Troubeshooting DIY LED

[Stones]

Thanks for the help Mike. Originally I had used smaller gauge wire but I tore all of that out to troubleshoot the LEDs individually or in shorter series. I guess I can pick up smaller wire and re-solder all of the LEDs to see if that solves the problem as its 16 G wire that I had used for the last pic.

At the time I purchased the LEDs, I didn't know that there was thermal adhesive available to glue the LEDs to the heatsink so I drilled and tapped the heatsink to mount the LEDs instead. It was a painstaking process and I will not be doing that again if i build another LED light.

[StirCrazy]

just looking at some of the solder in the pictures they do look cold. did you pre tin all the pads? you want to pre tin the pads and the wires then solder them togeather that way will give you a much sounder conection.

also with the meanwells you want to adjust the max curent down to 1000mA befor you hook it up to your aray to prevent over current.

Steve

[martinmcnally]

Interested to see if you get this working because I ended up giving up on mine after I couldn't get it working. I had major problems with soldering and wiring. Apparently you need flux core solder... I didnt know that and not really sure if I have it or not still haha.

Good luck!

p.s. you can get thermal glue at Rona!

[Stones]

Thanks for all the pointers guys! I was using rosin core solder and did pre-tin all of the terminals on the LED pcb's but I didn't pre-tin the tips of the wire. I'm going out to pick up a better soldering iron and some thinner wire here tonight so I'll let you know how i make out.

I've done a few small soldering jobs in the past (LED moonlights) and have never had any issues but I guess there is a first for everything...

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

like most said keep you screws and soldering job is clean no loose wires or solder touching the star. And it is better for agonizing drilling and tapping into the heat-sink for if any problem arises later with individual led.
check some of the work i done on my arrays.

here is another

[martinmcnally]

Well my prayers have been answered. This might help you too:

http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-...or-CREE/Detail

[GMGQ]

I agree with the others, the soldering connections seem to be the problem. You need to tin the pads of the LED, tin the wire, then solder them together.



Helps a LOT if you have a high wattage soldering iron. You want to heat up the target, not the solder wire. Then touch the solder wire to the target, and let the solder melt onto it.

Careful of the flux (the clear stuff that comes out of the solder wire). If the flux is coating the pad or the wire, then that could be preventing a conductive connection. Don't be afraid to give the wire a good yank after you've soldered it. It should be ROCK SOLID. If it comes off, then obviously the connection was poor.