Hi all,

Quick question. What do you all use to clean up left-over solder once you have attached the part? I'm finding it hard to remove excess solder from the piece even when using sand paper. I've heard one can use steel wool but I've tried that (0000 size) and it barely does anything to the residue. To make matters worse, the residue in question is inside a channel-like piece of PE and so it's very had to get to. I thought about using my Dremel's buffing wheel to see if I can remove the solder but I'm affraid I'll end up damaging the part.

Any ideas on this? How do you all master PE welders tackle this type of issue?

Thanks in advance,

Rob

you can get a copper wick to wick away excess. Or a solder removal tool it sucks the excess up and away. You'll need to reheat the joint to do either of these. Best done while you are soldering. Far easier than sanding. (I'm not sure of the correct name but your local electronics store will stock it). There is a youtube video on solder removal.
also this link
http://tinyurl.com/ycf3pkk

i know i'm a cheeky sh!t

Thanks much, John! I didn't know of that removal tool. I definitely need to try it as I did get carried away with the solder. Will look for the Youtube video to see how else to deal with this!

Rob

It's called a solder sucker. You can buy it at your nearest electronics shop. Careful though, some suckers tends to suck everything away not just the excess.

Thanks, Ralph! I was thinking of the same thing

Rob