I got a new solder sucker from Japan today. Hopefully it works as good as it looks and feels.
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It definitely works good. Just gets clogged a little easier than the bigger ones. I still love mine.
I actually ended up lubing mine which supposedly helps with this issue. The plunger resets faster now, creating a more powerful vacuum and hopefully preventing it from clogging up. I have nothing to try it on right now, though.
So wait. In that video he basically says that the lithium grease just keeps the plunger working fast as it should.
I didn't hear anything about how it helped with the clogging. Are you only applying it to the plunger also?
I think I read a thread a few years ago that suggested the reason they get clogged so much more easily is due to how small the suction hole is.
After using it for so long I've just gotten used to the fact that I'm going to have to pull some solder out of the tip with my fingers if/when it gets stuck.
The theory about lubing the plunger didn't come from the video, sorry. I read that somewhere else, I don't remember where exactly. But someone wrote that the nozzle was less likely to get clogged after he/she lubed it because the vacuum was more instant/powerful with the reduced friction.
I only applied lube to the plunger, yes. I've also read about people drilling out the tip hole to expand it by a minuscule amount, saying that it worked well too. I just figured I'd try lubing first as it's easy to undo in case it didn't have any effect, where as widening the tip hole seems like a more permanent and irreversible modification.