Excellent quality 'Multicore USA' Solder Wick at a good price in the UK

[Fraser]

I thought I would share my recent find of some excellent value no-clean solder wick on ebay.

I have had various brands of solder wick over the years and they ranged from 'OK' to darn right rubbish. I decided to put some effort into finding a decent branded product in the UK that did not break the bank. I stumbled upon a seller on ebay selling Multicore branded 1.5mm solder wick at a very attractive start price of £10. Why was that a good price ? well he is selling the Multicore USA NC-AA No-Clean Econo Spool of 30 metres length ! They are marked up with the RS no. 361-1243 and normally cost around £30 + VAT. They are still shrink wrapped in their plastic bags and have the coding 37664 and 37665 on them. No idea when they were manufactured but it still works fine. RS have discontinued this line which may explain the availability at a good price ?

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/desoldering-wicks-braids/3611243/

RS have recommended the Chemtronics product as a replacement.... not cheap though !

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/desoldering-wicks-braids/3141025/?origin=PSF_438915|alt

The most important news is that I love this wick. Very nice quality and works superbly on very fine pitch pads. I loved it so  much I bought two more reels of it ! That should last me a very long time 

I have no connection with the product or the seller but thought I should share. The seller sadly sells via auction and not on a BIN price. I have bought two reels at £10 and one cost me £12. The seller had a load of reels for sale at varying start prices so has plenty of stock.

Current auction is here with a £12 start price. The seller seems to run multiple auctions of the same product. One buyer paid the start price of £16 when I won an auction running at the same time, as the only bidder, at £10 !

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30-metres-Multicore-NC-AA-de-solder-braid-wick-Unused-sealed-RS-no-361-1243-/371587764360?hash=item56845b5088:g:tlYAAOSwrklVbL79

Even at full retail price I would likely buy this stuff...... it does what it says on the tin, and does it very well indeed  That's is good old Multicore USA quality for you though.

Fraser

[trevwhite]

Great timing, this is a bargain and I always ending buying 1.5m at a time and running out but its so expensive. Will hopefully win one of those auctions.

Thanks

[Fraser]

I have contacted the seller and suggested that he put up some more auctions in case there is increased demand for his product as a result of this forum post.

It may be worth contacting him and asking about a BIN price. These reels normally sell in the auctions at around the £10-£12 mark but you may have to pay more for the convenience and speed of a BIN.

Fraser

[Fraser]

OOOO look what I just found......

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Loctite-Multicore-30m-No-Clean-Desoldering-Braid-Wick-Width-1-5mm-NEW-3611243-/222066307428?hash=item33b42ef164:g:th0AAOSwiLdWA9GX

Same product (newer?) type on a BIN     £12.99 + £4 p&p. Still a great price.

Again it is Ex Radio Spares stock.

Fraser

[Fraser]

And to show the finish I got with this Multicore wick when recently removing an RTC from a fragile thermal camera PCB.......

[FrankE]

Bought.
I was actually on the RS site and had a 3m roll of braid in my basket. Looking for better value I thought I'll search EEVblog for braid bargains /recs.
Thanks.

[Fraser]

I heard back from the seller of the 30m wick reels that I bought via auction, rather than BIN. If you want some wick from him, send a massage and he may do you a deal. I ended up buying three reels so that should last a few years

Fraser

[bookaboo]

Nice find thanks for sharing, stocked up for a while now.

[FrankE]

I went for the Buy it Now
Auctions get on my wick.

[Fraser]

just received two reels of the Multicore USA no-clean wick from the second source. Same great quality so no worries on that front 

Still in their sealed packaging and Ex Radio Spares discontinued stock.

Fraser

[Mark]

Got mine last week, thanks for the heads up!