When it comes to removing components from a PCB there are generally 3 ways you can do this.

1. Soldering Iron + Solder Wick (or a solder sucker)
2. Hot Air Station
3. Hot Tweezers

Now the reason for different techniques sometimes have to do with different components and how they are mounted to the PCB. For example components may use surface mount technology (abbreviated SMT) or through hole technology (abbreviated THT). The former may have the pads/legs of the component hidden under it so using a soldering iron wouldn't be possible and therefore a hot air station would be necessary to replace the component. While the THT has component leads pass through a hole in the board and are soldered on the opposite side. There are different variations of these kinds of components, some more difficult than others to solder to a PCB. However their overall design is typically very similar. 

That being said there are also reasons why you may choose a more difficult way to remove a components. Generally speaking a hot air station will always be quicker/easier than a soldering iron. That being said there are some circumstances where using hot air has an undesired effect, namely on surrounding components where it could melt a component that cannot take the heat of the hot air station. In these situations sometimes kapton tape or a protective shield will be used to protect the component. However there are some situations where this won't be possible and removing a component with a soldering iron might be necessary. You may also prefer one method over another based on how comfortable you are with for example a soldering iron vs hot air station.

Now when I first started doing electronic repair at the component level I didn't know if I was going to enjoy it or be doing it 2 weeks down the road so I didn't want to invest into expensive equipment. I think there are a ton of people out there that feel the same way, which brings me to today's video where I am going to show that THT components can be removed using a soldering iron & solder wick. Is this the easiest way of doing this? No it isn't and depending on the component it could take a lot of effort to remove. However I think this gives a base line for those who may have an electronic they want to try to repair at home and showcase that you can do a lot of soldering work using basic tools. Now before anyone starts thinking this will work in call scenarios, let me say that it won't. With newer electronics and how small the components have become a hot air station is required in many situations.

A fair warning that the video for the majority of it will have a loud fan noise in the background as I am running my fume extractor for nearly the entire time. The reason for this is because removing components with soldering iron or a hot air stations creates very toxic fumes that I don't want to be breathing in, but more so when using a soldering iron to remove components with many legs the fumes created greatly increase. I have done the best I could to minimize the fan noise and make it so my voice is as clear as possible. Unfortunately the microphone does pickup the fan and I am looking for a way I can further decrease this noise for future videos like this.

The video focuses on an NES cart and I am removing a ROM Chip from the PCB. I chose to use this to demonstrate the technique because I think its a good starting point for someone who is new to soldering. Also there are a ton of electronic boards with similar components out there where this technique could be utilized as well. I fully acknowledged that this probably has less relevance to newer electronics. However if you are new to soldering, practicing with larger components allows you to get the basic techniques down quicker than you would dealing with smaller components that can give a more significant challenge.   

The video can be found below: