PCB desoldering not working

[vertexguy]

I'm pretty new to soldering / desoldering and am running into an issue on what I thought would be a simple task.

I need to remove a push through momentary switch from a dell circuit board so I can extend it with wire and connect a new style momentary switch for my cab build.  Trouble is, no matter what I try I can't get the solder on the board to melt!

I have a radio shack digital soldering station that gets up to 848F.  Even at that temp and holding for a good minute. it has no effect.

I tried adding a little bit of fresh solder to the pins on the back of the board in hopes that might help make better heat transfer but it didn't.  Been trying different things for hours and am now at the point of just banging my head on the wall and hoping if I hit it hard enough the vibrations will work their way to the PCB joint and the component will pop free...     Any ideas?

[pbj]

Just solder your wires to the legs of the switch.  There’s no need to remove it.

[vertexguy]

Just solder your wires to the legs of the switch.  There’s no need to remove it.

Excellent point!  I'd still like to know how to get it off though.  I have another project to remove failed diodes on a board that will probably be tough to get out too.

[pbj]

Cut off the switch, heat up the legs while tugging them with needlenose pliers.

To clear the hole get the solder super hot and blast it with compressed air.

Or drill it out.

[RandyT]

Cut off the switch, heat up the legs while tugging them with needlenose pliers.

To clear the hole get the solder super hot and blast it with compressed air.

Or drill it out.

If the solder isn't melted well, tugging is the last thing you'd want to be doing.  If the solder is still stuck to the through-hole or pad, the probability of pulling up traces is pretty high.  And don't even think of drilling a through hole.  Those vias can get stuck to the bit and twist right out of the PCB, disconnecting top, bottom and whatever planes might be between.

It sounds like the OP is trying to pull a large-ish component connected to a ground plane, which can suck a large amount of heat from a small iron.  Just because an iron can reach a certain temp with no thermal load, that doesn't mean it's actually delivering that to the joint.  Tip size, thermal mass and wattage all come into play.  The diode probably doesn't have as much thermal mass as the switch, so it might not be as difficult.  If that ends up being the case, solder wick all of the solder away and then carefully wiggle the diode.  If it breaks free and can be removed, you've succeeded.  Otherwise, wick away more.

If the joint is large enough, and you are very careful, you could try using a "soldering gun".  These can typically deliver much more heat to the joint, but again, it's a bigger "hammer" so be careful how you swing it.  A hot air rework station is the real tool for the job, but caution is in order there as well.  Once a section of the board is hot enough to pull a component, any surrounding SMDs (if there are any) start floating as well.