Review on Efficient and Safe American HAKKO FR301-03/P ESD Portable Desoldering Tool with Precise Temperature Control in °F/°C by Willie Ogunlana

The manual says to clean the tool after every use and I couldn't figure out if that's after every vacuum or every soldered component or every meant meeting or something. I think I learned the hard way that this is the first. This thing died for me trying to solder the second item: a 16-pin microcircuit. The first were burrs connecting the baseplate to a 1980's computer, and the tool did an excellent job. But now, in the middle of the desoldering process of this second element, the barrel was clogged and lost all thrust. I was able to clean the nozzle with the included pen (which wasn't easy: I see why they make a drill for it now, but don't see why it's not included), but a larger barrel cleaner (see photo) couldn't do it all do way down. The blockage is deep enough that there isn't enough heat to melt the blockage, and pounding or rotating the tool didn't help either (should I have done that? Who knows. There weren't any options until then) . It looks like you'll have to hammer this thing in while the element is hot, but the smell of the burning coating was disconcerting, and I push so hard knowing I'll essentially be sticking my hand in the soldering iron when i slip As a last resort, I tried removing the entire heating element to pierce it. Unfortunately its wires weren't long enough to draw a good line on them so I had to disassemble the main body. It was inconvenient as hell, but since the instructions show the wiring of the item itself, I suppose they could replace it with semi-intended buyers? Although I didn't feel like it when I had to reassemble it. I ended up drilling a fairly clean canal; see photos. What an incredible pain in the ass. Remember, that was after I used this thing *twice*. Essentially a $250 disposable product. Nothing should be soldered like that.