Best way to de-solder a stomp switch from a board

[jfrabat]

OK, so I am making my first Big Muff pedal, and to make it quick, I got a board from a supplier.  They sell a kit, but considering I got all the components, I decided to order only the PCB.  Build the pedal, and everything works fine, but I decided to use a guitarpedalparts.com LED ring stomp switch (as all my other pedals have) instead of the regular one + LED.

Long story short, I did not measure before soldering, and now I find out that my pedal is too thick for the Hammond boxes I have (the LED ringed stomp switch is thicker than the regular ones) by about 1/8" or so (even with the transistors bent to reduce height).  This means that I got 4 options:

1. De-solder the stomp switch and (a) use a regular one, or (b) flip the board and leave the solder joints facing down and use electrical tape to protect from shorts (1b being my option choice)
2. Cut the board itself and then use wires to solder the cut connections (plan B!)
3. Use aluminum to make a sort of gasket for the case, making it thicker than all my other pedals (doable, but a lot of work and will not look as good, I think).
4. Buy a thicker case (considering I live in Panama, and that Hammond or similar is not easily available, not an attractive option!).

So, my question, what is the simplest way to de-solder a stomp switch soldered directly to the board?

[EBK]

Decide whether you'd prefer to destroy the board or destroy the switch.  If you try to desolder it, you'll possibly destroy both.

[Ice-9]

I think those LED ringed switches are normal 3PDT switches with a plastic box slipped oved the top , you may be able to just remove the LED ring and box to return it to a normal sized switch.

Otherwise you can de solder the switch, If the PCB is one which has the larger size holes for the switch then I would use a solder sucker. It can be tricky but it is quite possible to do without damage to the switch or PCB.

The first option is best if is the type of LED ring I think.

[ElectricDruid]

+1 what Ice-9 said. There are some videos on YouTube of the disassembly of those LED ring switches. Look that up and remove the LED ring and continue as normal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU-zel0A98E

Trying to unsolder a 3PDT switch from a PCB really *does* mean destroying either the switch, the board, or both.

[Derringer]

a really hot iron, a solder sucker, and quick hands

[jfrabat]

OK, how about this; take apart the housing to make it a regular switch and just put the ring (without clear lens, but keeping the diffuser)?  That should reduce enough of the thickness to fit inside a regular Hammond enclosure...  I think...

[amptramp]

You could always add a plexiglass edgelit piece between the enclosure and its lid.  It may add enough height to eliminate the problem.  I agree that switches are extremely delicate and it is easy to get the terminals to shift when you heat it up enough to solder or unsolder.

[bowanderror]

I just had to do this the other day(I accidentally put a momentary 3PDT in on as a true bypass) and sadly there is no magic bullet

Here is my process:
1.) I started with a manual solder sucker and got as much out of each lug as I could
2.) then used solder braid on either side of each lug. Some still had residual solder, so I:
3.) repeated the braid, using more of a drag action, and in some cases tinning the tip a bit more heavily to improved heat transfer via solder iron tip to braid contact.

In the end I couldn’t get the whole thing desoldered by those means alone, so I:
4.) very gently used fine tipped pliers to break any remaining contact w/the solder pads.
5.) To finally remove it, I gently rocked the switch until I could see which lugs were not disconnected and used my iron on these lugs while rocking  the switch out of the holes.

I was lucky in my case as the PCB and solder pads were pretty high quality, but if you don’t trust the integrity of the PCB then I would proceed more cautiously.

Good lack man, it sucks but if you take your time I’m sure you’ll be good as gold!

[idy]

If you decide to remove the switch (and not just the LED ring) one approach is to break/dissasemble the switch housing. It's plastic. Take it off by bending the little metal "clasps" that hold the housing to the plunger part. Then piece by piece "nibbling" with cutting pliers. So you are left with nine individual metal pins stuck in the board. Removing those is a humanly possible task.

[marcelomd]

Decide whether you'd prefer to destroy the board or destroy the switch.  If you try to desolder it, you'll possibly destroy both.

The previous owner of this pedal probably used a solder pot for this work of art:

[Kevin Mitchell]

The previous owner of this pedal probably used a solder pot for this work of art:

Looks like it.

-KM

[pinkjimiphoton]

use a high-volume solder sucker. use a hot iron
IMPORTANT tin the iron EVERY connection
heat the connection with a freshly tinned iron with a little slag on it. that will help ensure you get a good heat transfer.
hit it with the solder sucker offset slightly, whichever side of the hole looks less "full"
repeat if necessary.
take some needle nose and gently rock the switch pin back and forth to ensure its loose in the board socket.
repeat 8 times.
once you get the majority of the solder out of the holes, you can "break" the tiny bit remaining free with the needlenose most of the time.
you may find you'll need to heat one or more lugs slightly again to get the switch out. better to trash the switch than the board usually.

once ya get the switch out, run over both sides of the pcb with some desoldering braid and a hot iron to soak up any potential shorts or remnants.

and ya should be good to go. i've done this a couple hundred times now, and it def seems to be the best approach i've found. most of the repairs i've ended up doing were a cheap 3pdt failure from excessive heat, so its a common rrepair worth building some chops for.

you can most def do this. just work fast and carefully.
best,
pjp

[jfrabat]

Thanks for the advice.  I just took the plastic part out of the LED ring (left only the ring) and it fit.  Simplest solution...