Sergey,
I appreciate your input.
Yes there is a trailing power cord but in comparison to some other desoldering handpieces that have both a power cord and a vacuum line having only one item helps make the unit more maneuverable.
You obviously do not have a good impression of the FR301. I do. And I appreciate your impressions of it and possibly you have had a bad experience with one in the past. I have had excellent good success using it over the years. I favor it over all of the Metcal, Kurtz Ersa and Weller units in the lab for desoldering when a quick part removal is needed. It is also nice in the field since you don’t have a lot of extra hardware trailing behind you.
As for removal of certain items of which you indicated that you choose various other approaches and accessories to use, we choose various other methods outside of simple heated desoldering equipment. One such approach is use of non-contact variable focus IR desoldering units with pinpoint accuracy so as not to mechanically disturb the joints except for drawing the solder away from the target area. This eliminates having to “scrub” a tip over the PWB pad area thereby minimizing any damage that could occur. You would probably find a custom machine of this type to be excessively expensive to obtain (~>$2000 - $2500). These are very esoteric machines and are not for a hobbyist.
As for the “sledgeghammer” and “abomination” opinions I am sorry that you find the FR301 to not meet your needs. We are not all alike and such opinions are purely the impression of the particular user. I do not consider the FR301 to be of that ilk. My arms have never complained and there has never been any damage to the boards and other circuitry that we work on even when having to comply with commercial, aerospace and military soldering standards required by some of our clients.
Greg
