# Appreciating the little things



## Grelko (Sep 24, 2015)

Alot of you probably have some great tools to remove components from circuit boards.

I was using a Blue Hawk paint scraper, approx 1.5 in, by 5 in. plastic handle, steel blade, along with my heatgun for the last 8 months or so, to slowly take the components off circuit boards, until it broke yesterday.




I've upgraded to the Warner heavy duty floor scraper, 4 in. by 4 in. double-sided steel blade, 12 in. steel handle with a hammer cap. I should be able to blow through boards in no time with this. Now, I can just chisel across the entire thing without using a heatgun, then toss the depopulated ones into a bucket of HCL to remove the solder.


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## Grelko (Jan 6, 2016)

So far, all of the crock pots that I have found, while scrapping, at Goodwill, or even yardsales, haven't worked like they should. The best one I previously had, took almost 2 hours, just to get water slightly warm.

I finally gave in and bought this one 8)

it's a Hamilton Beach, stoneware 8-quart (2 gallon) with a glass lid. This should work great for evaporating solutions, deplating pins, fingers/boards etc. 

I just need to keep an eye on the metal ring around the glass lid, so it doesn't eventually rust away and fall into solutions.






Edit - This works MUCH better than my old one did. I put in an inch or so, of water and turned it on high. After about 20 minutes, the water is already starting to get warm.


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## shaftsinkerawc (Jan 7, 2016)

Don't most crock pots have heating elements up the sides dont they? By only putting a small amount in you aren't making full use of the heat available.


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## Grelko (Jan 8, 2016)

shaftsinkerawc said:


> Don't most crock pots have heating elements up the sides dont they? By only putting a small amount in you aren't making full use of the heat available.



The ones that I've taken apart while getting scrap metal, have had the heating elements go around the sides. I'm not sure about all brands though, but you can tell where they are, because the metal gets hot on the outside at certain parts. I test how well they work, by putting in an inch of water or so and seeing how long it takes for it to begin steaming.

When I had the old one almost full of used HCL+H2O2 "CuCl2", it took close to 9 hours to evaporate 1/2 cup of solution. This new one took a little over 3 hours and evaporated almost 5 cups "It was 21F or -6.1C outside at the time. The larger surface area helps it evaporate faster also.

Edit - reworded


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