Swapping diodes on a Chinese fixture?

[needmorecowbell]

Is it possible? I dont really want to do a whole DIY strip for led supplementation, but if I can't swap them, I'll have to. I have the dimmable 120w led fixture, just want to add Cyan and uv.

[bhazard451]

You would have to de-solder the led on the board, and solder in the new one. The traces on the pcb take care of the wiring.

You'll just need an unmounted led that isn't on a star, and it needs to have + -"legs" on it to match the original led. Your chinese supplier can sell you the leds directly for cheap.

[needmorecowbell]

Alright thanks I'll talk to them. How would I desolder them? Heat it back up and replace? Also, when you say no star, does that mean no rapid led diodes would work? Ill try to contact the supplier, but I would much rather buy from rapid.

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by needmorecowbell

Alright thanks I'll talk to them. How would I desolder them? Heat it back up and replace? Also, when you say no star, does that mean no rapid led diodes would work? Ill try to contact the supplier, but I would much rather buy from rapid.

Heat the solder and pull the leg off the pad one at a time.

The leds in the chinese fixtures are not mounted on those star type boards like rapidled has, they are just the led emitters themselves.

In other words, you cant just take a Cree from rapidled and solder it in. Its much easier to get it from the supplier, who mounts the led onto their own setup to go onto the PCB board. Price is like $1 a led + shipping.

[tankaddict]

Let me know how it went, I'm about to do the same when I get my violets.

[needmorecowbell]

Oh okay, I know what LEDs your talking about. I'll give them an email soon.

[needmorecowbell]

Tried contacting both the eBay seller and the manufacturer.. Neither replied. Anyone else sell them? I don't mind the price.

[needmorecowbell]

Bump

[tankaddict]

Just switched out my RB for 2 violets on my board was really easy.

[needmorecowbell]

That's good to know, what LEDs did you buy? The star type?

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by needmorecowbell

That's good to know, what LEDs did you buy? The star type?

No, bridgelux leds with legs for + -

They look like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-3W-UV-u...ht_7356wt_1063

Get them from where you bought the light. They are only $1 from China.

[tankaddict]

Yeah they are the ones with legs like bhazard said. If you are following the Chinese LEDs thread, I got them from Sam on alibaba. Don't know if he sales them in small quantity I got mines because they didn't put the colors in my unit.

[needmorecowbell]

Thanks, I'll be doing that then, gotta get rid of all this royal blue.. I checked alibaba a while ago but there is no way I'm buying a thousand of them lol. Ill contact someone if I need to then. I tried contacting both the eBay seller and the manufacturer, neither got back to me, ill email them again.

[needmorecowbell]

Is there anyway to swap it with a pcb star type led? Its ridiculously hard to find the 2 pins.

[tankaddict]

Have you try contacting Sam? Use this link and see if he is online and chat with him, maybe he can help you out

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/55...55_gallon.html

[needmorecowbell]

He is the supplier?

[nyquist]

Originally Posted by needmorecowbell

Is there anyway to swap it with a pcb star type led? Its ridiculously hard to find the 2 pins.

in theory you could just desolder the LED from the star board and use that to replace the LED you remove from your fixture

just make sure you don't mess up/bend/break the good LED in the process

[needmorecowbell]

After looking at LEDs with that design, I don't think I could do it. What if I just
Used wired and soldered the two together? Of I soldered them together wouldn't that give me the same effect?

I contacted the seller with the link you gave me.

[tankaddict]

It's easy.. Trust me. You probably can desoldered the led off the star and solder it on the board.

[needmorecowbell]

I know how to solder them off, that's not the problem. How would I pull this off the board? Melt the golden ends and pull it off?ImageUploadedByTapatalk1340587161.825116.jpg

[LudlowMa]

I'm about to do the same when I get my violets.

[tankaddict]

Looks like you would need to melt whatever that is holding the gold legs to the board.

[needmorecowbell]

Originally Posted by LudlowMa

I'm about to do the same when I get my violets.

Pics didn't work, well not on mobile.

Sorry for asking again, but why cant I just use a star type? Couldn't I put some thermal grease between the two pcb's and solder with some wire?

[Johnb123]

anyone know how to get the diode off the star board? what works better a hair dryer or solder gun to heat up underneath and how long does each process take?