Seconded. Adding new solder to old solder helps a lot. And I don’t think it’s possible to have too much flux. I’ll often solder just using whatever’s in the rosin core of my wire, but desoldering I always have to add flux. Not just to the joint, but also my copper braid. The trick is to get the solder to flow down the braid, and the solder is going to follow the flux, so make sure there’s kind of a flux path from joint to braid to down the braid.
And braid on its own is never enough to remove the part for me. After that there’s still a little solder in the thru-hole holding everything tight. I use a little solder sucker for that. All that said, I only have a success rate of ~50% for getting things off boards. It’s frustrating.
I gather the more consistent way to go about it is to melt all the solder simultaneously and just lift the piece out. But that more or less requires a hot air station (and kapton tape) which is an investment in money, space, and learning. I’ve heard of people having success with “chipquik” (which is a low melting point solder you mix with the joints to keep them liquid long enough for you to pull the part) but haven’t ever tried it myself.
Hang in there!
2 Likes