OK, so, its not so new anymore. I have been using this torch for awhile and lately, it was giving me problems. At first I thought it was the switch at the rear end but when I checked it with my meter, it was fine. Maybe it was the barrel which was not screwed tightly to provide a good electrical path. Nope.
Then I began to examine the LED itself. Aha! One of its legs was snapped off. You see, the Luxeon LED was soldered to the metal plate and that was it. There was no other mechanical means of securing the component reliably. So, when I dropped the torch, the shock from the fall vibrated the head unit where, I guessed, the Luxeon LED and the metal plate vibrated against each other sp hard that the generated stress snapped off its tiny leg right at the body.
I had to use a blade to scrape off some of the LED's body so that there are more contact area for the solder to melt to. Dang! Maybe I should have puttied the surounding area and also get a double-sided heatsink transfer tape which costs a lot of $$$. Then again, its just a torchlight, not a RM1000K chandelier. Ha ha ha ha ha!
Then I began to examine the LED itself. Aha! One of its legs was snapped off. You see, the Luxeon LED was soldered to the metal plate and that was it. There was no other mechanical means of securing the component reliably. So, when I dropped the torch, the shock from the fall vibrated the head unit where, I guessed, the Luxeon LED and the metal plate vibrated against each other sp hard that the generated stress snapped off its tiny leg right at the body.
I had to use a blade to scrape off some of the LED's body so that there are more contact area for the solder to melt to. Dang! Maybe I should have puttied the surounding area and also get a double-sided heatsink transfer tape which costs a lot of $$$. Then again, its just a torchlight, not a RM1000K chandelier. Ha ha ha ha ha!
The read circle was where the leg snapped off and
I had cut into the body for more contact area. The
white wire above it is just a small solution to secure
the LED to the plate. I cannot use any glue as the
underside of the LED must touch the plate which
acts as the heatsink. Yeah, Luxeons are hot
No comments:
Post a Comment