Worried about soldering diode.

I read the sticky about soldering diodes, but I'm still worried about it.

I have one of these kits.

Talas - Extra Hand Clamps

Can I use that as a soldering heatsink?

What temperature will fry the diode? I have a soldering iron that lets me set a temperature, up to 300*c.

As long as there's no current going through the diode soldering wont kill it. Just dont keep the iron on it for too long.

Diodes are rated for temperature failure

When you read a data sheet it usually wil expose the solder limit in time (seconds)
3-5 seconds is fairly routine

If you follow the guidelines in my instructions, you will never exceed the failure temperature

This method is also used when making wire-to-wire solders with small wire
Soldering diode pins takes a fraction of a second

Pre-tin BOTH the pins and the wire or solder pads
[FONT=&quot]Pre-tining should be done with a drop of solder on the tip of the iron.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You just touch the fluxed pin with the solder drop[/FONT]

Use a small bit of flux on BOTH the pins and the wires/pads BOTH for the pre-tin and the final solder joint

I don't care if you use rosin core solder. USE THE FLUX!

Use a set of "extra hands" to align the pin with the wire/pad.

Make sure that they are side-by-side, touching, and secure

Get a small bit of solder on the tip of your soldering iron

"Touch" the melted solder on your iron to the pin to wire/pad joint

The solder will all flow together in a fraction of a second.

I recommend that you also use some shrink tubing to protect and reinforce the joint



You DO NOT "heat the joint" as with other solder jobs
You DO NOT place the solder source anywhere near the solder job

Only the melted solder on the tip of your iron should approach the pin to wire/pad joint[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
An exception to the above, is when soldering a wire/pin “through” a hole
If you are soldering a wire or pin through a hole, you only pre-tin the wire/pin
You DO still use a bit of flux in the hole
You have to let the iron sit a bit longer to heat the hole and allow the solder to flow
It still should be less than a couple of seconds

If you are new to soldering, I recommend that you get yourself an old PCB and some scrap wire (etc.). Practice the above procedure until you can get a good solder in a fraction of a second.

Peace,
dave

I'll probably need this again when I start my first DIY build great post Dave :beer:

Do NOT use a cheap propane soldering torch and try to scoop solder onto the joint - or this will happen:

:wtf:

That was three and a half years ago now - I still haven't tried another build.

Just get a nice soldering iron... a really nice one can be <$100

Yeah, I bought a new iron and have been practicing on dead IR diodes. Just working up the courage for a new build.