Decades ago I used soldering 'wick', a copper or tin braid with or without flux in it (to absorb solder from a PC board). I used to make my own from used RG coax outer braid (preferred the copper braid). Years later, I could afford a 'solder sucker', a device that used a vacuum to 'suck' the liquid solder from the heated board. These solder suckers were the best because it left the PC board holes pretty clean and open. There are numerous ways to desolder, I have seen ppl just 'flick' a board and the solder flew off BUT that was unreliable and very messy for anyone who had to clean up the splattered solder (not counting any solder that landed all over the board they were trying to fix). So, a good 35 watt, 100watt, or larger (for those large heavy metal solder posts/grounds) AND a solder sucker, makes for a very fast job. Just be sure you use the right iron/pencil, for the job's size!

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