Help please Broke part off LED

[telamont]

I need to repair this LED i just broke. I snapped off this little white piece that the cords plug in to. It looks like it was originally glued onto there.

Can i thermal adhesive it back on or super glue gel it back on anyone know?

[telamont]

any1?

[reef bloke]

Looks like it was soldered on to me.

[telamont]

anyone have LED experience? Can i glue this piece on or must it be soldered?

[jerpa]

It will need to be soldered. You won't have a reliable electrical connection if you just fasten it mechanically with glue. It may work for a time but it will increase resistance and could possibly damage the LEDs.

[telamont]

thanks. anything important i need to know when soldering? just melt some of that metal wiring as glue to connect the two right? i have an old soldering kit that should do the job i just want to make sure i dont mess anything up further.

[gbru316]

thanks. anything important i need to know when soldering? just melt some of that metal wiring as glue to connect the two right? i have an old soldering kit that should do the job i just want to make sure i dont mess anything up further.

No, you don't melt the wiring. You melt solder. The solder is what connects the leads to the pad on the LED board. If you don't have any solder, look for 60/40 rosin core. 60% lead, 40% tin wrapped around a thread of flux.

Additionally, pick up some extra flux and some isopropyl alcohol for cleaning up once soldered. I find extra flux (in addition to what's embedded in the solder) always makes things easier, and the alcohol will dissolve the flux.

There are some good soldering how-to videos on youtube. It probably wouldn't hurt to check them out if you're a novice. There's a lot more to it than just heating something up and sticking it together (although, that's the jist of it).

This is a fairly simple repair, you shouldn't have too much trouble. The hardest part that I can see is getting the connector to stay aligned on the board prior to getting one of the leads soldered. A small piece of tape to hold it in place would probably do the trick.

[telamont]

i meant solder, thanks. i have solder and the gun. Do i need flux? what is that? Do i need to scrape the old solder off? Can i just go right over it or maybe melt it off with the gun or is that not even necessary? What do you mean the hardest part is getting the connector to stay aligned on the board prior to getting one of the leads soldered? What is the lead? the metal on the LED or the piece that broke off?

im watching a video it looks like i heat up the metal part on the piece that broke off and the metal part where it will connect to on the LED and put solder on all of those parts i heated. Then i connect the piece that broke off to the LED back panel whatever its called, and then heat up the connections and it should stick. Does this all sounds like the correct order of operations?

Sorry for my confusion.

[gbru316]

i meant solder, thanks. i have solder and the gun. Do i need flux? what is that? Do i need to scrape the old solder off? Can i just go right over it or maybe melt it off with the gun or is that not even necessary? What do you mean the hardest part is getting the connector to stay aligned on the board prior to getting one of the leads soldered? What is the lead? the metal on the LED or the piece that broke off?

im watching a video it looks like i heat up the metal part on the piece that broke off and the metal part where it will connect to on the LED and put solder on all of those parts i heated. Then i connect the piece that broke off to the LED back panel whatever its called, and then heat up the connections and it should stick. Does this all sounds like the correct order of operations?

Sorry for my confusion.

Flux is used to clean the parts being soldered. It helps create a good connection be removing and preventing impurities on the connections you are soldering. You can buy it at radio shack.

You don't need to scrape the old solder off, but fresh solder wouldn't hurt. If you do want to remove it though, don't scrape. Heat it up until it's molten. then tap the side of the LED board on a hard surface. The old solder will fall right off.

The leads are the 2 metal pins on the connector that get soldered to the LED. The pads are the parts of the LED board that the leads of the connector get soldered to.

You are correct in your process, however, you don't need to add solder to the connector leads or the LED pads individually, because that's already been done (it's called "tinning"). You merely need to place the connector in it's final position, add a drop or 2 of flux, heat up the joint (connection), feed in a small amount of solder, and remove the soldering iron. Then repeat for the second lead of the connector. When complete, use the alcohol to clean up the flux.

The reason I say alignment will be the hardest part is because you'll need to keep the LED from moving around, the connector from moving around, and you'll be holding a soldering iron in one hand and solder in the other.

[telamont]

ok thanks a ton for the help. i have an LED tester i wonder if theres a way to test my connection once im done? the tester doesnt run through the connector. is there a way to test the connector? ive got the setup complete just need to replace this one LED to plug and play. maybe that will be the only way to tell...

i dont want to ruin my whole 12 LED DIY because of this one. Is that possible? Say i didnt replace the connector right...

[telamont]

ok thanks a ton for the help. i have an LED tester i wonder if theres a way to test my connection once im done? the tester doesnt run through the connector. is there a way to test the connector? ive got the setup complete just need to replace this one LED to plug and play. maybe that will be the only way to tell...

i dont want to ruin my whole 12 LED DIY because of this one. Is that possible? Say i didnt replace the connector right...

[gbru316]

ok thanks a ton for the help. i have an LED tester i wonder if theres a way to test my connection once im done? the tester doesnt run through the connector. is there a way to test the connector? ive got the setup complete just need to replace this one LED to plug and play. maybe that will be the only way to tell...

i dont want to ruin my whole 12 LED DIY because of this one. Is that possible? Say i didnt replace the connector right...

The only way that you could possibly have issues is if you created a solder bridge between the 2 pads, meaning, you added too much solder and the 2 pads and/or leads of the connecter are physicall connected together with solder, but the components are big enough that you could easily see this.

It's a pretty straightforward repair, I personally wouldn't worry about testing it. It's either going to work, or it's not. I did forget to mention heat management. Try to only heat up the connection you are soldering just enough to melt solder. If you heat it up too much, you risk damaging the LED itself. Don't stress over it though, just be quick about it.