Clogged Desoldering Iron

Darth Fett · Post by **Darth Fett** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 12:59 pm

Hi.I accidently clogged my Desoldering iron

,And am having a very hard time fixing it.Someone i talked to thinks i should suck some water with the solder to prevent it from getting clogged again.Would this help at all?(assuming i can fix it)

Turbo Tax 1.0 · Post by **Turbo Tax 1.0** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:00 pm

if its clogged with solder then just turn it on and pump it out

xxxeagle · Post by **xxxeagle** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:03 pm

Yeah just get it hot and let it flow out. Also maybe its not getting hot enough to melt the solder cause I don't see why it would clog.

Darth Fett · Post by **Darth Fett** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:17 pm

You think i didn't try that?Already did a million times over.If this helps any,it's a radio shack brand one.I've also tried taking it apart,putting a very long nail in the tube,and whaming it with a hammer.Nothing works.

Post by **bicostp** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:23 pm

Did you try drilling out the solder?

Post by **Triton** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:28 pm

is it the radioshack kind? because they are basically a desoldering bulb attached to a ratshack 25w soldering iron

Post by **SpongeBuell** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 2:20 pm

I've had this problem many a time. I'll assume you are using the cheap plastic kind. For this, I like to take a thick needle or pin with a round edge, then push the solder out. I'm usually able to do this a few times before I have to get a new bulb, just for the tip.

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 2:31 pm

The reason it does that (on mine anyways) is the flux cools and hardens inside the tube along wiht small alls of solder. Use acetone and a very small eyeglass screwdriver to get rid of it.

xriverfalconx · Post by **xriverfalconx** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 3:40 pm

When this happens to me, I add more solder around the outside and inside of the iron and squeeze hard. Works for me like a charm.