Help! Diode Soldering

Aww maan.... I messed up my diode. I put too much solder and it stuck to all three pins (including the base of the diode as well.... :'()
Now I dunno how to remove it, since solder is rather conductive, it refuses to heat up to melt away, but transfer large amounts of heat to the diode. I'm worried if I try to desolder the blob, it'd damage the diode. I've already pressed it into the axiz module to use it as a heat sink, but I'm not sure what to do next.

Can anyone with experience in this help?

tw15t3r,

I've done this myself. It is possible to clean the solder off. But it is also possible to fry your diode. Here's what I'd do-

1. leave the diode in the heatsink. This should give you an extra second or two to desolder.
2. Get some desoldering braid.
3. Use a hotter soldering iron. You need to be able to heat the solder faster than it can transfer it's heat.

First, heat and tin your iron.

Second, hold the desoldering braid against the 'blob' and then use the iron to liquify the solder. It should get mostly sucked into the braid. You'll want to remove the iron and the braid at the same time, as soon as you see the solder melt.

Third, let the diode cool fully between attempts. (This will also let the iron heat up again.)

Fourth, Once you've got most of the solder off, the braid won't help anymore. At this point you'll simply have to liquify the solder and blow it off of the back of the diode.

You need to be VERY CAREFUL with the non-case pins. If they get or stay too hot, the insulation around them will melt. Once that happens the pin will pretty much fall out of the diode. (i.e.- Dead diode.)

Your diode will look pretty bad at the end of this even if you do it right. You may not be able to tell whether your pins are solder-bridged by looking, so use a multimeter.

It's not easy. But it can be done.

Good Luck,
kernelpanic

Tw15t3r said:

Aww maan.... I messed up my diode. I put too much solder and it stuck to all three pins (including the base of the diode as well.... :'()
Now I dunno how to remove it, since solder is rather conductive, it refuses to heat up to melt away, but transfer large amounts of heat to the diode. I'm worried if I try to desolder the blob, it'd damage the diode. I've already pressed it into the axiz module to use it as a heat sink, but I'm not sure what to do next.

Can anyone with experience in this help?

Click to expand...

What you need to do is break the surface tension of the the solder when it's in liquid form...
(melted) so that it will flow...
The only way to do that is with some Rosin Flux...
Put quite a bit of Rosin Flux on the Solder Blob.... then hold your Aixiz module upside down...
so that the pins of the face the floor...
Then apply heat to the pins with your pre-tinned clean iron... the blob should flow towards
the iron by gravity alone....
If not... while the solder is liquid... snap the module like you were trying to get ink to flow
out of a pen... and the solder will fly off..

Jerry

lasersbee said:

If not... while the solder is liquid... snap the module like you were trying to get ink to flow
out of a pen... and the solder will fly off..

Jerry

Click to expand...

Ouch! that's gonna be really really really hot ink that's gonna fly out!

Ok will do.... Thanks for the advice!
I hope I can get this done... :-/

Don't feel too bad about it, most of us have done this at some point, I have in the past used the flick method mentioned above...It works If you have desoldering braid it will work too.
Just try to keep the contact time of the iron to the LD as short as possible... Good luck!

Regards rog8811

when that happens i bet the safest way is to use a sharp knife and little by little take of the tin..

How about a solder sucker??? common guys if you gonna do DIY diodes you got to have the right equipment.. they really cheap like $4, its a spring loaded sucker, heat up the solder and push the button and there goes all the solder.. easy!

Funny thing, I have 2 solder suckers but have never used one for unbridging an LD ...not that I have done it often anyway : I use them all the time when harvesting parts from PC boards.

Regards rog8811