I am fairly experienced at soldering/desoldering.... but two things are eluding me and I wonder if someone has any suggestion from their experience
1. the best method to remove components from pcb such as the sticks on xbox one series x and ps5 controllers?
they seem to use a different kind of solder than the 1708s , which is more workable, and melts easier.
I suspect is its some kind of lead free solder which has a higher melting point. the techniques I use to desolder work well with a 1708 and can remove a component in few minutes, however this evening spent two hours trying to release just a few pins! ive tried adding solder to the joint in the hope it would alter the chemical makeup of the solder in the joint and so make it more workable. the only method I have at moment which sort of works is to put a blob of solder on the iron, hold it to the joint and then pull the pin out . I understand the reason this is working better will be because the blob of solder im holding at the pin is helping to pass the heat from the iron to the solder and also to keep that heat steady. theres very little solder on the original joint which I imagine doesnt help when trying to get max heat transfer from the iron
2. ive never really mastered the technique with desoldering wick, it's been really hit and miss, dont know if I am doing something fundamentally wrong ? I put some flux on the wick, I apply the iron and wick to the joint , and expect the solder to run from the joint to the wick, but it rarely happens. sometimes, which is very rare , I see the solder flow beautifully up the wick and its clearly soaked up the solder. most times little to nothing happens.
