WARNING - LUXEON EMITTERS

[cadstarsucks]

DO NOT LIKE HEAT!

They have special instructions for thermal epoxy and soldering.  Buy the stars etc. not the emitters.  I do not have access to production equipment capable of mounting them so I am recommending that they are only purchased mounted.

This does not apply to the new Rebels that are reflow capable and will put up with soldering, although the soft lens needs to be handled carefully.

Dan

[justDIY]

so reflowing solder onto the tabs with a hand soldering iron damages the led? or do you mean there's no good way to heatsink a bare emitter on a standard printed circuit board?

[cadstarsucks]

so reflowing solder onto the tabs with a hand soldering iron damages the led? or do you mean there's no good way to heatsink a bare emitter on a standard printed circuit board?

The latter.   The app note says thermal epoxy and "hot bar" soldering which amounts to quick hand soldering.

Silly me thought that "SMT" meant "reflow".  For us to use one for a low power PCB mounted back light we would have to run the boards, put them back on the pick & place with a $10K glue head that we do not have, and put them in a curing oven that we do not have.  Then, if we are lucky, the lens *might* survive wave flow.

Dan

[abnormal]

Ya, run into the same non-auto assembly problems on other components like pyrodetectors (similar assembly concerns).  Even if you had all the right tools (10K glue gun... etc.)  the lens may still be of concern.  Hard to imagine a high volume big array of these all had soldered though.

[cadstarsucks]

Ya, run into the same non-auto assembly problems on other components like pyrodetectors (similar assembly concerns).  Even if you had all the right tools (10K glue gun... etc.)  the lens may still be of concern.  Hard to imagine a high volume big array of these all had soldered though.

They wouldn't be... There is probably yet another expensive accessory for a pick & place or an even more expensive machine to do the soldering, most likely the former.

Dan

[minster9]

I've never tried them,but maybe those battery-operated cold-to-the-touch soldering tools might work. I'm guessing they use resistance to melt the solder onto the the connection. I could rig up a jig to do that,but I'm just a hobbyist. Stars are cake to work with.

[cadstarsucks]

I've never tried them,but maybe those battery-operated cold-to-the-touch soldering tools might work. I'm guessing they use resistance to melt the solder onto the the connection. I could rig up a jig to do that,but I'm just a hobbyist. Stars are cake to work with.

I'm not sure what it is... a quick search proved inconclusive.   I looks like hot bar soldering is a 500W temperature controlled "iron" with either a straight bar, hence the name, for flax cable connections or a custom tip for ICs or dare I say Luxeons.

It explains nicely the reason for the stars.  There is no way a low volume house, let alone a hobbyist, could afford specialized equipment for just one part.  Hell, we have three full production lines at work and not a single glue head or tray feeder for the pick and place machines.

Dan