It can be tricky at times to solder leads to surface mounted pads. sometimes the solder wont stick to the pads. For this project I soldered some leads on about 20 high-powered LED modules.

you will need soldering flux, wire leads (solid or stranded), heat shrink tubing is ideal if you're using wires with weak insulation jackets, soldering iron.

Step 1: Tinning Soldering Tip and Tinning Lead Tips

solder sticks to solder. not exactly to other metals. so put a light coat of solder on your wire leads and also get a thin layer of solder on your soldering tip

Step 2: Preparing the Terminals.

take some soldering flux (labeled as water soluble flux in hardware stores) put a small amount on the the two surface terminals. put the soldering iron on 700-800 degrees Fahrenheit. After the desired heat is reached, put the tip of the soldering iron on the terminal. Move it around the terminal until all of the flux evaporates.

next you will need to put a dab of solder onto each terminals. In order to do this properly: put the tip of the iron on the pad, attempt to touch to solder to the to the terminal and soldering tip at the same time

Step 3: Soldering the Leads

using needle nose pliers or something like a flat screwdriver (I used a a small flathead). press the lead down on one of the solder dabs with your driver, then while still pressing with the driver. press the lead on the the dab with the soldering iron. the dab should melt and the lead will go inside the dab.

if this doesnt work go back to the tinning step and instead of putting a coating put a small dab on the wire lead. there is nothing wrong with this, in fact this is the way I did it to insure big strong solder joints.

this instructable was performed at Techshop Detroit (Allen Park, MI)
www.techshop.ws