Desoldering IR led

[magester1]

Hi, i've been opening up some printers and what i need is to remove the ir emmiter/detector.
I've tried desoldering them, and the only thing i got was them getting burnt.
Just to be sure, instead of desoldering another one i cut it and everything was fine then.

The problem is, i can't just cut them all out of the board, i need to desolder them, is there anyway of doing it without risking burning them? or does anyone have some idea on how to take them out?

 

[audioguru]

I have a Weller temperature controlled soldering iron and a solder sucker tool that you push down its piston with your thumb then release the piston with a pushbutton. It is about 25 years old and has desoldered thousands of parts perfectly without any damage.

Maybe your soldering iron is way too hot like a blow torch.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

For desoldering a two pin device you hardly require a temperature controlled iron, or even a solder sucker - just hold the component, heat the joints - pull it out of the board.

 

[3v0]

For desoldering a two pin device you hardly require a temperature controlled iron, or even a solder sucker - just hold the component, heat the joints - pull it out of the board.

I agree. If you do not need to save the PCB it is a breeze.

You may find adding solder rather then removing it will help the melt the solder in the holes and on the other side of the PCB. It sounds backwards but it can be the right thing to do when removing parts.

 

[magester1]

I tried holding it with some thin pliers so the heat wouldnt reach it inmediately. What i didn't try is adding more solder, which sounds like a pretty good idea since the printers are very old.

By the way, i'm using a 40W soldering iron, i was always told a 30W one is better for components but i don't think 10W is such a big difference.