soldering acrylic neon bulb holder with terminal posts without melting it? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2023, 01:25:01 am
content: HP likes to use a front panel neon light arrangement like this1) optical waveguide with a plastic clip on it that clips to2) a neon tube and a resistor that are soldered to a small acrylic plate that has some solder studs in it.Replacing the neon bulbs is a total pain in the ass without melting the acrylic sheet. They usually wrap the wire around tight, so if you want a nice repair (remove the old leads and retin).... how do you do this?The best I thought of is to submerge it in a little dish of water with the posts sticking out of the water so maybe the acrylic stays cooler while you unwrap the old wire.What happens to me is that the plastic softens and I end up disturbing the post trying to unravel the lead wire with tweezers.How do you do this? I had a 50% success rate with not damaging these. IMO its ridiclous, if the solder post had a giant base and a small lead (big thermal mass) maybe.. but the way its made, any longer then maybe 1 second and its damaged. Its like too small to put heat sink clips on too, they will go over the wire you are trying to remove (its very low profile).

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2023, 02:03:53 am
content: I've heard of clamping pliers on the legs of heat sensitive components to act as heatsinks, in the older days

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2023, 02:08:35 am
content: Well they are usually meant for clipping on tiny wires, not a fat solder post base. I have goot wick heat sink clips but I only think they are good for like terminal strips and component leads.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2023, 02:12:03 am
content: I wonder if I can make something with brass washers that conform around the post (undersized and grind) then solder them to a clipping mechanism

author: inse
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2023, 04:22:52 am
content: I don’t know what it actually looks like, but can’t you just wrap the new wires over the old ones and fix them only with a spot of solder (if anyway)?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2023, 04:29:09 am
content: yeah but it bothers meleaving old wires on = mega half assed

author: factory
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2023, 07:08:56 pm
content: Quote from: inse on January 05, 2023, 04:22:52 amA picture says a thousand words, took me while to find any I took, they were used for both neon & incandescent lamps, some had custom labelling.David

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2023, 12:17:29 am
content: those are on some kind of black material. The one i have is the same thing but its on transparent plastic.Those also have holes for solder, these are just wrapped around. The last one I had, the guy fucking wrapped the lead around the post 3 times, you are only supposed to have at most like 280 degree wrap IIRC from the various professional soldering guidelines. Someone coiled that shit on. Anything more then a semi circle is obnoxious as hell.I think the best approach is to carefully file it under magnification till you bust through all the wire so it falls off immediately when you wick itI guess someone on the assembly line lost their snips that day so they just decided to coil the entire remaining lead on then snip it.https://industrial-electronics.com/et-4e_24b.htmlThese guys say 360 degrees, but damn do you need 1080 degrees??

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2023, 04:00:47 am
content: wow that piece of shit fell apart.Ok, you can pull the posts out, its press fit. I pulled them out and cleaned it up with solder wick but then the plastic came apart so I glued it back together and put a big ass dollop of electronics silicone to it after I glued it to the chassis and did the heat shrink wire trick with the resistor embedded in siliconewhat a disasterat least its secure and it glows. next time it