Soldering question

[wagonman76]

Ive never tried the sucker. Ive used the braid and it works really well. I work with a guy who used to solder for the military and he said the braid is the way to go.

[mtgeekman]

I'll give my vote to the braid as well, I have used both and prefer the braid.

The sucker can be nice to take up a big ugly solder joint and then finish with some of the braided copper so you aren't using it all up.

[Nevyn]

Originally Posted by mtgeekman

I'll give my vote to the braid as well, I have used both and prefer the braid.

The sucker can be nice to take up a big ugly solder joint and then finish with some of the braided copper so you aren't using it all up.

Agreed. I actually have an anodized aluminum solder sucker kind of like a spring-loaded hypodermic needle. It's great for big blobs, but if you just want to clean up a single tiny joint, it's MUCH easier with solder-wick. There's a lot more room for controlled removal with wick.

Now, the big "desoldering iron" type removal tool that you are speaking of may have better control than my spring-load sucker, but the wick is still best for fine removal.

[Christ]

Fat nasty mess - sucker

But - the sucker will NEVER get all the solder.. you'll leave a mess... which is cool if you're not working on expensive circuitry with 3mil circuit lines and 5mil lands...

If you're doing anything that needs to look good for functional purposes, most definitely use the wicking... the baster will own you.