Soldering Tips (pardon the pun)

[john_w]

My experience with the bulb has actually been pretty good. I have used mostly solder wick, but have used a bulb on at one or two occasions and found it to require a little skill, but you can get pretty good at snarfing up at least most of that shiny liquid in a split second, and it seems to take much less time than wick. Most of the time it would get all of the joint solder, and a short follow-up with a wick would get anything a little more stubborn, as dr*audio mentioned.

I've seen the same type of solder sucker dr*audio uses in action, but have not had much (if any) experience with it. However, it does look like an easier product to use than the bulb.

 

[glen65]

For desoldering I always keep some wick handy.
But the thing I usually reach for first is a desoldering
iron (pictured below) it does a great job of pulling all
of the solder from the joint. Its nice because you dont get
an interruption in heat at the joint while using the suction
bulb. I have never damaged a joint with it yet.