Bimmerboy
Flashlight Enthusiast
Just had a pretty frustrating experience trying to install a MC-E, wired for 2S2P, into a Britelumens Cree MC-E heat-sink for Mag D.
Since I saw no way to solder leads to the emitter legs once it's epoxied into the sink, the thing to do was to hook up them beforehand, then snake all four through the holes. I used 20 ga. teflon jacket wire (it was all I had), which is an extremely tight fit through the holes... really tough to get them through. 22 or 24 ga. would've been perfect.
So, while pulling the wires through, doing each one a little at a time, and being careful, one of the emitter legs snapped completely off! Too much stress from these fairly thick wires pulling on the delicate legs in this manner. The snap is exactly flush with the package... not even the tiniest nub to try and solder back onto. :mecry: Now I'm out one MC-E, and have chalked up the second device I've ruined in 2 1/2 years of modding (the other was a laser diode). Kinda' prided myself on a good track record of getting things mostly right the first time (i.e. no destruction), which just took a 50% hit tonight. Wasn't even drinking while modding as I usually do. Maybe that would've helped... lol. Again, slightly thinner wire would've caused much less stress to the part during this stage of the assembly.
Anyway, back to the question... I assume anyone who's used this heatsink had to solder the leads on first, before gluing the emitter down? Any success/failure stories out there?
I'm thinking of getting a H22a P7 sink so I can just sit the MC-E on top, glue it down, then solder up my 2S2P config a lot easier. Sound about right? What say the more experienced modders?
Since I saw no way to solder leads to the emitter legs once it's epoxied into the sink, the thing to do was to hook up them beforehand, then snake all four through the holes. I used 20 ga. teflon jacket wire (it was all I had), which is an extremely tight fit through the holes... really tough to get them through. 22 or 24 ga. would've been perfect.
So, while pulling the wires through, doing each one a little at a time, and being careful, one of the emitter legs snapped completely off! Too much stress from these fairly thick wires pulling on the delicate legs in this manner. The snap is exactly flush with the package... not even the tiniest nub to try and solder back onto. :mecry: Now I'm out one MC-E, and have chalked up the second device I've ruined in 2 1/2 years of modding (the other was a laser diode). Kinda' prided myself on a good track record of getting things mostly right the first time (i.e. no destruction), which just took a 50% hit tonight. Wasn't even drinking while modding as I usually do. Maybe that would've helped... lol. Again, slightly thinner wire would've caused much less stress to the part during this stage of the assembly.
Anyway, back to the question... I assume anyone who's used this heatsink had to solder the leads on first, before gluing the emitter down? Any success/failure stories out there?
I'm thinking of getting a H22a P7 sink so I can just sit the MC-E on top, glue it down, then solder up my 2S2P config a lot easier. Sound about right? What say the more experienced modders?
