Desoldering Braid

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

The one thing you have to do to make this stuff work properly? APPLY FLUX. If you do any amount of soldering, electrical or otherwise, flux should absolutely be present in your toolkit. Sure, some occasional DIY'ers will have gotten by for years with rosin-core solder and nothing more, but they are likely making cold joints and not even knowing it. That or the rosin in the solder's core was enough to clean the joint and permit solder flow & adhesion. Flux is necessary to get a high-quality, long-lasting solder joint.

A couple of quick excerpts from Wikipedia:
"The role of a flux in joining processes is typically dual: dissolving of the oxides on the metal surface, which facilitates wetting by molten metal, and acting as an oxygen barrier by coating the hot surface, preventing its oxidation."

"If all metal surfaces are not properly fluxed and brought above the melting temperature of the solder in use, the result will be an unreliable 'cold solder joint'."

Why is this information relevant? Because the solder you're trying to remove with this copper braid WILL NOT stick or be absorbed without flux! I can easily envision someone sitting there, burning their hands and/or components, not knowing why this stuff isn't working as advertised. Well, now you know.

You can apply a gel or paste flux to the braid itself, but I'd recommend using a brush and applying it to the work to be desoldered. This will avoid getting sticky flux all over things you didn't intend to get messy. Radio Shack's own little tub of flux is pretty darn good stuff, IME. Pricey, but worth the cost since it's a LOT of flux and will likely last you many years' worth of soldering (and desoldering!).

Think about it: there are only so many ways to make a copper braid, and so many materials yet still be able to call it 'copper'. If other people are using it without a problem, and it's been around for a very long time, maybe it's not the product's fault, no?

Lastly, I didn't give it five stars because for this price, it should be vacuum-packed to reduce corrosion (maybe slip one of those silica bags in there too?), or I should be getting more length (maybe twice as much). I've bought a couple of these from RS that were pretty green from corrosion, but it wasn't major, nor did it prevent me from using it properly.

If I run out of desoldering braid in the middle of a project, I usually resort to using a length of speaker wire: simply strip the insulation, twist if needed to keep it together, apply flux, and there ya go!

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

most useless wick on the market.you end up wasting 70% of it.Avoid at all costs!

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

I know basic electronics and the understanding of how to solder joints. I use a $15 butane soldering pen to help desolder a 2nd generation iPod Nano battery to be replaced with a new one due to not holding a charge, with the help of online disassembly. First time using this product and works like a charm. As you can see, I don't do a whole lot of desoldering components, I usually use a bulb type to suck it up, but due to the very tight or compact nature of the situation, this is what I needed. So, I don't understand some of the negative reviews that this product is useless. I'm using an affordable butane soldering pen to do this work!

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

I don't know if the 5 star reviews are fixed from RS, or are old enough to be using a different product, but do not use this desoldering braid if you value your time and sanity.

I tried for nearly 2 hours, fluxing the wire and meticulously trying to desolder some pins from a PCB. After a few reviews, I went back to RS to buy their Desoldering Gun.

What took nearly 2 hours of head banging turned into 2 minutes of smooth smailing. Buy the gun...it's a few bucks more and you'll keep it in your valuable tool stash forever.

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

I used the product to remove capacitors and resistors from the circuit board of an old tube guitar amplifier.

Although I've soldered quite a bit in my day, I never had occasion to use desoldering braid. This required no rehearsal at all. Apply the braid to the work, touch the braid, not the work, and in a few seconds, the copper braid just soaks the solder up like a sponge, with no residual on the board. It doesn't get easier than that, and I was a first timer.

I have to believe that the negative reviews came from users who heated the work and applied the braid after melting the solder.

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

The quality of this wick varies widely from roll to roll. Some rolls work very well, wicking solder up within seconds. Other rolls are obviously of lower quality, and just plain will not wick solder without having to apply excessive heat to the device being desoldered.
I don't know if it is a lack of flux, contaminates in the braid, or perhaps some varnish insulated copper wire is accidentally being used to manufacture some of the braid. I have noticed the poorer performing wick is usually darker in color, so it may be a contamination issue.
To find consistent quality, you should use a different brand of solder wick.

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

I have no previous experience with any product like this.In fact I never knew this product even existed until about 2 months ago when I had my TV repaired.I had to replace some limit switches on my pinball machine.Using a soldering gun,I put the braid on top of the terminals, the soldering tip on top of the braid and pulled the trigger.The solder wicked up into the braid within seconds and I pulled the wires out of the old switch terminals.Maybe the people who have had trouble with this product did not have enough heat from their solering iron, but with my soldering gun it worked perfectly.

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

I thought it was just me but after reading all of the other bad reviews, I realized this stuff does not work. My buddy kept bragging how much he like the braid (not Radio Shack brand) and I told him it did not work at all for me. I will try another brand and give the braid another chance.

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

Avoid this desoldering braid product. You will risk damage to your PCB trying to get it to wick solder. The only way that I could ever get it to work is to first soak it with liquid RMA flux. After that it works fine. Do yourself a favor go with to a supply house and buy what the pros use.

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

I HAVE BEEN SOLDERING/DESOLDERING CIRCUIT BOARDS FOR OVER 40 YEARS. THIS IS THE WORST SOLDER SUCKER BRAID THAT I HAVE EVER USED. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON THIS PRODUCT. IT SEEMS RADIO SHACK IS BUYING ONLY BRAIDED COPPER WITHOUT THE POWDERED SOLDER FLUX NEEDED TO DRAW CAPILLARY ACTION UP INTO THE BRAID. GO TO A GOOD REPUTABLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY STORE AND GET SOME FROM THEM.
I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THIS STUFF FOR A DOG TO CHEW ON.