Introduction: Desoldering Components With Rubbing Alcohol

By Ryan Hebron
About: I am currently a Junior in high school involved in theater and I am constantly playing with my arduino and love to mod things around the house

    I've heard the saying before that when theirs a need there's a solution. its the same here i have a need to desolder a box of pcb's and not an easy way to desolder in bulk  without a neck-ach. so in this instructable i'm going to show you a new way to desolder that almost anyone can do.
edit:
​This should be done in a well ventilated area and protective gear worn while doing this so you don't burn yourself or cause a fire.

edit #2:
          this is purely informational and i do not have any other ways to desolder surface-mount components easily and i wanted a cheep way to do this.also to put your concerns at rest i dont know if the components are unuseable or not most end up as keychains or refrigerator magnets.lastly i dont want to use an oven because the fumes from the PCB(Printed Circuit Board) could be harmful and cook into what ever gets baked in that oven.

Step 1: Materials

most people have these if not it will cost you about 5 bucks at most.
  • tin lid (if you don't have one than use something non-flammable and wont melt)
  • pcb's (kind of necessary to be able to desolder)
  • 70% rubbing alcohol  (you can get it for $2 at dollar general or a pharmacy)
  • pliers (you dont want to get burned)
  • ignition source(matches, a spark, jacobs ladder, whatever floats your boat  :)

Step 2: Light

pour a fair amount of rubbing alcohol in the tin and light it if you use a spark like i did you cant have the probes below the surface or the spark will not light a fire and you'l get alcohol all over you. another thought you could use just about any fuel i think just be careful i am not responsible for you hurting yourself.

also do this outside or in a well ventilated area i did mine in the fireplace.

Step 3: Desolder

grip the pcb of your choice in a a pair of pliers and hold it close to the flame .try not to putout the fire.
hold it over the flame until you see solder starting to melt once that happens remove it from the flame and smack it upside down on the floor or on the side of a box to dislodge the components

you may need to repeat this several times
so thats that a new way to desolder pcbs
if you have any comments, criticisms, or questions please leave them in the comments or pm me.