How does everyone solder wires to the laser diode? I've been having alot of trouble with this part. The pins to the diode are so small and spaced together, it's very difficult to get a good connection. Also, if heat is so dangerous to the diode, how can you solder wires to them? The soldering iron is like 1000 degrees. Any suggestions?
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Problems with Diode Soldering
- Thread starter murofbbay
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Well if you use a low watt iron you should be fine. 25 watts is what I use. Ok if you are harvesting your own from a DVD burner, then here is what works really well. Before cutting away at the heat sink, solder the leads onto the LD. This way your LD is still heat sinked protecting it from the heat of the solder. Use a lead from a resistor or an LED. Hold that lead with a pair of needle nose pliers then get some solder on your tip. About a 2 second touch to the LD lead should suffice for a solid connection. Put it this way. If you can hold your LD between your fingers after soldering the leads on, then you are fine. Well Hope this helped you.
S
SenKat
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The LEAST damaging way is to use flux...I find the paste type (although a little messy at times) to be the best ! Put a tiny bit of flux on the diode pin that you are soldering to - have solder PREAPPLIED to teh wire, and hold the wire on the Diode leg - one tiny touch of the iron, and you are done 
The flux helps the solder to flow better - making it SOOOO easy !
The flux helps the solder to flow better - making it SOOOO easy !
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SenKat said:The LEAST damaging way is to use flux...I find the paste type (although a little messy at times) to be the best ! Put a tiny bit of flux on the diode pin that you are soldering to - have solder PREAPPLIED to teh wire, and hold the wire on the Diode leg - one tiny touch of the iron, and you are done
Excellent point! I totally forgot about flux.
Benm
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You don't really need seperate flux to solder these things. Solder for electronics has a few persent rosin flux already in it, but it it takes some practice.
AJ_Dual
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Benm said:
Senkat, the idea to pre-tin the LED legs is simple, but genius. One of those "DUH! Why didn't I think of it?" type of things. That will probably remove LOTS of frustration from my build. Thanks!
Here's a couple other hints for easier soldering from the standpoint of a newb.
1. AVOID lead-free solder at all costs. It just sucks, it takes too long to melt, and it does not adhere properly to joints. Use regular 60/40 lead/tin mix.
2. For delicate work use the thinnest solder you can find. The thinner it is, the faster it'll melt and flow without excessively heating the work components up. Thicker solder heat-sinks itself and takes longer to heat, then when it does melt, it tends to cut loose all at once and you just dribble melted solder everywhere.
3. Rosin-core solder helps, and I don't mind using it, but extra rosin/flux on the components still makes a huge difference. For the rosin core to work, you have to melt a bunch of it for the rosin to flow out. Pre-applying a little extra flux with a tiny craft paintbrush to both surfaces makes everything much easier.
4. Practice, I agree whole heartedly. Work on joining LED legs and scrap wires together etc.
Benm
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For those trying to get the basics of soldering electronics down, another good idea is to clean the tip of your soldering iron before starting to work on components.
The easiest way to do is, is to melt some solder into the tip, and then quickly brush that off onto a damp sponge. You can also lightly scrape excess off on a metal edge like that on a bench vice.
But like AJ says, it takes practise too. If you have never soldered electronics before, don't start on a laser diode. It might be a good idea to get some cheap DIY electronics kit like a led-blinking-circuit and build that first. Even an hour of practise will make a big difference if its your first time.
The easiest way to do is, is to melt some solder into the tip, and then quickly brush that off onto a damp sponge. You can also lightly scrape excess off on a metal edge like that on a bench vice.
But like AJ says, it takes practise too. If you have never soldered electronics before, don't start on a laser diode. It might be a good idea to get some cheap DIY electronics kit like a led-blinking-circuit and build that first. Even an hour of practise will make a big difference if its your first time.
Try flux. I have some pastey type stuff in a white can. Just put it on the pin(I accually also dip my soldering tip in there for one second) and on the wire. Put some solder on the tip of the wire..and just touch the wire to the pin, and touch your gun to the solder on the wire. And. you should be fine
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i find that a tiny bit of flux and silver solder create great electrical connection and takes less than .5 seconds. it is what i use and i find it very very affective just make sure you wipe off the flux. the stuff can get nasty.
