S-993A Electric Vacuum Solder Sucker REVIEW & DEMO | versus desoldering wick on double-sided PCBs

I bought this S-993A desoldering gun for £108 including postage and duties from China via UK eBay. M ine is branded Gaojie but I've seen the same item being listed under other brand names such as Vevor.

I was hoping it would save me time when removing components from double sided PCBs, and it definitely does the trick, as you can see from the demonstration footage shot during the recap of a control board from a TEAC 144.

I've been using it semi-regularly for over a year with no issues, and its at least 50% cheaper than any equivalent product I could find.

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PRODUCT LINKS
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S-993A Electric Vacuum Solder Sucker

Weller manual solder sucker

Weller soldering station

MG Chemicals superwock desoldering braid

Other tools and equipment I use when repairing portastudios;-

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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Product description
00:26 Cleaning the tip
01:11 About the packaging, manual & included stand
01:48 Emptying the solder compartment
02:00 Why I bought a desoldering gun - double sided PCBs
03:30 Price and where to buy
04:01 Demonstaration on TEAC 144 board
05:18 For comparison, using braid + standard iron = SLOW!
06:58 About the plug and product links

[jaym]

Thanks for the review. I received my S-993A and it had what looks like plumber's tape under the suction nozzle to hold it on. Can't be right?!

[HD]

These things are junk. If you leave the thing plugged in, the heating element burns out. There is no on/off switch. You have to unplug it soon after use to save the element. Another problem is the pump motor develops dead spots and fails to turn on if it happens to stop on a dead spot. Sometimes hitting it will get the motor to start, but that is irritating. There have also been issues with bad solders on the circuit board, which will cause it to burn up. The last problem is that the rubber cup on the pump tears, rendering the pump useless. If you do buy one of these, make sure you have the replacement parts I have mentioned, or the pump will be useless. When it works, though, it works well.

[discord]

That's an Australian mains AC plug, not Chinese :D

[treadmillrepair]

The new Yihua 948d iii is 1000 times better.
I am using the old model Yihua 948 for two years every day without any mayor issue.

[eveannwallis]

Total crap, I've had to replace the heating element twice so far, don't buy from this manufacturer. Either buy cheaper in the £30-40 range which doesn't hurt so much when they fail or buy an expensive Hakko which should last forever.