That’s likely because most of the heat is going to the pill. Soldering on assembled lights is always tricky.
soldering under this conditions need a good iron with thick clean tip and fresh solder or heat gun to warm up the pill as well
On second attempt I got those remnants of the 7135s off. So it’s all good now.
I find that it’s easier to remove them by sliding them sideways after bridging all 3 pins with solder so all the pads melt at the same time. Surface tension holds them down otherwise.
Congrats on accomplishing what you wanted to do. Now you can build your own lights not to much to it. Sdering is the easy part. Focusing the reflectors and LEDs can take awhile sometimes
Anyone got any links for where to buy the clip to reflash the driver?
The tools do flash a hex costs you less than 5$
http://www.ebay.de/itm/SOIC-8-SOP8-8-Pin-Test-Clip-Test-Clamp-Testing-Pr… (link is external)
http://www.ebay.de/itm/LC-01-USB-ISP-Programmer-fur-ATMEL-AVR-51-ATMega-… (link is external)
Thanks! Just ordered the parts.