De-solder components from PCB ?

[Racing]

Desoldering stations are always nice i suppose.

I use a Curie controlled station,my regular pen that is,from Thermaltronix. They´ve also supplied my desolering station,where the actual "pen" uses the same heat source as my pen.
A simple,to the letter,flick of the switch on the heat source tells which to work. Runs off of regular regulated compressed air (got this BIG ass shop compressor).

All good and dandy i guess which basically brings the Q at what level is it "time" to invest in one?
Well. IMO regular soldering wick goes a long way. Expensive? Sure,but a good quality wick IS worth it. Point being that a wick is way more delicate to whatever it is you´re desoldering than basically any other method.

One fault many do IMO is that they use way to small a tip for their soldering pen. ALWAYS use as massive one as you get away with. Chisels are good.
Reason for this is simple,it´ll minimize heat transfer-even into the component being soldered (or desoldered for that matter)
Goal should be to heat what needs to be heated swiftly as that will reduce stress on the component in case.
Of course this goes for desoldering too why many tips for desoldering guns normally are half cumbersome.

I usually bring the desoldering station out for two main reasons. When it´s time to rip an entire amp apart AND when i want the holes of a PCB come clean when replacing individual components.

Then for a word on Curie controlled stations (that works off of high freq basically).
They "sense" how much heat/energy is needed to make solder flow. Yes. This means that basically it takes the same time to heat the rear of a pot as to heat a component leg. As you lift the pen it takes a few secs for the unit to come up and stand on its own,but after that...
To my knowledge there´s two brands out there on a wider base today. Thermaltronix and Metcalf. They both work very well why i say..pick your poison.
Expensive? Well..to an extent i guess but as you get used to working one there´s no real turning back. Results will improve to that point.
So.
Thermaltronix obviously supply a desoldering station based on the same working principle and i presume Metcalf does as well. Hence why i bring it up.

Are they worth it?
If you do this even just on a regular basis and ain´t up for the poor house,yes. Yes they are. Quality is good. I´ve used mine every day for the last couple of yrs or so and thus far what i´ve had to replace is the pen/handle in itself. Wiring broke short n simple,which i guess is to be expected as i don´t really babysit my tools.
They´ll take a beating alright,and i expect them to handle this.
Tips are available in every shape and format you could ever dream up. Costs about 10 dollars a pop. Lasts a long time in my book...

[Racing]

Bad pic,i know. Both of them are mid pic next to each other on the wall.

[Tortuga]

I've always loved these cheap (<$15) desoldering irons from Radio Shack...

[Tortuga]

I HATE desoldering braid and the like

My first RS desoldering iron lasted like 10-15 years.

Bought another one (before the stores started closing down) because the rubber bulb started cracking. Was easier (and probably cheaper) to just buy a whole new iron than replace the bulb

[Tortuga]

Yup... can't beat it.

[BroSlinger]

Desoldering braid never worked for me. They started making them out of something that doesn't stick to solder. I was resorting to sanding and fluxing the braid. Still didn't work.

The blue pump thing has worked fine for me.

[Tortuga]

Those blue pump suckers are ok, but having to pull the iron (quickly) and get the sucker in place (moar quicker) without the solder resolidifying is always a crapshoot for me. The RS sucker is a cinch - squeeze bulb, place iron on solder joint, release bulb, BAM