Review

I tinker with electronics as a hobby and as a result I need to keep costs under control. From time to time, maybe 5 times a month, I need to desolder a few components and I wanted a desoldering machine. Trouble is, sometimes I encounter (in power supplies) heatsinks which are soldered to the circuit board (the heatsinks are from aluminium but have 4-6 pins that are permanently attached to heatsink abd though-hole soldered to the circuit board. Add to that the components attached to the heatsink with a screw but which I cannot detach prior to desoldering because on the other side is a nut which I cannot reach due to other components in the way and which will turn with the screw. long story short there are up to 20 points to remove solder before I can remove the heatsink with the active components attached to it and only then I can desolder the faulty component (usually a snap capacitor). I was concerned the heatsink would steal heat and this station will not be up to the task. I was surprised to see how quickly and well it went. 2 minutes and most pins were free in the first try, only 2 pins I needed to re-add a bit of solder and try again. It is true the circuit board was single side, without vias but still think it worked far better than expected considering is so much cheaper than alternatives.