Part. 0 (forgot to make it, Kaybi made me shot this one)
Pre-soldering the Indium to the MCPCB
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Part. 1
This is a quick and dirty video I made with one of the order. Sorry for the quality, it was hard working with only one hand.
The MCPCB was first pre-soldered with Indium at the LED pads. I simply add some flux (common water based Zinc Chloride) and ran the molten Indium balls until all pads properly wet and contained sufficient Indium blobs. Be careful! This nasty flux will corrode aluminum instantly in contact (above 50°C). I did all the soldering on my upgraded “deluxe” cloth iron hot plate. Temperature regulated and monitored to 160°C (+/- 5°C)
Next, I cooled the MCPCB and carefully placed the E21A in approximate locations. Reheat the MCPCB just enough until all the E21A stuck to the pads. Cooled the MCPCB, added some more flux and reheated the MCPCB. Voila! it’s done with minimal efforts.
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. Part. 2
Ultrasonic Cleaner post cleaning. The water based flux makes it very easy to clean all the flux residue leftover, even from underneath the LED! The liquid ingredients: distilled water, dishwasher surfactant agent, and some dirt from previous cleanings. I did final rinse in a clean water (using glass beaker submerged in the USC)
Yes, I put asbestos cloth and then drywall on top of them for my palm rest for better control. As a side bonus it makes the iron heats faster, very effective insulator.
This is white asbestos which is the less dangerous form. As long as you don’t saw or sand the stuff, producing asbestos dust, you should be ok.
My (late) mother used to warm the croissants on top of an asbestos simmer plate on the stove. But I will more probably die from her chip pan: she never replaced the fat for 20 years, when the level got low she just added new fat.
If I were to solder 4 nichia 119’s onto an VR21SP4 would they be spaced correctly for a Carclo quad or because of how the LED’s will center on the pads will the led to optic cone spacing be wrong?
Clemence, have you considered making 3x3 E21A MCPCBs? Would be expensive but compatible with 7070 optics (aside from low height) and producing a lot of high quality light.
Clemence, would taking pre-orders for future products in your store help with speeding up development time? If so, I would gladly pay ahead for some 3x3 E21A along with Carclo triple compatible e21a boards.
Just a thought. Excited for what your doing! Keep up the good work!