel the plunger rides in, making it impossible to press against a surface:

[Cubdriver]

Probably not, given that most solder suckers look like the one below, with a channel the plunger rides in, making it impossible to press against a surface:

I was thinking purely of the larger one like that shown in the original video, with the cocking plunger that extends out from the back.  We had one of the smaller ones that rode in a channel at work, and I was completely underwhelmed by its performance, so I've never been inclined to use that type.

Many years ago I had a smaller one purchased from Rat Shack (1980ish time frame), called a Soldavac, IIRC.  It was the same blue and yellow colors as the Edsyn one, but shorter in length.  It had a rocker on the top side to act as the trigger, two hooked finger rests at the front and a hooked cocking lever at the bottom rear of the plunger.  That one I held with my index finger over the trigger rocker, middle and ring fingers in the front rests, and would cock it with my thumb, then stabilize it after cocking by pressing the bottom ahead of the cocking lever with my thumb.  It was easy to use once you got the hang of holding it, but alas the urethane-ish back cap eventually dried out and crumbled away.

-Pat

ETA image of old solder sucker from 1978 Rat Shack catalog:

ET further add: the image should also show the cocking hook - a hook similar in appearance to the one at the front top area but yellow and protruding from the bottom, facing to the rear, either at the back end or under the rear end of the rocker, depending on whether it's cocked or not.  This hook was part of the plunger, and moved back and forth as the unite was used.  It also had a longer tip than shown, with a white nose like the Edsyns.

[AF6LJ]

That's exactly how I've always re-cocked one of them too.  A quick rotation of the wrist and press the plunger against either the bench edge or my leg, whichever happens to be more convenient.  I thought everybody did it that way.

Probably not, given that most solder suckers look like the one below, with a channel the plunger rides in, making it impossible to press against a surface:

I have one of those; I think it sucks.
Not in a good sense though...

[joeqsmith]

ETA image of old solder sucker from 1978 Rat Shack catalog:

ET further add: the image should also show the cocking hook - a hook similar in appearance to the one at the front top area but yellow and protruding from the bottom, facing to the rear, either at the back end or under the rear end of the rocker, depending on whether it's cocked or not.  This hook was part of the plunger, and moved back and forth as the unite was used.  It also had a longer tip than shown, with a white nose like the Edsyns.

Wasn't that made by the same company as the Soldapult?   I have not seen one of those in long long time.   

Sounds like most use the thumb type.    I bought this one from Radio Shack in the 80s before buying my Soldapullt.   This thing had way too little volume and the action was too slow to be very useful.     I would end up having to heat the joint way too long.   

[Cubdriver]

Wasn't that made by the same company as the Soldapult?   I have not seen one of those in long long time.   

Sounds like most use the thumb type.    I bought this one from Radio Shack in the 80s before buying my Soldapullt.   This thing had way too little volume and the action was too slow to be very useful.     I would end up having to heat the joint way too long.

It might have been made by the same company - the colors were exactly the same.  I think I still have it buried somewhere; will have to dig at some point to see if there are any manufacturer's markings on it.  One downside that I recall was that the plunger was entirely made of plastic, even the small extension that extended into the nozzle to poke out the solder build up.  It eventually started getting melted at the tip and was less effective at clearing the nozzle than it should have been.  Still was orders of magnitude better than the little aluminum ones.

Those little tiny aluminum ones look nice, but they are worthless as far as I'm concerned.  As you pointed out, the volume is too small to effectively clean a joint, and the draw is weak to begin with.

-Pat

[KL27x]

New Edsyn product:

The Soldapult 3 has replaced the metal guide rod at the BACK of the device with plastic. And the overall size and length have been reduced, significantly, but the suction still seems to be about as effective as the original. Maybe the original is overkill?

There are a couple other minor differences. such as the spring that returns the plunger can be removed. (In the original, the spring is dual function and holds the device together, so it has to stay in there.) This makes the plunger even easier to depress. And the super light mass of the smaller plastic plunger doesn't seem to adding undue wear and tear after this modification. (You can still manually retract the plunger if you find yourself shooting your mag lamp).

Another minor difference is that the original Soldapult can be reassembled in two distinct positions 180 degrees apart. The Soldapult 3 goes back together the same way every time, so you don't have to check the orientation of the tip if you have modified it (or if a little notch has been melted into one edge over time, simply from use).

After a year or so of proving itself, the Soldapult 3 took the first chair on my bench. Edsyn makes good suckers.

[kemal]

I have only owned three plunger suckers in 35 years.  The Paladin wouldn't exert a vacuum.  The blue aluminum one would but still worked poorly.   Funny my sample of the blue one never exploded.   I bought the Engineer one from Amazon (US) for nearly USD30.  Then realized I would need more of the silicone tubing.  The only place I could find replacement tubing was from Amazon UK at a cost of USD12.

I noticed AdaFruit sold the Engineer plunger (for a lot less) but not the tubes.  Dropped them an eMail and now they have'em.

The Engineer works very well.  When you have tubing to spare it is reasonable to make extra tips to deal with stubborn jobs.  You can cut a notch in the tip for your iron tip or cut the silicone at an angle for a larger opening, etc.   I use a length of #12 copper to keep the silicone clear as it clogs with almost every use.

[KL27x]

The Engineer works very well.

I use a length of #12 copper to keep the silicone clear as it clogs with almost every use.

If adding RA to the joints before desoldering, you will clog the device, frequently. If not, then I wouldn't say this thing is working "very well."