The G.E.C.K - Vault Tec component.

[Cenedd]

I don't think he's set up for hot air - at least not in the soldering sense - but I'm pretty sure he has a desoldering iron with built-in solder sucker. I know because it's his fault I bought one (and very useful it has been too).

 

[cavemanoc]

Looking amazing - love a good passion project. How is it they always seem to require both blood and sweat?

 

[ALXAndy]

Presuming you are using hot air and not just trying to somehow wick and replace with an iron, I'd try giving the entire board some baseline heat first, might take a while with the heat sink on but with big mass like that a lot can soak in and cause difficulty getting big components off (happens with HDMI on consoles for example). Perhaps pop the heatsink off while performing the soldering job.

I have a hot air gun. I tried that too. What was concerning me was that there are several tiny caps on the front side. It just isnt worth it tbh. Itll only end in tears