I've done it before with an old coffee maker. 900 watts, of course it'll work! 
I like my emitters sunny-side up. Over-easy would be a disaster :bigsmile:
If you do it quickly it might only flatten the dome, might increase throw 
no fancy shmancy modern age methods for me, old school spiral electric hob FTW :)
before
after
solder paste makes life a lot easier, that's for sure!
Those are some great methods for modern cooking! Can someone recommend a good soldering paste and a link? Better yet, what should I buy locally in the US?
this
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?WT.z_header=search_go&lang=en&keywords=82-143-ND&x=0&y=0&cur=USD
is what I got FP. I’m not sure if it’s the best, but it was the cheapest on Digikey 
Be aware though that they need to ship it 2-day UPS with a cold pack as it has to be kept cool (mine’s in the fridge next to the lettuce) so postage costs will add quite a lot to that. If you can find a store that stocks solder paste locally that might be a better way to go.
I think it was worth it though as it makes the whole process so much quicker and easier. Especially as the past changes from grey to shiny silver when it melts, so it’s very obvious when it’s done. Also seems to do a better job of sucking the LED down onto the pad than normal solder does too. I did all of those in ~30min, including setting up time. If I’d heated them all at once it would have been even quicker, but I didn’t have the balls to do that yet
youve made my day… ive been shying away from reflowing and you have made it look so easy even a caveman (me) could do it…
my next order to intl outdoor/dx is going to be out of control at this rate!
keep it up
please elaborate on sucking the LED onto the pad
pretty much this; if you put only a little bit of paste (like a tiny ridge down the centre of each pad), the LED sits a little raised on top of the paste. When the paste melts, it flows out and the surface tension pulls the LED down to the star, aligning it at the same time. It seems to work better with the smaller LEDs - with XM-Ls I sometimes have to lightly push down on opposite corners of the LED with a pair of tweezers to force any excess out the side.
With solder (tinning the pads first), there was less of this “sucking down” effect, which made it a fair bit fiddlier.
All of this is from relatively little experience, though I’ve heard other people who do more of it say the same thing about using solder paste and the LEDs aligning and sucking themselves down. If you’re going to do more than 1 or 2 LEDs, it’s well worth getting some paste.
Thanks for the great explination mattthemuppet. Thats very helpful.
Do others here need to press their XML emitters down into the molten solder to make good contact?