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FrozenGate by Avery

Connecting LD without solder

o_DEATH_ANG3L_o

o_DEATH_ANG3L_o

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So I was thinking of different ways to connect the leads on an LD without the use of heat. I have seen this stuff called Liquid Tape. It is for electrical use. I guess it hardens and is conductive. You could use that then wrap electrical tape around it. I just thought it would be a great idea for those weary of soldering their LD's. Well another way would be to use heat shrink tubing. You would still be using heat but not as much as soldering. If anyone has connected an LD in a manner other than using heat, please share it.
 





Death Angel said:
So I was thinking of different ways to connect the leads on an LD without the use of heat. I have seen this stuff called Liquid Tape. It is for electrical use. I guess it hardens and is conductive. You could use that then wrap electrical tape around it. I just thought it would be a great idea for those weary of soldering their LD's. Well another way would be to use heat shrink tubing. You would still be using heat but not as much as soldering. If anyone has connected an LD in a manner other than using heat, please share it.
Click to expand...
Whenever I solder a heat sensitive component, I always use locking hemostats as heatsinks. They have a lot of mass. They hold the part well and divert the flow of heat away from what I soldering.
 
i held the pins of my diode in pliers so the heat dissipates in the pliers and not much reaches the diode.
 
IMO, a true solder connection also provides a bit better thermal path for heat conduction. Granted it's not significant as compared to the diode housing into your Aixiz housing, and then the Aixiz housing into whatever heat sink or pelitier (if any) you've got running, but every bit helps, IMO.
 
If you're weary of soldering, you have too many LD's or a soldering iron way to heavy for the purpose.  My little 4oz iron makes the connection is about 1 second.

Mike
 
I have a 15watt RS one. This ought to work right with some typical rosin core solder?
 
you could always buy diode sockets and use them and then just plug the diode in. I only find they are good for testing. But if you are a true soldering butterfingers then they might be of use.
 
yeah try practice soldering if you are not confident, solder is definately the best way to do it!
 
stevetexas knows. and the product they call "liquid tape" is for electrical work alright...you use like "regular" electrical tape to insulate and protect an electrical connection- it is a NON-CONDUCTIVE plastic type stuff on curing and so not suitable for solderless connections. what about a "circuit writer" pen? this is a pen type dispenser filled with a conductive fluid that has the consistency of paint going on but quickly dries/hardens to a thin film that will conduct. after making a connection with this i would probably use some 2-min epoxy for anything that needs to be durable and you could use liquid tape to finish...but only if it  won't get too hot.  or just get the hemos like everybody else and PM stevetexas for ALL the secrets of soldering. ratshack has the pen and they are kinda cool for repairing broken traces on circuit boards or even making your own traces.almost forgot to mention solder from ratshack is ALL CRAP. that one thing could be what would make somebody seek a solderless solution. try it with some quality solder.
 
this may be counter intuitive, but the hotter the iron the faster the solder melts.  have the solder melted on the tip of your iron before even touching it to the LD lead.  place the leads together then touch the solder to it after fluxing the "joint".  a 1 second touch should seal the deal and save the diode.  
also, have it mounted in the Aixiz module to help dissipate the heat before doing this.
 
Well the way I like to solder my leads onto diodes is take the new lead and go ahead and put a little solder on it. Then take some heat shrink and slip it over the lead of the diode and the new lead with the solder on it. Making sure to heatsink the diode lead with some clips, I then use my lighter for a few seconds to shrink and in that process the solder melts. You end up with a great connection and a nice looking one at that :D
 
ya know angel if you really don't wanna solder they do make sockets specifically designed for hooking up laser diodes to. Do a simple search on google. I've got a set of connections from a computer case that I use as test connections. It bends the pins out away from each other a bit so you only wanna do it once or twice.

 
What stevetexas and things said. Practice soldering. It's a worthwhile skill. Just practice on some LED's or resistors. Cut the leads really short and solder to those. After that, 'coat' the wires with a little solder at the ends (there should only be 1/16th of an inch of wire showing) and then let it harden. Find a circuit board and practice attaching the end to a component lead or other solder joint on the board...
 
Two things I have used in the past in place of hot solder and gun:

Liquid Solder sold in tubes here

Hot Glue gun - This baby works wonders for attaching wires to anything, if the object attached to doesnt get hot enough to melt the glue, this is a great tool to have in your mad scientist chest
 
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