I was toying with doing a wiki article on component level repair of electronic stuff, since there seems to be so much otherwise decent kit that dies these days for silly reasons like failing capacitors etc.
With modern lead free solder, and ever increasing layout densities, use of multilayer boards etc, the job of component removal seems to be getting ever harder. There was a time when a moderate iron with enough bit mass to heat the joint quickly, was all you needed. To reflow the joint and then either pull the device, or apply a solder sucker, all one did was tin the bit, apply heat for a couple of secs, and job done.
Recently I have needed to recap a few motherboards (not usually an economic exercise - but these were custom form factor jobbies where replacements are not readily available), and they were a right PITA to work on. Obviously multilayer, and since the caps are on the power regulation sections, probably connected to fairly heavy power plane traces in the board. Component removal was very difficult - often taking excessive time for the joint to reflow. Tight pins in close holes with a small annulus. However cleaning the holes for reuse proved impossible with any of my normal irons. In the end I had to resort to using a hot air paint stripper with small nozzle on the end to get enough heat into the area to be able to suck the holes clear!
I was wondering what suggestions those of you who do this daily had to offer?