Reflow Soldering Xp-e And Xp-g3 To Mcpcbs

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Homesteader

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Using a $20 Presto electric griddle and a heat gun I tried this tonight for the first time using 7 emitter MCPCBs from this site.

I put the solder paste on all the pads and both contacts. I then warmed up the griddle slightly and put the emitters (4000k and 660 photo reds) on with the + going the correct way and then turned on the griddle to 400 degrees. I screwed up a few times and had to reheat again to remelt the solder and turn a few emitters but it got easier to lay it right as I went on. The first few times, I didn't warm the griddle first and was having a tough time placing the emitters correctly without bumping off target (room temp paste would have helped).
The solder paste will begin to look dry just before it melts. Once it does just push down slightly on the dome of the emitters and pop out any excess solder. The emitter will skate back over to the contact if you move it off. Wick the solder beads and there you have it.

Definitely a little nervous doing this the first time, but it really was easier then I thought it would be and was pretty fun. Now to start on the Osram Oslons.

Not the prettiest but not bad for a couple hours and a few bowls. I experimented with a few of the three emitter XP-Es to see how long I could keep it on with the emitters. Left it for twenty minutes (you can see the discoloration) and it still lit up.
Anyways hope some enjoys this, I would recommend giving it a shot.
Reflow soldering xp e and xp g3 to mcpcbs 6
 
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Homesteader

Homesteader

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This guy on youtube Matt from Adventure sports flashlights has a good tutorial that I learned from.
The hardest part was finding the anode on the G3s but this just seems to be easier than most think it is and with a little practice they could look real nice.
 
Homesteader

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The Osram Oslons are much more difficult (and smaller) to work with but after several hours it started to get easier. I will spare the photo of blnding peak intensity. The blackdog was tore apart yesterday and the rebuild has begun. Probably not using much other than their wiring harnesses and heat sink but the diodes are still all good and I have enough drivers. I will probably need to find a mcpcbs to fit anything though. Haven looked much into cheap Chinese diodes like they are using.
At least I now have a bunch of shitty Chinese drivers to dick around with. Think I will be using Meanwell only in my build though ( I assumed Blackdog did as well) JUNK!
 
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Homesteader

Homesteader

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The Osram oslons blues 450nm were much more difficult than the far red 730nm or hyper reds 660nm for various reasons to get good contacts. People should really try this though if they have interest but are nervous, it is way too fucking easy.

I have found the best way is to paint a small amount of paste on the contacts (when the board is warm/hot) and wait until the solder wets before putting on the emitters. You have time, so don't get nervous when doing it. If you leave the PCBs on the hot plate but turn it off when the solder wets, this gives you enough time to place the emitters before the solder cools down. These 7 emitter pcbs have test contacts on all emitters so it is fairly easy to figure out if you mounted one of the emitters backwards, and when I do I just mark it with a pencil and reheat the board until the solder flows again and I can switch it. A few more and I should be able to start mounting on the heatsinks.
 
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Homesteader

Homesteader

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Deconstructing the Blackdog and reworking the emitters with solder paste and a heat gun underneath ( you can see the emitter three deep that is circled is sitting high because the solder hasn't melted yet. The light came with two halves like this board shown and I have taken off the Epistar UV and IR diodes along with their white/yellows and green diodes on both. Replacing the whites with XP-G3s at 4000k and CD bin 3500k 3590s on this light spread.

The 6 or 8 IR emitters are trash unless I get an Iguana ( what were they thinking?).....but I am gong to put the UV on their own driver by themselves so I can switch it on/off and put it on a timer.
 
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Homesteader

Homesteader

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The UV emitters were re-installed but most are past their expiration date. The heat may not have helped but I think they are running around 40%. Ill mount a single t5 and run a reptile UV-B bulb on this light frame instead. UV diodes are not efficient nor do they last very long.......Why would you mount these to run without being able to switch off is ridiculous. Do I need UV in veg? No I'm sorry the IR is ridiculous this is just stupid. Blackdog is NOT quality nor does it live up to HALF its price tag. Costly mistake on my part but oh well. Live and learn.
 
Homesteader

Homesteader

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I wanted to show the easiest method that I have found. I take the blank MCPCB and heat it up to 400 degrees and apply a dab of solder paste on the contacts using the tip of a syringe(which will begin to melt almost right away and even out), then switch off the power when the solder tins (the paste will tin at around 400). The next step, I place the emitters on correctly and then reheat back to 400 degrees. Give the emitters a small tap on the dome to eject any excess solder.
This method allows the emitters the least amount of time on the heat.

I did three of the 7 emitter boards in 12 minutes I think and made a pot of coffee in between (whole bean).
Using the Osram Oslon 80 in 5700k for these ones.

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Lightbleeder

Lightbleeder

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I wanted to show the easiest method that I have found. I take the blank MCPCB and heat it up to 400 degrees and apply a dab of solder paste on the contacts using the tip of a syringe(which will begin to melt almost right away and even out), then switch off the power when the solder tins (the paste will tin at around 400). The next step, I place the emitters on correctly and then reheat back to 400 degrees. Give the emitters a small tap on the dome to eject any excess solder.
This method allows the emitters the least amount of time on the heat.

I did three of the 7 emitter boards in 12 minutes I think and made a pot of coffee in between (whole bean).
Using the Osram Oslon 80 in 5700k for these ones.

View attachment 682806 View attachment 682807 View attachment 682808 View attachment 682805 View attachment 682809
You did this without a stencil!? Great work man. That must have taken a deal of extra time! Osh stencils make great stainless steel stencils. Whoever manufactures your pcb boards should be able to email you the info on the board about the layers exc, so a stencil company can get you a stencil to save you grief, I think I spend 22 bucks total for mine.
 
Homesteader

Homesteader

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Bro this is so easy a caveman can do it.....Provided he has a presto griddle. No stencil needed at all. The solder paste will go to the contacts like a magnet once they tin and the emitters suck right into place.
The only thing you need to watch for is that the emitters will sometimes flip if you didn't line it up alright (you can see one almost doing it in the third pic in the center). Easy fix though, reheat to melt the solder and flip back.

No need for a heat gun at all.
Heat from the bottom up is the ticket.

The hardest part is figuring out which is the anode and which is the cathode but once you work with a line of emitters, its a snap. (The Oslons cathode has a dot on the underside)

The Osram are more difficult than the Cree but not bad.

Going to mount 35 Osram Oslons per 140mm pin fin (5 MCPCBs) and powering them with HLG-185H-C700A's (which should output about 65-75 watts per heatsink).
 
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Lightbleeder

Lightbleeder

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Seriously! I learned everything on the go and hands on. Everything was stupid expensive though. I had to reflow my boards more then once because of the same issue I even forgot I was setting the LEDs in a series with them 1950 pcb boards. Any LED light you buy in the store is easily double the price of parts. I've never worked with anything but Cree but definitely interested in seeing how LEDs other then Cree preform in horticulture especially osram.
 
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Homesteader

Homesteader

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Nice Tex! Those 1950 boards are ridiculously expensive though. What was your price per board? $20 if I recall?? I am still waiting on my three free ones they NEVER sent. Actually dislike sinkpad quite a bit and thought they were rude when I spoke with them. Memodex is one to look at and I believe Cutter may be able to make some out of copper.
 
Lightbleeder

Lightbleeder

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Bro aduraled.com has everything you need. The boards where relatively cheap in the raw. I need to check my emails again but I believe I got all 16 boards for under 100 bucks. They sell LEDs and lenses there too, will even send you fully assembled units too but that's pricy. And the customer service is great once you get to a sales manager. Everything's done through emails and PayPal and their fedex account unless you got your own shipper. They will ask. They sent me a extra unit (4 pcb boards) free too, used one of them to drill perfect holes in to my heat sink
 
Homesteader

Homesteader

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Sounds like you had better luck than I did, although I was contacting them fairly soon after they made the design available and Im sure the cannabis scene was flooding them.

I think Adura is Sinkpad just under a different name for some reason but I could be wrong.
How high did you mount? I think the design said 4' above canopy? Could be mistaken.
 
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Lightbleeder

Lightbleeder

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Well the design said 4 feet from the light instrument they used where's the gavita was mounted at 3 feet and they had similar results at those mounting differences, I personally mounted it like I would a 1000 watt mh or hps 1 to 2 feet from my canopy but I researched more in to it and the LEDs recommend within 30 inches of the plants canopy. All my fan leaves got hammered bad after about 3 days then as soon as I seen the tips on my sugars bleaching I took it out and put the 1000w back up, now I got it mounted right too the 8 foot ceiling with a dimmer, my new gals are a foot tall and even with all that space between them and the light they are still stressed out by the intensity For some reason.
 
Lightbleeder

Lightbleeder

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@Homesteader the same meanwell
HLG-320H-C1050B in the design, they come Dimmable all you need is to provide the signal I got a led dimmer from Home Depot on sale, and powered it off a 6v power supply powering my fans.
 
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Homesteader

Homesteader

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Have they recovered since? are you dimming now? The XP-G4 are intense and the design has them close and beaming down. Interested in seeing everything when you get it dialed in.
 
Lightbleeder

Lightbleeder

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Have they recovered since? are you dimming now? The XP-G4 are intense and the design has them close and beaming down. Interested in seeing everything when you get it dialed in.
They are recovering good, It's looking like temp was to low contributing to the stress, my temps are looking better, got the LEDs dialed in at around 70 percent power at about 4 feet from canopy, I'm gonna start a grow diary post here tonight about the light and the grow and give people a good look in to what it take to make one of these.
 

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