LED Heatsink 10W? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2012, 11:27:06 pm
content: I want to usethese 10W LED lampsbut I'm not sure how big of a heatsink I'll need or if I can find one that'd be best for use as/in a lighting fixture.budget: 10$/ea (I need 4, maybe 5)

author: Short Circuit
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 12:25:59 am
content: Crazy idea perhaps, but did you happen to try to enter the topic title in the ebay search box...Not clear what will be most suitable for this particular led, probably best to wait until you have it in your hands.Usually, that gives much better impression on mounting requirements than the typical eBay images.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 01:19:28 am
content: That's one of the four sections of my room lighting.Heatsink is 10.5cm x 5.5cm with thick fins on the back.It has 3 white leds (3.2W each) and most of the time these are all i use.The others there are 1W in RGB but only used to tint the color a little.So i estimate it's dissipating at least 10WIt gets hot enough that you don't want to hold it for more than 5 seconds or so, probably around 50degC.Which is within the specs of the leds.The entire lighting rig has been my room lighting for 4 years now and no leds have died.

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 02:09:59 am
content: Quote from: Psi on July 26, 2012, 01:19:28 amnice! and wow, 4 years... long time. what kind of power supply are you using?

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 03:26:34 am
content: When i made it i couldn't find a power supply in my junkbox that could handle 8A so i mod'ed the led PWM driver so the white and RGB led sections were powered separately. Then i used a ATX powersupply plus an old 5A 12V supply.The driver isn't anything special, it's a bit of a mess reallyLEDs are arrange in series to get multiple sections of around 11V and 4 mosfets drive the White/Red/Green/Blue sections from 12V through resistors for current limit.mosfets are driven from a ATMega at around 1kHz PWM, the mcu also does IR remote control.Eventually i'll make a new one using 1-2 of the deal extreme 30W RGB single leds. Probably with a 230V switchmode built onto it and UPB control through the house wiring.This is it...

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 03:39:05 am
content: damn... maybe if I had the ceiling fan from the next room which is a 2 bulb socket with a glass globe around it, I could do something similar to what you have. But, alas, what I have is 3 separate glass cones for one bulb each... so I'll have to figure something out in order to stuff a power supply, the heatsink, the LED and a reflective cone.

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 04:36:21 am
content: Quote from: Psi on July 26, 2012, 03:26:34 amIn the words of Borat: "Sexy time...yeah."

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 05:03:39 am
content: There's actually an issue with RGB lighting, girls keep setting it to pink.hehe

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 08:37:03 am
content: Me thinks that heatsink is a bit tiny for 10W

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 08:41:00 am
content: Well it works fine for me. And we're talking about 3x 3.2W leds plus a few other leds on around 10%.And then there is a few large resistors thermal epoxyied to the other side.I can't see it being under than 10WThe metal is pretty thick, about 4mm.The picture maybe distorting the size a bit, its 10.5cm x 5.5cm

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 08:47:27 am
content: Quote from: Psi on July 26, 2012, 08:41:00 amWell ... mistake then.So what's the temperatures it's giving out?

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 08:49:39 am
content: Quote from: DaveXRT on July 26, 2012, 08:47:27 amI don't have an IR probe to check but as i said above, you can hang onto it but it starts to hurt after above 5 seconds, I estimate around 50degC. The leds i'm using are rated to max 80C operating temp

author: mianchen
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 05:55:25 pm
content: Very NICE !!!Quote from: Psi on July 26, 2012, 03:26:34 amIs this plastic or glass?

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 06:55:21 pm
content: me thinks acrylic

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 09:51:29 pm
content: It's a cut up recipe-book holderEither perspex, acrylic or polycarbonate, not sure which.The top side has been sanded to make it less transparent (looking at the light hurt your eyes when it was 100% transparent)

author: poorchava
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2012, 11:03:48 pm
content: Yeah, those definitely need some semi-transparent screen. I remember experimenting with 10W green, while and blue leds. Once I've flashed the led in front of my eyes, for a few minutes i would see shapes of the actual semiconcudtor dies in the array when i closed my eyes. I guess such strong pulse of light into retina affects it's sensitivity for some period of time.Be aware that flashing strong light sources in front of an eye can cause retinal detachment which can be fixed only by surgery.

author: DmitryL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2012, 03:49:53 pm
content: Quote from: BigBrother on July 25, 2012, 11:27:06 pmWhen I was making my LED table lamp, here:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l15vcdx76q2xp17/03UPDBDFGM#/I was selecting the heatsink by thermal resistanceThere was a Dave's video about this.E.g. I knew that I was going to dissipate ~15Wt, then I went to ebay and looked for "LED heatsink", selected appropriate one one with thermal resistance ~2degrees/Wt, that gave me acceptable LED temperature not exceeding 70 degrees.Note that my heatsink has vertical fins, this greatly improves its efficiency because the airflow.

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 28, 2012, 05:08:19 am
content: I've looked a few places and people seem tothink this will work as a 10W heatsink. not sure if it'd work in warmer conditions of my room (around 80-85F)... or at all. comments?

author: DmitryL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 28, 2012, 09:29:53 am
content: Quote from: BigBrother on July 28, 2012, 05:08:19 amI probably willI made experiments myself, attached 20Wt resistor and measured temperature across heatsink.BTW, I'm not a specialist in thermal design, but something tells me that for the best performance fins shold be positioned the way allowing the best airflow through them (convection). For this type of heatsing, I'm afraid, it is when your LED beam will be horisontalIMHO, if this heatsink is positioned flat top facing up or down, there will be not much airflow through fins and from thermal resistance point of view it won't differ much from a simple flat barDon't know if it s acceptable or not..

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2012, 06:23:25 am
content: so... the general consensus on an LED heatsink is that lower thermal resistance per watt is better? I foundthis oneon mouser. (if that link doesn't work, it's Mouser Part #: 567-882-300AB )

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2012, 06:39:42 am
content: The thermal resistance of that heatsink (1.55 C / W) means if you put 10W on it the temp will rise 10*1.55 = 15.5degrees above ambient.Note, if your LED takes 10W then some of that is light energy and doesn't become heat.ie, you don't get 10W of heat out of a 10W led. Check it's efficiency to calculate the actual heat output.Just in case you didn't notice, the pic on that headsink is generic. It's actually 76.2mm tall.

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2012, 08:12:57 am
content: Quote from: Psi on July 29, 2012, 06:39:42 ammeh, that's only 3" tall...oh. eh... I'll restart my search again then.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2012, 08:30:32 am
content: Only 3" tall? 76mm is pretty large and 15degC rise isn't bad.25 ambient would result in 40deg C (actually less because that's the full 10W and not just the heat output)

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2012, 03:05:13 am
content: ok, the glass cup for the socket is 3 3/4" (95mm) on the wide end and 1 3/4" (44.45mm) at the base and it's 5" (127mm) tall. for reference, an i5 2500k stock cooler sits in about 2". this is a bit more re-assuring to me as now I have actual numbers to go by for a heatsink and to stuff a power supply inside or out. anyone know of a power supply that I could wrap around the outside of the cup? would be scores better than figuring out how to stuff it all inside the cup.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2012, 08:10:55 am
content: Looks like it is the same heatsink as the E5700 at least.In any case you shouldn't just stuff a heatsink in there without any form of airflow, it needs to have open airflow not just depending on the stationary air inside the glass or else the LED's a quick gonerThe stock heatsink is 0.23C/W with the fan on, without the fan who knows!Wait, this one on the left?OR this one

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2012, 11:22:01 am
content: yeah, it's that smaller one on the left. I think only the i7 series came with the fat heatsinks because of the higher TDP.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2012, 12:22:07 pm
content: Quote from: BigBrother on July 30, 2012, 11:22:01 amBut most importantly there's a copper slug, the E5700 stock heatsink has none

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2012, 03:57:34 pm
content: The one on the left has a temp rise of 6C with a 1W die on it. That is enclosed on 3 sides in a light housing with only the top open. With 10W and free airflow it should be under 50C. When I had the glass cover off I had a TD of 1C with convection flow through the light. This is currently my desk lamp light system, a big improvement over the old 50W halogen lamp, hot and cooking when too close. Plus the lamps were expensive.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2012, 06:56:04 pm
content: Copper slug or not? Intel gave the one on the left w/ the copper slug for 95W TDP parts and the one on the left w/o the copper slug for 65W TDP Parts (Pentium Dual Core E2140 - 6800 series and the G parts)

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2012, 07:10:10 pm
content: No slug, and in my use no fan either. Will handle 10W easily in free air. Just make sure the die spreader is firmly attached, I used a 1W Stanley LED assembly and used 2 M3 tapped holes to mount it to the heatsink after lapping the surface smooth.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2012, 07:47:53 pm
content: The next time i am deciding on installing some sort of LED assembly i am going for a XM-LT6 mounted on a metal baseplate and use the* fan too just to be on the safe sideand also bolt down using M3 boltshttp://www.dealextreme.com/p/xmlawt-1000-lumen-led-emitter-white-light-bulb-3-0-3-5v-51989

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 07:24:54 am
content: I ordered the LEDs from eBay and same for the heatsinks. For the first time in my eBay life, an *HK SELLER* actually said "We're out of stock and you'll be getting a refund!" (note: there was no 'previous notification', I got this earlier and it had been the only notification). T4p mentioned a fan and it seems like a good idea, my only worry would be a failed fan in the middle of a hot day and no warning. the PSU for 3x 10W LEDs and then each fan which I figure would be about 6W, maybe 3W would be my next worry. 50W and rather small would be ideal. I have oodles of 120mm fans of all speeds (and a few 200x230mm fans) for cooling... or simply the ceiling fan itself (on low).

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 07:45:10 am
content: My way to cooling a LED heatsink would be to extract the heat, not push the air into the heatsink - anyone can confirm whether this is a good method?Like a real paranoid man i hacked a led driver to include overheat protection (remember that LED's have positive coefficients?) and fan failure warning (you know ... nothing like a big buzzer on a hot day)

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 08:51:49 am
content: i bought few days ago a 20w little neutral led array and a 150x111x33mm heatsink with 14 fins and 5mm base stabilizes around 55celsius sitting on a wood desk without any noticable airflow. if i put a 9cm fan 4cm away from the fins it goes and around 32 celsius. so you dont need a large heatsink if you are willing to put on it a small silent fan

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 09:16:03 am
content: Quote from: M. András on August 20, 2012, 08:51:49 amI know. I just got a peltier TEC for funs. I have it on a Cooler Master hyper 212 (92mm). the entire heatsink will get rather warm without the fan and with the fan, it's just about room temp (air chilled).

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 01:47:07 pm
content: that peltier element wastes energy, if your goal was that to make an efficient lighting, if not then i have nothing against it just the cost of the unit

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 06:22:14 pm
content: Indeed.But "for funs" it's nice to see what they do "for funs" maybe cook your lunch?

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 07:58:46 pm
content: Quote from: M. András on August 20, 2012, 01:47:07 pmI was just adding that info in to say 'I have a small bit of heatsink experience outside of CPU cooling'. it's for funs... like... seeing how long a coca-cola can lasts with the cold side on the can or making a mini-fridge.Quote from: T4P on August 20, 2012, 06:22:14 pmI'm not sure they can get that hot without breaking.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 08:03:02 pm
content: not too hot before the solder melts inside them most of them specced around 130celsius

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2012, 08:37:28 pm
content: How about some huge chunky heatsinks ?*PS: I have absolutely no info whatsoever on the specs of these heatsinks, if you do know the AAVID THERMALLOY alike part please tell me

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2012, 09:47:41 pm
content: today I got in my LEDs! tomorrow... new retinas.ran it without a resistor for about a minute and the i5-2500k's heatsink got a bit warm to the touch, warmer even nearer the center.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 01:24:41 am
content: Well without a fan it's thermal resistance is a lot higher than with.Well of course

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 05:12:35 am
content: If you lift it so it can get airflow it will be a little cooler. Still got that square bleached spot on the retina? I am running a 1W unit on one of those heatsinks with a rise of 4 degrees over ambient. You can probably go up to a 10W LED lamp before you need to use a fan for cooling, then you can go all the way to 100W with enough airflow.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 05:33:48 am
content: Usually intel specs those heatsinks at 40C rise with a fanSo the most you can go to at 40C rise is a 100W LED provided that the LED actually fits in the puny die areaMany 100W led's i know don't ... How did you attach the led to heatsink?

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 05:50:08 am
content: Thermal epoxy is best, but you can also use those double-sided sticky thermal pads.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 06:11:29 am
content: Quote from: Psi on August 25, 2012, 05:50:08 amGot it. Thanks

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 06:19:40 am
content: Quote from: T4P on August 25, 2012, 05:33:48 amfor now... it's attached with love and whatever amount of thermal pad the heatsink had. I'm not sure what the center slug *actually* is, but I've broken two bits and made my power drill hot trying to make a couple holes for properly bolting the LED.

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 08:01:39 am
content: doing a test run with a well overpowered fan for the job:(the cardboard is there so I can actually use my desktop's LCD)

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 09:55:23 am
content: Quote from: T4P on August 25, 2012, 05:33:48 amThis one gets close:http://www.ledengin.com/products/emitters#LZPI've used those before. They are 60W continuous, 90W pulse. Tiny LED (12mm x 12mm) - watch out for blindness.The CPU heatsink is quite overkill, I think it's good enough to passively cool it. I've attached 10W LED's to smaller heatsinks and heated up to like 50C (the heatsink itself) without thermal paste applied at all. Ah well, this works well and the cooler it runs, the more light it produces..

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 10:35:12 am
content: I drilled and tapped the heatsink for M3 setscrews, and then used 1200grit waterpaper on a finishing block to smooth it off after relieving the threads around 0.5mm. Heatsink compound then used in a thin film between the 2 surfaces, and tighten the screws to the right torque.The centre slug is aluminium, and the whole thing is an extrusion. Some have a copper pad fused to the base to improve thermal contact, but nothing there is terribly hard to drill. Very soft metal does bind the bit though, I always use cutting paste or oil on the drill bits, and a drill press. Better quality drills are also good, the ones that you buy cheap in a OHL store are not the best quality.

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 12:28:59 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on August 25, 2012, 10:35:12 amI didn't know the exact bolt size/name and (possibly) flung and obliterated one of the LEDs while trying to make a suitable hole. as for the heatsink... it's a VERY thick copper-like ally slug then. Seems like copper from the CPU contact point to under the fan to me! the ally is extruded but the copper feels milled/cut to size after being mashed in. (sorry if none of this makes sense, I'm tired)

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 12:59:55 pm
content: The manufacturer machines the recess for the copper heat spreader, then the spreader is either stir welded or pressed in to fit.Then the top and bottom are surface milled to make it smooth, and the cuts for the fan clips are cut in the side. This operation will leave residual stress in the copper slug, so it will need a press, as well as a sharp bit and a lubricant during drilling holes in it.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 02:25:45 pm
content: without coolant or a drill press the thick base of this extrusion what i bought for experimenting with leds are pretty hard to drill the tiny chips what the drill made are mostly stuck in the flutes and i couldnt remove them even by scrapping it. btw im proud of myself to make perfectly straight holes with a 18v skill coldress drill

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 03:54:41 pm
content: Coolant can be anything from plain oil, grease, cutting wax or soluble oil. In a pinch I have used liquid soap, butter or margarine and hand moisturiser. Basically anything that is either slippery or oily.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 05:57:15 pm
content: Quote from: T4P on August 25, 2012, 03:44:53 pmread pls before you post. i wrote without coolant

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2012, 06:35:03 pm
content: All you need to have is a liquid that can transfer heat, and which can be carried to the cutting edge of the bit, while not boiling and not causing a build up of shavings. Even drilling in a pool of water works well enough, though it can be messy. If you are unlucky the cutting fluid will be your blood if you either have not held the workpiece with a holder, or it comes loose and whips around.Working at an angle or upside down best is cutting paste or grease, as it will stick to the surface.

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2012, 09:37:07 am
content: my current thoughts are that a 40mm ally cube with fins inside would be my best solution for the time. I could jam a 40mm fan on it and it'd work out... I hope. Can't think of what the right term for such a configuration of extrusion would be.

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2012, 12:24:39 pm
content: Quote from: T4P on August 27, 2012, 11:51:23 amI was thinking that with a hollow 40mm cube, I could attach a 40mm computer fan and have it blow through which would be enough for cooling. since it's a cube, the LED would be on one side, the fan blowingthroughthe heatsink, some 15W AC DC ally-cased brick on the heatsink as well and I could rig the A19/E27 base for the socket. it'd probably be better if I had a diagram in 3D or the likes.edit: the fins would likely be thinner or better spaced... or less fins but moreorless this:the corner squares would be for screws and the misaligned huge, bulky lines going across the center would be the fins.

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2012, 01:12:53 am
content: Basically, I'm looking for this:but in a single piece alumun(i)um square tube with the fins inside so that no one part is heavy and it all has the same strength all around and it's 40mmx40mmx40mm.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2012, 03:33:38 am
content: "Fins inside" is not a very functional shape for a heatsink... (All the radiative power of a solid block of metal, without the thermal conductivity! Where were you going to attach the LED?)The closest I see is apparently called a "corn bulb heatsink":http://www.ivineng.com/upload/image/corn-bulb-heatsink%20led%20corn%20light%20extrusion%20aluminium%20heat%20radiator_lit.jpg(of course, you could attach a "skin" to the outside of any extrusion with a regular outside profile, which is a lot of them...)

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2012, 05:28:52 am
content: I gotta say that the whole LED lighting market has resulted in some pretty cool-looking heatsinks. Almost artistic!

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2012, 12:01:47 pm
content: this is a generic aluminum heatsink:Just imagine instead of the fins being in the open, it was closed. having 4 sides (or 3 minimum) would be needed so I could fashion the socket screw on it so I could actually use it like a bulb. If I can't manage to fashion the socket screw on the opposite side of the LED then it would have to be rigged with a lipped, round, hollow base to fit it in the cone's retention ring that would normally be around a light bulb. (this thing) the whole idea, again, of having the fins inside is so it's more compact, regardless of thermal dissipation- that's why the fan is there, to expel any retained heat.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2012, 07:45:18 pm
content: If you want decent closed air heatsinking round spiral or circular heatsinks are best especially with a fanThe square ones are meant to have natural air flowing over it ...

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2012, 03:53:26 pm
content: while I was angrily pouting about being unable to find exactly what I want without custom ordering several meters and paying for cuts, I notice the a19/e27 base is a few millimeters smaller than the intel's fan's label! crazy, eh?caution: bright red. for those who do not like red... I'm sorry.I used seal-all quick-dry adhesive. it seems to have a really good bond between the screw base and fan housing.Still no buck driver yet. Not sure where I could place it on this configuration...Since I'm in an apologetic mood, I apologize to anyone who may have been offended by my earlier posts, if anyone was. Some things have been going on when I made those posts that had placed me in a terrible mood.

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2012, 01:00:36 am
content: I boughtsome of these, 10 to be exact and I thought they'd be a bit bigger... but I was wrong. they also want 20V.used a 3k resistor and awesome test... setup.

author: BigBrother
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2012, 10:08:50 pm
content: how do I tell if I cooked an LED? I finally got myselfa heatgunandan MCPCBfrom led-mounting-bases.com but I have a feeling I cooked the LEDs... or botched the solder job somehow. ...it is ebay solder paste.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2012, 10:16:09 pm
content: its pretty easy it wont light up or parts of the die wont light up as the die fried or the bond wires, killed an uv led this way what i tried to remount properly to the star pcb fried 1 of the dies from the 4 then killed another 2 with too much voltage from without current limitation last 1 still works but the brightness significantly reduced and its not good for the purpose what it meant to fulfill

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2012, 01:04:04 am
content: Quote from: BigBrother on September 01, 2012, 03:53:26 pmOk, i've not read this thread in a while but... Is that a large mains capacitor you're using for current limit so you can run the LED from the mains direct?Interesting..Edit:ahh, its just a holder, never mind. I thought you might be using a capacitor mains powersupply.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2012, 04:47:51 pm
content: The dies are usually big enough for you to look through, any signs of heat damage (they are sensitive to heat!) will be clear, you can even see it on the phosphor(the plasticky thing on top of the die, for the XM-L it's very soft but careful not to damage them)With such a massive nozzle it's easy to toast the LED, i think you should better go and grab a 858D instead.Good for paint-stripping but hot air soldering NOT.