Desoldering Braid

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

100% novice with soldering, was using it for my first DIY project where some things went catastrophically wrong. The braid isn't the easiest to use, but does work. Took me a while to figure it out.

A couple notes:

-If your solder isn't picking up, add a little solder to create a bigger lump. Physics teaches us that surface tension of liquids is only so strong. So the more material you have, the more surface area the greater surface tension. It's this tension that will hold the glob to the braid.

-The braid goes between the solder and the iron. Make sure you follow the directions. Also, try not to poke holes through the braid (no brainer).

-Lift the braid and the iron up at the same time, or it will not work!

Good luck. This is a cheap solution if you need to desolder something like a logic board. Remember, a tool is made to do a set of jobs, but directions must be followed.

So, while my DIY project may not be working so well yet :( the braid works.

BTW, many of these directions are on the back of the box.

NOTE: about the 4 stars. It does exactly what it's intended, and advertised to do. I'm sure there are better desoldering tools out there, this tool works, but there are probably better out there.

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

This is absolute garbage. It does not work at all and will most likely ruin your board and components. I plan on returning mine to RS tomorrow for a refund. I'm using a Weller iron, and I usually use MG Chemicals brand desoldering braid, which by the way actually works very well.

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

OK so I've prob bought 10 of these of the course of year and half.I will no longer buy any more because of the fact some work good and some are useless. Also pain in the butt going to store and have a kid look at you crazy when you ask for it. P.S. I worked for radioshack for 3 year :) Well this why the product sucks some aren't saturated with rosin flux so when you try use it the product doesn't suck up solder. This will cause novice users to destroy boards from overheating. I keep nips right next to it and sometimes cut half the roll away to find a place to that has flux. Well I'm going with a product made with pride in US soaked with flux

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

At absolute BEST this desoldering braid will, if dipped into molten solder, shrivel and pull some of it away in a little glob. You can have the braid sit in molten solder until next week with it totally failing to absorb/remove anything; if you don't pull it out before removing the heat source (soldering iron in my case) it will get stuck in the hardened solder.

I did have a little luck *one* time by saturating the daylights out of this braid with some flux a friend had; most of the time, even that didn't help. Save yourself the money and frustration, especially if you're a beginner that doesn't know how this stuff is supposed to work.

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

I have used this product many times and it works very well, works even better if used with the 2.0 oz flux can that RadioShack carries

Comments about RadioShack Desoldering Braid:

First of all, this is not a magic braid, it will not desolder parts for you. You have to know how to use it and how to desolder properly.

This product is good, not the best, but it's great for any hobby or even pro work.
I use it to desolder through hole parts and to remove excess of solder when doing SMD work.
This is a resin flux based braid, so it might need some cleaning, but that's not an issue for me since I always clean my boards when done.

BTW, I am not affiliated with RadioShack in any way.

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.