And somehow after changing batteries 6 of the LED’s went pop, no smoke or noise they just stopped working
They are wired 4 parallel with 3 in series and at least one from each line has gone (tested by putting battery over each LED to see which still lights up)
A picture of the MCPCB is here ( I used Richie086’s image as it the same hope thats ok )
I have tried with my soldering iron on the underside to de-solder the LED’s but I guess my iron just isn’t hot enough
I have seen others use a pan on a open fire but not sure how that will go with 12 LED’s on this?
I did think about swapping 12 Noctigons in but that seems like a PITA to line them all up( I tried with 3 XPL’s and managed to rip the dome off 2 while lining it up |(
Any ideas or is the torch going to end up in the bin ( with 3 XPL’s it did work so I am guessing the driver is still ok)
My usual method of putting the star in a wooden clothespin and then in a vice then holding the soldering iron to the bottom wouldn’t work on that at all.
How about trying the stovetop method? I’ve heard it’s pretty easy. Put the star in a pan on the stove and turn up the heat. Lift off the emitters with tweezers from the sides when they become loose.
If you’re worried about damaging your pan, maybe put some tinfoil in first.
I have a hotplate I use for reflowing multiple emitters, I find it much easier than doing them one at a time. I would think using a frying pan would work just as well.
Use just a little flux on the pads of each emitter, have them lined up and ready to go paying attention to polarity. They’ll all be ready to swap at the same time so you need to be ready to go when you find the first one loose.
You may not have to add any solder, if that’s the case the emitters should center themselves right in place when you drop them on.
I have to say though, I’ve never tried an MCPCB with 12 emitters so I may be full of it.
Using a hot air gun from underneath while the MCPCB is held by a helping hands tool works great. It takes just a few seconds for the solder to liquify. You can aim the heat away as you pull an emitter off so that the rest and the MCPCB is subjected to less heat stress. Any cheap hot air gun should work fine.
Sounds like your driver is pushing too much juice throw those emitters. Has it been modded?
The torch is (was)standard other than heavier wires to the LED’s running King Kong 26650 batteries.
I never thought about a hot air gun I’ll give that a try see if I can get the faulty LED’s off. Just need to get a few new LED’s if I can get them off
)