Soldering Wick won't soak up solder?
 

I'm trying to desolder an AC Jack on a laptop (to replace w/ a new one) and for some reason the soldering wick isn't soaking up the melted solder.

The wick is fine, because I melted a small pool of solder and stuck it in that - it soaked it up just fine.

Any ideas how I can make it soak the other stuff up?

well - in my experience it is because the solder is not fully melted. With something like an AC jack, there are lots of places for the heat to dissapate and therefor not fully melt. It is a delicate balance since too much heat can damage "downstream" components and too little will make it so the solder won't fully melt.

More heat is the general message and good luck.

I hate to tell you that you need a larger tip and more heat, but as Mondak mentioned, that is exactly the problem. If you aren't experienced at soldering, my personal advice is to let a repair center do it. It's easy to damage a pcb with heat. But, if you're determined to do it yourself:

A typical professional setup uses a mechanical-vacuum desoldering station whose hollow tip runs to about 1300 degrees. That's about 700 degree hotter than the soldering iron to keep the extracted sodler liquid long enough to reach the capture tube.

You will probably do better with a rapid heatup using a iron around 65-80 watts having a chisel tip (on the left)

http://www.partsexpress.com/images/372-222m.jpg

or a round tip cut on the bias to provide a flat surface to rapidly transfer the heat. Don't try it with a pointy tip (on the right), you 'll never get enough heat down to do anything because both the joint and the wick are sucking heat away from where you need it.

You might also consider a drop or two of liquid rosin flux on the wick.

It seems odd, but drip some solder on the item you are trying to desolder. The rosin can dry up from something you are trying to remove leaving dry, flaky solder behind. Do this:

Heat joint fully
Add a drop of solder, which should just melt right in
Lay the wick on and soak it all up

For more soldering info than you could imagine, hit this DIY audio place.

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/bottlehead/bbs.html

...and search for solder. I learned how to solder very well from those guys, and they are all great with questions! Good luck!

Have you tried laying the wick on the solder then placing the iron on top of it? The wick heats up first and draws the solder into it.

It's how I always get up old solder.

The solder melts just fine, but when I place a strand in the melted solder, it does nothing.

I also tried placing the wick directly on the solder and melting it by putting the tip of the iron on the wick, but the wick actually sticks to the melted solder (and the board).

I actually ended up getting most of the solder off by "dragging" it off the joint, but I'll definitely keep these tips in mind for next time! It's odd that it just didn't soak it up. I soldered it a few weeks ago w/ standard solder, so it's not like it's something out of the ordinary or anything.

Ah well, thanks for the tips!

I found that if the wick has been laying around for a long time without being stored properly it seems to get dirty and not work as well. I keep mine in a ziploc.

That's definitely caused by insufficient heat.

It's a tricky business, wicking is. I hated doing it on anything that could be damaged. More than once I've had a pad or run lift and a couple times even damaged the board. You get little "whiteheads" where the fiberglass has begun to delaminate and then you have to grind it out and build it back up with fiberglass.

I hate soldering now.

Wick that has been exposed to air for too long wont work properly, it needs to be shiny and new looking. Also some fresh solder can help.

Flux your wick