Driver connection Help!

brandp · Jun 18, 2012

Im sure this will come off a silly question but im serious about it.

I have seen many tutorials and etc on this and never have had it clarified...

Does it matter which side of the driver has the +/- connection to the powersource and the +/- connection to the diode? or Can I just pick which ever side i want?

Thanks guys

-Brandon

Blord · Jun 18, 2012

It does matter which side you connect the wires. Just looks closely where you put the wires. Normally the printings on the driver will tell which wire to connect.

brandp · Jun 18, 2012

Thank you Blord! also how quickly do i have to solder? Its the soldering of the diode that can harm it if i dont do it fast correct?

Blord · Jun 19, 2012

Do the soldering on the diode as fast as possible. I do it in a fraction of a second and not a few seconds. You may exercise on a dead diode before the real works is done. Practice is the key word.

Soldering wires on the driver is more forgiving. The components are more robust.

brandp · Jun 19, 2012

Is it possible to heat the solder and have the word in place then drop the liquid and connect them that way to prevent actually risking the chance of touching and heating the door too long? ( If it's possible thought it might be an interesting risk free way)

-Brandon

AnthoT · Jun 19, 2012

brandp said:
Is it possible to heat the solder and have the word in place then drop the liquid and connect them that way to prevent actually risking the chance of touching and heating the door too long? ( If it's possible thought it might be an interesting risk free way)

-Brandon

If you could manage to do that it would be pretty neat

Actually when I solder diodes I use 63/37 solder as it has the lowest melting point at about 180 degrees, I never use lead free on diodes as it has a high melting point, so the lower the melting point the less time you need to hold the iron on the diode

but always try to do it in <1 second, just a quick dab with a bit of solder is perfect

brandp · Jun 19, 2012

Ok! Ill make sure i go and buy 63/37 solder for this! what i will do is practice soldering 2 plain wires very quickly! So i can master <1 second, but I will also try the dropping the solder approach to see if it is as easy as pictured! But also when you do your quick solder im guessing you already have your solder touching the 2things you are connecting and just touch it with the soldering iron extremely quick?

-Brandon

LaserAdct · Jun 19, 2012

brandp said:
also how quickly do i have to solder? Its the soldering of the diode that can harm it if i dont do it fast correct?

I have soldered all the modules I use myself in both pointers and my scanner, and until now I have never fried a diode while soldering leads. I probably solder the leads in 1-1½ seconds so no need to be too scared about it, just use common sense. Small clean tip, line up the pretinned lead and then the soldering will go fast :beer:

AUS · Jun 19, 2012

You set the temperature to the solder you are using, although you can tailor it to the application a bit. If you are using leaded solder I usually use about 375 degrees C. Unleaded solder needs more temperature depending on its composition. If I'm soldering a big screw lug I'll up the temperature.

Laser diodes are sensitive, but no more so than most solid state devices transistors and IC's. Google "how to solder", there are plenty of video's out there on youtube an the like.

The trick is to ALWAYS use a clean iron (use a whetted sponge), tin the iron with solder first, and apply the iron to the component for a second or two then apply the solder to the component / wire / pad (whatever you are soldering) and not the iron.

daawood123 · Jun 19, 2012

um, sort of thread jacking but what soldering iron do you guys have, im sure its a branded one. the one i have was a really cheap $7 one from ebay, its pretty rubbish, takes about 20minutes to fully heat up, doesnt melt the solder properly/fast, even though i bought new tips for it, and when it try tinning the tip the solder just gathers into a blob and falls off the tip, which is pretty stupid. any ideas?

brandp · Jun 19, 2012

daawood123 im interested in that too i have an old soldering iron but it works fine, ive been looking towards getting a new up to date iron though because the one i have is about 8 years old and i like to update my stuff

daawood123 · Jun 19, 2012

yup, mine does the job, like soldering onto those little pads on a driver, but soldering onto a diode is another thing. it takes about 1minute to fully heat up a joint in a wire so i can melt the solder into the wire. i dunno if its broken, or if im using the wrong solder (lead free rosin core)

Blord · Jun 19, 2012

Buy a solder station with a variable temperature. I have this one for €26.

daawood123 · Jun 19, 2012

wow, thats cool! where did u buy it from blord?

Blord · Jun 19, 2012

I bought it from a Dutch shop, Aoyue 936 soldeerstation

Eudaimonium · Jun 19, 2012

Blord said:
Buy a solder station with a variable temperature. I have this one for €26.

[Aoyue 936]

Me too, bro!

Best buy soldering station you can ever get, I got mine through ebay like... what, 3 years ago maybe?

It sure serves me well, and even beyond my expectations.

I also highly reccomend getting a soldering station like that, it helps you tremendously with soldering tiny and sensitive parts like laser diodes and drivers.

Driver connection Help!

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