Old-school desoldering wick beats a solder sucker every time for me

I mean, I used to swear by my spring-loaded solder sucker for years. But about 6 months ago I picked up a $4 roll of desoldering wick from RadioShack before they closed, and it changed how I clean up pads. The sucker always left little bits of solder behind on tight spots, but the wick just pulls everything clean in one go. Has anyone else found one tool that just works way better than the other for no real reason?

2 comments

2 Comments

umamurphy18d ago

Just wet the wick with a dab of flux first and it lifts even old crusty solder like butter.

ellis.felix18d ago

Huh, you really think the sucker leaves bits behind? I've actually found the opposite. My spring-loaded sucker clears most of it but the wick always leaves a thin residue for me. Maybe I'm using cheap wick? What brand are you running that $4 roll from RadioShack? I've been using generic stuff from Amazon and it's hit or miss. The flux trick umamurphy mentioned helps but I still end up going back over spots twice. Really curious if the quality difference is that big between budget and name brand wick.