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If you do a little customizing on this, you’ll like it. First, leave unplugged, and examine the tip, right where the hole is. That needs to be flat across the tip. If it’s cone shaped toward the hole, you need to file it flat. I use the edge of my Whetstone rock, to do this. Reason is so you’ll have a flat end around the pin you’re trying to clear solder away from. After you’ve gotten it flat, hold the iron tip flat against something and check if it sits smooth. That will make the vacuum pull solder thru the hole around the pin, you’re working on, so you get most off. Now all that filing is going to take away some of the lifetime of use, unless you tin the tip, just like you do a solder iron. You’ll need a pack of Tip Tinner, and a dry paper towel, for wiping. Open up the Tinner, and set it beside where you’re working. Plug in you Desolder Iron, and let it get hot. Watch it and you’ll see the oil and even fingerprints, will burn off as smoke, heat it until that quits. Now double over paper towel to make it thick and quickly rub off the tip. Do it quickly so you don’t burn the paper, or your fingers. Then stick the tip down in the Tinner Powder cake, it will melt very fast, and some will stick on the tip. Rub that off again, and repeat. Check the tip and see if all the flat you filed is silver color now, if you see a missed spot do it again. That Tin Coat on there will extend the life of the tip a long time, if you remember to check the tip, and cover any spot that looks dull. Now to the show, nearly all the new boards are using LeadFree Solder now days, and it melts at hotter than old Regular Lead Tin Solder does, so it’s best to take your regular solder iron, and Some Lead Tin solder and add some to the solder on pins you’re trying to free out. Sounds like extra work, but in reality, the Lead Tin Solder will mix in with the Solder on the pin, and the new Alloy it makes will melt faster. Do all the pins you’re going to desolder. Put your solder iron away, and get the Desolder Iron hot and ready. If you’re new to these, you’ll need to practice on something like a resistor pin or a spot that isn’t close to something else, so you can see what you’re doing. Hold the squeeze bulb in palm of your hand with your thumb and forefinger finger holding onto the grip on the Iron. Curl your other fingers around the bulb, where you can squeeze the bulb and release it quickly. Practice will find your own best way to do it. When you get that figured out, and believe me, you’ll get better at it the more you do, you can plug it in, and get busy. Get the iron very hot, hold the bulb in and place the hole in the tip over the pin you’re after, move the tip slightly so the metal on tip, touches the pin, wait a bit, hold it still, and release the bulb. Immediately hold the Desolder Iron tip, over piece of cardboard or whatever, and squeeze the bulb and the solder you just removed, will squirt out. Be careful where you shoot it, it will be hot. On cardboard it will nearly instant cool down and stick. Check the pin and see if it looks clean now, if you see some left, don’t go after it again, until you add a little more solder back, then get all at once. If you try to just stick the Desolder iron back on, you could damage what you’re removing, because of the heat, and the solder that’s left over, won’t get all melted together, once you get the hang of it, you’ll see all the solder coming off in one try. Trick is, nearly all the thru hole parts, end up with a bit of solder goes in around the pin in the hole, and even gets on back side. When you melt the top blob of solder, the solder on the pin and even on back will melt and be sucked into the tip. A tip for my regular Desolder Iron costs more than this tool did, so I got it to try. It does work, if you fix the tip and practice with it. Last thing, before you unplug it, wipe the tip clean, look at it, if it’s shinny turn it off, if it looks tarnished, a Dip in The Tip Tinner, will sure help it last.
