LEDengin 5w and 10W info and wiring guide....for noobs

[andyfairall]

So Ive tried 3 times to at least tin the pads on my 10W amber and so far I cant get any solder to flow on them whatsoever. I primed the bottom of it, I have my iron set on a high temp (572 F), Ive tried adding some flux to the pads and still if the solder is touching the pad at all it will not even melt. I am an impase. Any suggestions?

[Weaver]

Try laying the star on a coffee warmer. These diodes are mounted on an aluminum base which saps heat extremely efficiently away from the delicate bits, so soldering them can be difficult. IndustrialAction also suggests an alternate method using a griddle; you may want to contact him to get the particulars.

For my part, I know it was difficult to get the solder to stick until I realized that I was doing it wrong. The solder is not the only thing that has to be hot in order for the parts to stick; the part must be hot as well. I suggest a thorough re-read of this thread and plenty of practice on smaller, unimportant components before trying again.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

When I do LEDengins, I usually "bring the heat" 750 degrees F, I really warm up the bottom of the star, then tin the pads right afterwards. You will need a set of "helping hands" to really help you out.

[Jordandau]

I solder every day at work, and I am no expert by any means, but for just tinning wires and circuit boards I run my iron from 620 to 700F

[andyfairall]

The higher temp seems to be doing the trick

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

I solder every day at work, and I am no expert by any means, but for just tinning wires and circuit boards I run my iron from 620 to 700F

For what you are doing, that temp is OK. To successfully work on LEDengin heat sinks, they dissipate heat real quick, hence why I use a higher temp for those.

[jedimastergarcia87]

What if I wanted to do dark green or like, ice blue as the main blade color and I just wanted a stunt build, what pads/colors would I use and resistors? (For either standard AA or AAA batteries). Thanks. I want like a dark green main blade or icey kinda blue blade.

[Weaver]

First thing you'll need to do is study color theory. Light mixes differently than paint, thus there are some colors you won't be able to achieve; brown, for instance. The darkest green I've ever seen is still pretty "bright". For an ice-blue blade, I mixed mostly blue (255 on my "other board") with small amounts of red and green (125 or so, if memory serves). It's basically a white blade, but with a strong shift toward blue. You can also get a nice color by blending even amounts of blue and green.

As for resistors, I haven't played with them. There are online resistor charts posted in several of the stickied topics, although, if it were me, I'd either go with an 8-position switch inside a Box 7 (saw a Luke ROTJ with that setup) or a potentiometer in place of a resistor. I like being able to tune my colors, rather than trying for one specific shade.

[The Yin]

ok, I'm a little confused about the resistor needed for my setup.
I want to use Red and Blue on the Engin LZ4 10W for my FoC, but I'm not sure how to calculate the resistor needed.
The spec sheet for the Engin LZ4 10W says the forward voltage for the Red is 2 to 2.9 and for the Blue is 3.2 to 4.4 (min to max).
How would I calculated the resister for this if they are wired in series? Should i sum up the two forward voltages and get a resistor rated for a 6v led? FYI, I'll be using a 7.4v pack

[Silver Serpent]

In series? Yes, you sum the voltages to calculate your resistor.