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Step 4 De-solder the Linear Regulator legs

First, you tin up the legs. All electronics sold in the USA have to be RoHS Compliant. What that means for us is that there is no lead in any of the solder. That means that it sucks for re-soldering. So tin up the legs with your new solder. Just because they can't be sold in the USA without being RoHS compliant dosen't mean that we have to use use PBFree Solder. (PB is the symbol for Lead.)

Now wedge your needle nose pliers under the first leg and gently pull up on it while putting the iron on the leg. You will hear it pop (or make a scrunchy sound.) which is normal. At this same time, you'll see it move up. DON'T PANIC. Just keep a firm grip on the leg and move it up and out of the way.

If you got a big solder-bridge, two things may have happened:

1. You had too much solder on the leg.
2. You didin't move the leg up enough.

Just heat up the solder and with any luck, it will come free. If not, get out your solder-sucker and suck the excess solder up. If you don't have a solder-sucker then just wipe off the tip of your iron and wipe it through the solder. And get a solder-sucker. Soon.