Hakko 470 Vacuum Desoldering Stations

[George S.]

These are very high quality units that were made in Japan in the 80s. There are almost always a few on eBay, and from time to time some show up priced reasonable with the now somewhat rare Hakko 802 desoldering gun. The units are now starting to show age, mainly the vacuum pump flapper valves.
Each pump has 2 valve assemblies, this 1 assembly is off a new to me 470B, notice the brittle plastic and flux the pump ingested because the prior owner didn't have the proper filters installed.
So clean the assembly with alcohol and Q-tips, reassemble with a new flapper valve.
This is a 470B, DC motor for the pump.
This is a 470, AC motor for the pump. Same pump, different layout.
And this is the now hard to find 802 gun. Heating elements for it are no longer available, but Hakko has a document online listing a upgrade path using readily available 808 gun heating elements and supporting parts.
Note Hakko made other units like the 471, but it has no internal pump, just a bayonet fitting on the rear for a external pump. Also seen a 472, but don't know about it. 474s popup every now and then. 474s use a unique pencil type desoldering head, and aren't compatible with the guns due to wiring issue.
And now a hint if your going to pursue getting one of these. Some eBay sellers list these as Hako, not Hakko. Last week I scored another sweet looking 470 with a 802 gun for a very, very low price. Yup, listed as a Hako 470. Happy hunting!

 

[laatsch55]

George, how often do you clean filters, on my DIY desoldering apparatus I can go about 10 sucks worth..

 

[George S.]

There's a filter in the gun and another at the inlet on the 470. Hakko filters are thick and layered, so I can clean a filter by peeling off the contaminated top layer, reusing the same filter many times. In a case like desoldering all the phono jacks off a PL2000, I would need to peel one layer off the filter in the gun only. The filter in the inlet stays clean for long periods. However, there is also a steel spring filter also in the gun that captures the solder. That would have to be cleaned out twice. Trick on the solder filter/catcher is put a small piece of paper towel in it before use. Solder collects on the paper and not the steel spring filter. So, there is a solder filter, and a flux filter in the gun, then a additional flux filter on the 470 inlet. All are pretty high capacity. This is a professional quality production unit.

 

[laatsch55]

Coolness...

 

[e30m3mon]

I got this 808 a few years ago...what a timesaver. Been stocking up OE parts off ebay as I’m sure one day they will become NLA

 

[George S.]

With clean filters and temp set to 700, it will desolder the wire to a old PL amp fuse holder so well, that all it takes is needle nose to get the wire strands out of the eyelet. Just massive vacuum.
I got mine originally for replacing caps on computer motherboards. If one likes to fix and save old equipment they are invaluable. Also, I make errors when I build things, lots of errors. Makes rework easy.

 

[62vauxhall]

George, how often do you clean filters, on my DIY desoldering apparatus I can go about 10 sucks worth..

So a 10 to 1 suck to blow ratio?

 

[George S.]

I got this 808 a few years ago...what a timesaver. Been stocking up OE parts off ebay as I’m sure one day they will become NLA
View attachment 50106

Nice Hakko!

 

[laatsch55]

So a 10 to 1 suck to blow ratio?

Exactly Gary..

 

[AngrySailor]

So a 10 to 1 suck to blow ratio?

Certain times, I’d rather be blown than sucked...

 

[NavLinear]

Noemi does both.

 

[George S.]

These flapper valves were pulled out of a 470 I've had about 10 years. I suppose they were replaced at some point before I got it as they're still pliable. I replaced them anyway. Compare them to the photo of the flux coated flappers from the 470B and the importance of maintaining the filters is apparent. I'll post some photos of the newest 470 and 802 next weekend.

 

[Gepetto]

A picture of mine. I am a fan of destroy the component down to the leads, quickly remove the leads with tweezers and hot iron, suck residual solder with this or with solder wick. Goal is minimal harm to the PCB, the hell with the component (I am not doing failure analysis).

 

[George S.]

View attachment 50113

A picture of mine. I am a fan of destroy the component down to the leads, quickly remove the leads with tweezers and hot iron, suck residual solder with this or with solder wick. Goal is minimal harm to the PCB, the hell with the component (I am not doing failure analysis).

Understood, used the spring loaded ones like that for many years. Problem that moved me to the Hakko was computer motherboards with lead free solder and tight against the board caps.
I could cut the caps off with diagonals, mix some leaded solder into the lead free so it would wet and flow, pull the leads. But then the issue of getting the hole clean on those many layer thru hole plated boards remained. Sometimes a solder sucker or braid just wasn't enough, had to resort to pin vise and bits, not good.
The Hakkos make it so easy and fast provided the leads aren't bent over. I try to keep the heat on the lead and not the board. Works well. Components just drop right out in most cases.
Only time I've experienced board/trace issues is on fixing old rework or just crappy boards.

 

[George S.]

So my new to me 470/802 unit just arrived in the mail, and the gun has a good element, hooray! The pump triggers perfect, but no vacuum. So opened it up, and looks like original hard brittle flapper valves, check out the photo.
So I'm set for desoldering stations now. Planning to retire in 2-3 years and getting my soldering/desoldering stations set was on the list. Now waiting on a new 907 iron from Taiwan for the 936 soldering station.

 

[Gepetto]

So my new to me 470/802 unit just arrived in the mail, and the gun has a good element, hooray! The pump triggers perfect, but no vacuum. So opened it up, and looks like original hard brittle flapper valves, check out the photo.
So I'm set for desoldering stations now. Planning to retire in 2-3 years and getting my soldering/desoldering stations set was on the list. Now waiting on a new 907 iron from Taiwan for the 936 soldering station.

Ready for some major suck up George...

 

[George S.]

Yeah man. I like nice tools. Pisses me off not having proper tools for the job at hand. Some of the linear amplifiers for 10 and 11 meters that I occasionally work on have huge amounts of solder between the transistors and board.

 

[mlucitt]

between the transistors and board.

The HF tube linear amplifiers don't have that problem.

 

[George S.]

Most of the linears I work on are Texas Star, Palomar, etc . Haven't seen a mobile tube linear in years. Never worked on one. I don't know much about solid state, nothing about tubes.

 

[wattsabundant]

I've had my 808 for about 10 years. Bought it used on EBAY. Just recently bought the genuine cleaning pins. They're much better than bus wire and don't burn the fingers. Seems like I had to tear it apart for some reason, but don't remember why.