Jumping the Gap: That pesky P60 driver-pill contact point.

Funny, l have the same problem but you all know I’m a crappy solderer so come on ouchy, we need help.

Phew! I’m glad that it’s not just me :)!

I’m worried about soldering electrical stuff. Kind’a risky. Well done, anyway.

/begin thread hijack

Or, if you have too much free time, or need to fit a ~20mm driver in a p60, you can do this:

So would the heat transfer be better, since it has a much better connection to the pill, or worse, since it has less contact with the light body (it's a loose fit, and only sits on the little shelf)? It's definitely less convenient as you'd have to do this for each dropin while the split ring spacer stays in the light.

/end thread hijack

:)

On my first dropin, when I couldn't get the solder to stick I put down the iron and grabbed the butane torch... and melted off all the components on the backside of the driver. :Sp

I lightly tin the small area where the braid is to adhere to, then wipe off any excess solder from the tip of the iron, and press it down on the braid until it sticks to the tinned area.

Why does that sound so easy? Thanks.

Actually, you don’t even need to solder it to the top side of the board. You can fold a piece of braid and hang it accross the edge of the pill, press the driver in tight, and trim and fold the braid from the outside of the pill, back over to the trace on the driver. Then flux and solder. It accomplishes the exact same thing.

That is a great tip Ouchyfoot. That technique would have helped me many times in the past. I’m sure it will in the future. Thank you for sharing.

This is what I do, along with the solid wire star bridge technique.

Thanks for posting this up !

This sounds like a good idea. I like the improved mechanical connection to aid the soldered one.

You can also leave one piece of braid a little longer so when you fold it over, it bridges the star at the same time.

The trick for doing the stars is this: Put a blob on the star, big enough that the surface tension makes it, well, blobby... do the same on the ground ring. Let it cool, then with just the very tippy tip of the iron, lightly touch the top of the blob on the star, pull the iron across to the blob on the ground ring, and then pull the iron away. Do it in one smooth continuous motion - if you completely melt either blob, it won't work.

Flux flux flux flux

Tin everything .. makes everything a million times easier

Or solder a piece of wire across both blobs

I think he wanted to know how to attach the braid to the top of the board without the whole length sucking up the solder. But after that, I agree…flux,flux,flux. Before I push the driver into the pill, I flux the braid, even though it comes pre-impregnated.

I don't claim to know a thing about soldering except ....

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And flux has made all the difference

The last batch of 'Goot Wick' I got claims to be fluxed, but... I guarantee you, it is not. Which is fine, really, as it can be used for stuff where flux would have to be washed out (braiding springs etc.), and flux can be added when it is needed. And by adding flux you can control where/how much is impregnated with solder.

I find the solder-only method of bridging the stars easier, as compared to trying to keep a small piece of wire in place. I always end up with the wire stuck to the tip of the iron (d'oh!). Might go smoother if I used a long piece of wire that's easily held in place and then trimming off the excess at the edge of the pill, but I have the blob-to-blob method down pat.

Ouchy,

Yes, you interpreted my question correctly :)…

You can still bend the braid over without lifting any traces if it sucks up too much solder, just hold it flat to the board with needlenose pliers, then bend it over the corner.

Waking up old post to say thanks! This is how I fixed my P60 flicker on a dropped 502B light last week. The factory solder bridge had failed.

Love this forum for build/repair tips!

Cheers