You can never have enough demos of this tool. It is by far my most valued for desolder work. Desolder braid doesn’t come close for through-hole work.

For those of you wondering what makes the Hakko 808 so wonderful, here’s a little demonstration on a circuit board from the mid-1990s. We’ve got some old radial electrolytic capacitors to remove, including one in a particularly awkward position.

The idea is rather simple. The tool heats the solder joint and then sucks away the molten solder, hopefully leaving the component free to come out without a fight. That’s a considerable improvement over spending ages trying to clean each hole with solder braid.

Have a look at this one. A little heat, a little suction and the capacitor practically falls out of the board. It’s like magic!

The component I’ve just removed is a 100 uF, 16 V capacitor, and the whole exercise takes hardly any time at all. Obviously you’ve still got to be careful not to damage the board, but for this sort of through-hole work the Hakko has become one of my favourite tools.

Highly recommended. Now, where’s the next motherboard that needs recapping?