Help Soldering. Wick won't suck up solder.

[TBone]

Did I **** up GH? I just bought a Hakko FX-901/P to do the Cherry stabilizer mod to my KUL ES-87, where I would remove the stabilized keys, clip the stabilizers' bottoms, then put it all back together.

But with the tools I have, the Hakko, a soldering wick, and some solder, I cannot remove all of the solder from the joint. I got it to where the solder was flush to the board, but there was solder still around the contact. The wick just did not want to suck up the solder. I had to heat the solder, and then stick the wick in, otherwise nothing would get picked up, I couldn't get the solder to melt underneath the wick, it wouldn't melt. I think it might have something to do with non-lead solder. I think they might have used it? Just because it seemed to have a higher melting point than my new solder.

This really sucks, I've been trying to get it to work all day and now I'm just pissed. I have work tomorrow and no more time to try it this week. ****.

Help me GH. You're my only hope. What do I need to buy to make this work? I've already dumped so much money into this that I'd like to keep it under $50 if possible. 

[Parak]

The wick might suck, figuratively. It's supposed to contain flux inside it, that should flow out when you heat it up using the iron - the flux is what helps the solder to get sucked, literally, up into the wick. You might also not be getting sufficient amount of heat into the wick - keep in mind that heating up something with some thermal mass like a wick takes up more juice than heating up a small solder joint like a switch pin.

[Zekromtor]

Even with my plug-in Hakko, I hate using wick to remove solder. If it's a through hole, I found that the $15 radio shack desoldering iron with the rubber bulb works wonders for the price. I removed all the switches from a ducky keyboard with it no problem whatsoever.

[TBone]

Even with my plug-in Hakko, I hate using wick to remove solder. If it's a through hole, I found that the $15 radio shack desoldering iron with the rubber bulb works wonders for the price. I removed all the switches from a ducky keyboard with it no problem whatsoever.

Do you think a soldapult or solder sucker would do the same job?

[Zekromtor]

Definitely not. It may cost almost as much though.
I have a solder sucker too, and it came highly recommended, but the difference between using a hot tipped sucker like the radio shack desolderer and trying to use a soldapult+iron is night and day. Having that tip in contact with the melted solder makes it so much easier, it vacuums like an absolute champ. Best $15 I've spent when it comes to electronics.  The only thing people complain about are the tips eventually wearing away, but you get replacement tips for like 2 dollars or something, and I've desoldered over 200 throughholes with it and no damage to the tip yet.

[HalfCent]

I can't agree more. Until recently, I had only used wick, spring loaded solder suckers, and the whack-it method. Wick works, but is super tedious, and it's hard to completely clear a through-hole with it. Solder suckers, in my experience, are almost universally terrible. For my last mod, panda clears on a poker II, I decided to try a desoldering iron with a bulb on it. It works wonders. I did burn a hole in one of the tips, but it was worth it. I did the entire board in a fraction of the time it would have taken with any other desoldering method.

[CPTBadAss]

Wick isn't ideal in my opinion. Like Parak said, you have to heat the flux in the wick as well as the joint. I much prefer my Soldapult.

[TBone]

YAY! The soldapult worked so much better, I was able to get the key off today! Now on to the clipped stabs mod!