Removing Diode from heatsink

[bata]

After a year of having my 800mw 445nm laser (bought from dave) I am finally having an issue with it. I'm one of those guys who enjoys taking stuff apart and seeing what everything connects to. Well doing that too many times on this laser caused the wires that connected the diode to the circuit to twist and eventually snap off.

That, however, is not my problem as my brother is great with a soldering Iron and can fix stuff like this in minutes. The issue is where the wires broke off from each other. They snapped up in the heatsink and my brother says that the only issue he would have is stripping the wire that far up as his tools can't really reach that far.

So my question is if there is any way to take the diode out of the heatsink. I'm assuming that this diode was either pressure fitted or glued in.

I know, that if the diode was glued in you can use heat, like a lighter, to basically un-glue the glue. However I know that that is a bad idea considering it might fry the diode. So any ideas?

 

[Zeebit]

Is the diode directly pressed to the heatsink or to a module? Jayrob sells a tool for removing a diode from a module. Not sure how to remove a direct press though.

 

[bata]

It looks that its just a diode and not a full module in it but not sure.

 

[danefex]

Your diode is in a module. It was either bonded in there or there's a small hole around the side of the sink that holds a small screw holding the module in place. From your pics it looks glued though

:beer:

 

[bata]

That is good news. There is a hole in the side of the heatsink that I thought would have something to do with holding it in there but wasn't sure. So, thx for the good news

 

[daguin]

That is good news. There is a hole in the side of the heatsink that I thought would have something to do with holding it in there but wasn't sure. So, thx for the good news

That "hole" in the side of the heat sink holds a set screw.
It should be a 2mm allen head (some of them were 1.5mm)
Loosen the set screw and you should be able to push the module with the diode out of the heat sink
Once you have the wires resoldered and tested, you can push the module back into the heat sink to the correct depth and re-set the screw

When you feel the need to open the laser, hold the heat sink/module in place, with your finger, while you unscrew the TOP piece of the host
DO NOT unscrew the bell housing, until you have the heat sink free from the bell housing
Unscrew the top retaining portion
Pull the heat sink out a bit, loosen the set screw, then push the module out of the rear of the heat sink
That way the bell housing can turn independently from the heat sink (No twisted wires)

Peace,
dave

 

[bata]

That "hole" in the side of the heat sink holds a set screw.
It should be a 2mm allen head (some of them were 1.5mm)
Loosen the set screw and you should be able to push the module with the diode out of the heat sink
Once you have the wires resoldered and tested, you can push the module back into the heat sink to the correct depth and re-set the screw

When you feel the need to open the laser, hold the heat sink/module in place, with your finger, while you unscrew the TOP piece of the host
DO NOT unscrew the bell housing, until you have the heat sink free from the bell housing
Unscrew the top retaining portion
Pull the heat sink out a bit, loosen the set screw, then push the module out of the rear of the heat sink
That way the bell housing can turn independently from the heat sink (No twisted wires)

Peace,
dave

If only I was told that before haha. But hey, you learn from your mistakes. Anyway I'll post some pics of the soldering job when its done. Thx for your help guys.

 

[wally445]

If any body needs to remove a direct press fit diode ive found the hollow extendable tube from a old tv ariel to work rather well.