Like many others, I have had issue soldering drivers to pills. Normally, the solder does not stay hot enough to properly stick to the pill. This results in overheating the pill/LED before a proper bond. After A few p60 drop-ins, I have now figured out a simple way to fix this.
I tin the pill before any components are added using a torch. This allows me to heat the pill as much as needed and to get the solder to really stick.
I know it’s a simple solution, but it was something I didn’t think of before.
Tinning the pill before adding components is a good tip.
But I have to say, I’m a little baffled by the number of people who have trouble soldering the driver to the pill. I use a pretty basic Radioshack 25W iron and even with my admittedly remedial soldering skills, I have never had problems getting solder to adhere to the pill. I wonder what’s going on.
For a high-thermal-mass part like a P60 Pill, the two most common problems are going to be
1) Lack of Flux - Either not using any or burning it all off before the pill gets to soldering temperature
2) Too small a Soldering Iron Tip or Too Low a Wattage Iron. Both yield the exact same result - you can't get the place you're trying to solder hot enough. With a 50 Watt soldering station and a good spade tip, I can solder a driver to a pill in less than 5 seconds per connection point.
I think it would be better if someone (preferably one of our resident experts) discuss how tinning is being done. :~
I’ve seen OL’s video at YouTube (can’t find the link because I can’t access YouTube right now) and it is very helpful especially to BLF members who are new to soldering or who are still contemplating on starting their own mods.
When I soldered my first driver to pill, I put flux on the spots I wanted to tin, tinned the spots. Then I tinned, and got a little bubble of solder on my iron tip, and applied to designated area.
My biggest problem when first starting modding was not knowing how to tin the iron, it’s like night and day with a tinned iron.
