How do I desolder heater terminals from my RAMBo?

[626Pilot]

I need to remove the bed heat connector from my RAMBo and replace it with a new one, but I can only get a small amount of the solder to melt. I'm using an iron that goes up to 480C, which I've tested on thick (difficult to melt) solder I have, and that works OK. But when I try to heat the solder on the board so I can remove it, it will only melt a tiny amount of the stuff. Even if I hold the iron to the solder for 30 seconds, I get nothing.

[tom10122]

put wsome solder on the tip of your iron, also you shouldnt apply heat for too long or you run the risk of damaging it

[Zerosink]

http://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-Sol ... UTF8&psc=1
One of my "must have" tools

[edward]

The solder sucker will certainly help once it puddles, but don't confuse temperature with power. For large pads your iron needs to be able to supply enough power (wattage) to melt the entire pad. Irons are usually rated with a specified wattage, i.e. most cheaper irons are 20W or less and then they step up to 30, 40, and above.

Also, too high of a temperature can be a bad thing, so be aware of what other components are nearby.

[Polygonhell]

There is a huge differrence between cheap soldering irons and good ones, a lot of that is power and temperature control, I think the one I use is rated at 75W. The more expensive units tend to have a separate power control unit to keep the bulk down.
The best way to desolder is to use solder wick, but it requires your iron is powerful enough to heat it and the solder, so the solder melts. I would guess your's just doesn't have the power to desolder something connected to the big chunks of metal that are the connectors.
In a lot of ways desoldering components is much harder than soldering them.

[Eaglezsoar]

If I'm not mistaken, the component you want to remove consists of two connectors that are soldered to the the board.
It is difficult enough to deal with one leg but you have two. I will tell you how I would deal with it, but don't blame me
if you ruin your board. First of all I would cut the connector in half using a pair of large side cutters or a dremel tool.
Do not cut into the board. After I have it cut in half I would use the side cutters to remove as much plastic as
possible around the pins. The goal being to get to a point where you can cut the pins in half to eliminate them drawing
the heat away while you are trying to desolder them. At some point you would have enough plastic removed that you
can cut the pins leaving a small piece to grab with long nose pliers so that you can pull the pin while desoldering the
bottom side. Once I had the part removed I would clean the holes and install the new part. If you don't feel comfortable
with what I would do, perhaps you have a friend who is more electronically oriented and can help you get it off.
You do have the part to replace it with, I hope. Good luck getting it removed.

[626Pilot]

or a dremel tool.

Just what I needed to hear. There was some arcing going on in the connector, which caused plastic to melt from the male connector onto the pins. I replaced the melted male plug, ground the plastic off the pins with a Dremel tool, and now it works.

Thanks for the advice everyone

[Eaglezsoar]

Glad you got it working. There is more than one way to do things and you found a way that worked for you.
Good Job!