solder/diode issue

[Cyparagon]

[I hope] its not making contact with the other pins.

You can verify this by using your multimeter. Set it to the 200ohm range, put one probe on the case, and the other on the free pin. A value anything other than open-circuit (sometime displayed as OL for overload) is bad.

 

[10fenny]

please correct me. But I have always been told that OL is 'out of limit' or 'open loop'. At least in the automotive field.
I don't mean to derail. I probably should PM. Maybe others have heard a different term as well. Good advice for checking continuity though.

edit: I do remember my old auto-electronics teacher telling me how a multimeter sends a small amount of current and checks the speed/amount of current to figure the resistance of a circuit so you would be right about 'overload'. That was also his "description" of the basics function.

 

[Bionic-Badger]

I hate using solder wick. I'd invest in a solder sucker. Then just heat the blob, press the button, and the molten solder gets sucked into the sucker.

As stated above, use a multimeter to ensure you don't have any conductivity between the case and the pin. Don't eyeball such things.

 

[Lifetime17]

Hi,
If you want to check out any possibilities of bridging i use a USB camera on my PC . You can see a hair on a Gnat's butt. You would be surprised what these things show up close..

Rich)

 

[Cyparagon]

please correct me. But I have always been told that OL is 'out of limit' or 'open loop'. At least in the automotive field.

It depends on the context. "out of limit" is pretty much synonymous with "overload", but "open loop" isn't correct when seeing "OL" when measuring voltage for example.

 

[Benm]

I hate using solder wick. I'd invest in a solder sucker. Then just heat the blob, press the button, and the molten solder gets sucked into the sucker.

As stated above, use a multimeter to ensure you don't have any conductivity between the case and the pin. Don't eyeball such things.

It really depends on the job which method is best. Removing solder by suction can work very well, especially if its continous when using a desoldering station. Those plunger-type 'solder suckers' are pretty good to remove large amounts in a single go, but removing the last little bit using one is actually not that easy.

As far as braided (Litze) wire goes: also not required for small amounts like you'd find on a laser diode.

Finally there always is the 'melt and whack' approach: flow fresh, rosin flux, solder onto a joint and then whack the workpiece onto the edge of a desk. Very crude, but you can effectively remover solder doing that so well you could lift a complete DIP16 package from a (single sided) PCB with little effort and no damage afterwards.

 

[olympus mons]

You can verify this by using your multimeter. Set it to the 200ohm range, put one probe on the case, and the other on the free pin. A value anything other than open-circuit (sometime displayed as OL for overload) is bad.

Thanks Cyparagon I will do that tonight. Excuse my ignorance but when you say free pin which pin is that? The pos or neg?
Thanks everyone for the help and support.

 

[Cyparagon]

Both, technically, since the laser diode is supposed to be case neutral.

 

[APEX1]

get a desoldering pump on ebay ..

 

[olympus mons]

get a desoldering pump on ebay ..

I have one. I explained in one of my replays I used it to get the solder off as much as I could. I ordered some of that wick braid material the night this happened to stay to get it cleaner. I know I heated the diode more than is good so just hope I didn't damage it. Another costly stupid mistake to add to my growing list of lessons learned.

 

[TaterMay]

Hate that I am just now seeing this, but something I would suggest is to try to heatsink the diode if at all possible. I know you can't press it into one of DTR's modules the way it is, but if you could find some other way to somehow heatsink it while you work on it, that would GREATLY lessen your chances of damaging the diode. Rick Trent's copper modules would be perfect, as they aren't as tight of a fit and can typically be pressed in easily by hand. I use thermal paste between the side of the diode and the module because of the less tight fit. But really, any way of adding some heatsinking to the diode would make for a safer process. I NEVER solder a diode without it being pressed into the module. And I use a heatsink clip even with it being pressed. Hope you get it fixed!

 

[olympus mons]

Hate that I am just now seeing this, but something I would suggest is to try to heatsink the diode if at all possible. I know you can't press it into one of DTR's modules the way it is, but if you could find some other way to somehow heatsink it while you work on it, that would GREATLY lessen your chances of damaging the diode. Rick Trent's copper modules would be perfect, as they aren't as tight of a fit and can typically be pressed in easily by hand. I use thermal paste between the side of the diode and the module because of the less tight fit. But really, any way of adding some heatsinking to the diode would make for a safer process. I NEVER solder a diode without it being pressed into the module. And I use a heatsink clip even with it being pressed. Hope you get it fixed!

That's a great tip thank you. In your opinion do you think I damaged the diode. It got pretty hot to the touch. I hope not. I'm guessing at the least the diode probably won't have as long a life as it should. Love and learn.

 

[10fenny]

"I NEVER solder a diode without it being pressed into the module."
Awesome advice! Never do it any other way!!