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soldering tips needed
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tony.silveira:
hey guys,

i'm about to start the mounting of the led's around my joysticks, to be driven by an ledwiz.  i have the led's and also the resistors needed but am asking for advice on the best way to solder them.  i'm used to soldering soft wires together but each of these parts has hard wire legs (pic attached).  also, on which leg does the resistor get attached to, the short or long leg of the led?

fyi, once i figure out how to solder these legs together, each one will have heat shrink around it to prevent any shorts.

thanks of any input

Mysterioii:
Doesn't matter which leg you solder it to.  As far as how to solder them, I like to trim the leads fairly short (like a centimeter, ballpark) then hook them with needle nose pliers.  Both on the LED and the resistors.  When you hook them together it makes a stronger mechanical connection, you're not relying on the strength of the solder (not like anyone will be tugging on them, but it's how I was taught... plus when you hook them it holds them in place while you solder.)  Then a little touch of solder and slide some shrink tubing over 'em.
tony.silveira:

--- Quote from: Mysterioii on July 03, 2012, 01:02:29 pm ---Doesn't matter which leg you solder it to.  As far as how to solder them, I like to trim the leads fairly short (like a centimeter, ballpark) then hook them with needle nose pliers.  Both on the LED and the resistors.  When you hook them together it makes a stronger mechanical connection, you're not relying on the strength of the solder (not like anyone will be tugging on them, but it's how I was taught... plus when you hook them it holds them in place while you solder.)  Then a little touch of solder and slide some shrink tubing over 'em.

--- End quote ---

hooks, sweet jesus why didn't i think of that.  thanks a ton man!  and just to confirm, it doesn't matter which leg the resistor goes on?  that sounds crazy to me!  does it matter which leg is connected to the + terminal in an ledwiz?

this is my first time working with led's so please excuse the rookie questions...

thanks again, t
HaRuMaN:
Either leg is fine for the resistor.
Mysterioii:

--- Quote from: tony.silveira on July 03, 2012, 01:06:26 pm ---
--- Quote from: Mysterioii on July 03, 2012, 01:02:29 pm ---Doesn't matter which leg you solder it to.  As far as how to solder them, I like to trim the leads fairly short (like a centimeter, ballpark) then hook them with needle nose pliers.  Both on the LED and the resistors.  When you hook them together it makes a stronger mechanical connection, you're not relying on the strength of the solder (not like anyone will be tugging on them, but it's how I was taught... plus when you hook them it holds them in place while you solder.)  Then a little touch of solder and slide some shrink tubing over 'em.

--- End quote ---

hooks, sweet jesus why didn't i think of that.  thanks a ton man!  and just to confirm, it doesn't matter which leg the resistor goes on?  that sounds crazy to me!  does it matter which leg is connected to the + terminal in an ledwiz?

this is my first time working with led's so please excuse the rookie questions...

thanks again, t

--- End quote ---

Nope doesn't matter which side you put the resistor on.  They're just there for "current limiting" and they'll do the same job on either side of the diode.  The long leg is the anode and the short leg is the cathode....  when configured properly the current flows from the positive supply into the anode and out the cathode to ground...  I haven't actually wired up an LEDWiz (have one sitting in a box somewhere) but I believe it's outputs are active low, current sinking outputs.  Meaning there's a shared supply (+) terminal and then the individual output pins go low and sink current to light an LED....  At least I think that's how that board is configured, you may check the diagram first.  If that's the case, then yeah the + terminal you're seeing would be connected to the long leg and one of the output pins would be connected to the short leg, with the resistor somewhere in between on either side of the LED.
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