How to remove ribbon cable

In the past I've either bought my laser diodes already removed from the sled so the ribbon was already removed or bought the sled and taken the diode out but left the ribbon. In order to make my future builds neater and cleaner, i was wondering what is the best way to remove the ribbon without damaging the diode.

i use the solder blob method with a 20 watt iron and a pair of tweezers. when you apply the solder ball to the pins give it about half a second to melt the solder the gently lift up. if you dont feel the ribbon cable move then let the diode cool and try again.

use a 15watt soldering iron, get some flux

And put a fairly large BLOB "yes blob" of solder on the tip of your iron, andget some clamps ready and clamped on the ribbon cable. also make sure the diode is heang held steady by something "a velvet gater clamp is what i use" and when you feel reads,,, drop the blob of solder ontop of all three pins and a the same time pull UP on the ribbon cable fairly hard. it would be best to start pulling before you apply the solder. so the MOMENT the solder melts, the ribbon will slide off, takin ALL the solder with it "hopefully"

And you should be left with a clean diode with no ribbon cable left overs. "NEVER try to press, say a PHR into a module with the 2nd ribbon still attached. the traces sometimes smush together causing shorts"

And i have done this mehtod for half a year now. an can say i;ve succesfully done over 250 diodes at least.

Hope this advice helps Bhank,

Best of luck to you, If you feel you need someone to do it for you, i will gladly do it for you for the cost of postage just to help out.

And if you need diodes "bare diodes" with NO ribbon cable or heatsinks,

Check out my new Webshop, the One-Stop-Laser-Shop for ALL your DIY needs

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Best reguards,

Tyler - Dark Lasers

Yep, check out Modwerx.com or DarkLasers.com for your harvested diode needs. One more method not mentioned that can be done by only the nimblest of fingers, is to cut the ribbon with the "flat" type wire cutters. You just have to "carefully" snip around the pins until you have only pins and a little solder left. I have done it successfully but if you cut off a pin by mistake well........ Don't be afraid to practice on the "limitless" low power IR diodes that are already on most sleds.

The solder "blob" technique works well... I use a somewhat more radical technique...

slide a small needle or an ultrafine jeweler's screwdriver under the ribbon and pull up the cable assembly while torching the unit. It should take about one second, the diode doesn't even have time to get warm. Best done if the diode is still in its radiator assembly.
- Robert

I never called it the Blob Method but that's how I've always done it. Using a 25 watt micro iron, Heat all legs while lifting up with needle nose pliers in the tail and within a second..... it's off.

Mike

I use an exacto knife to carefully cut away the solder from the ribbon cable. It's safer and easier than the solder blob method in my opinion.
I believe it was Glenn that suggested this to me.
I use this method for all my extractions.

"Blob Method"

Awesome I really appreciate your help guys. The reason I asked is because I plan to build a blu-ray,green,cyan laser for someone for christmas haha. I want to make it a neat and clean build.

you can also use an xacto knife to cut away the ribbon, and a pair of finger nail clippers.

i use this method for the more expensive diodes like GGW,SF-aw210 and BDR. but for diodes such as phr and lpc, i use the solder blob.

If you're confident with a soldering iron you should be able to remove it with the blob method in under a second with no traces left behind. I've done this to two 8x diodes, 2 sf-aw210's and about a hundred long open cans.. The only times I had problems with this method was with those pesky 5 pin PS3 diodes way back when.

Whatever you do, do not use one of those "cold heat" soldering irons to do this, it *will* kill the diode.

i use the blob method too. however, with some diodes (phr?) its strange, they seem to have two ribbons/circuitcardboards stacked.. with the blob, i have to remove several layers of stuff, i think even glued to the diodes case.. anyway, in its original heatsink and working quick, it works fine..

manuel

yeah, the PHR diodes need to be blobbed twice lol

Unless you really wanna do the exacto trick. but i've cut a pin b4 on accident, but i can confirm PHR's have TWO ribbon layers, and both should be removed, and the second one CAN be removed VIA solder blob

Those second layers were a pain for a while, but after doing 50 in a row... you get the hang of it quick.

Nice point out Krutz :beer:

Tyler - Dark Lasers

I may start selling practice IR diodes for $0.25 so people can have a load of them to practice with before attempting it on their $200 BDR-203 lol. That is if they dont have any already, but im sure most do

ah, glad to hear you confirm that. i am still nervous when removing the ribbon, and every time thinking "huh? what the heck is THIS now?" when I do a phr, already having forgotten that they are different..
good idea with the IRs. beginners should try everything with an IR first. removing the cable, soldering the pins, pressing into the module, so many possibilities to kill a diode..

manuel

Darkarmyofone said:

I may start selling practice IR diodes for $0.25 so people can have a load of them to practice with before attempting it on their $200 BDR-203 lol. That is if they dont have any already, but im sure most do

Click to expand...

That's a good idea to practice with the IR diodes... I knew I kept them for something...