Replace Low Voltage Bi-Pin Halogens with LEDs

Step 4 Solder the drive to the LED and mount to heatsink

Before you attach the LED to the heatsink it is a good idea to solder the wires from the drive circuit to the star. Once the LED is mounted to the heatsink, the heatsink will do its job and suck the heat away from the star, making soldering difficult. So take a look at the drive circuit and identify the positive and negative wires. You may want to replace the ones that come with the driver with longer more clearly identifiable wire as the Chinese drivers often come with strange color wire and short, poorly soldered leads. You get what you pay for.

Solder the wires to the star, making sure the + and - driver and LED wires match. You should briefly test the LED now with a power supply or battery. You'll need 12VDC or greater, less than 30VDC or so. Check the specs if in doubt. Don't leave the LED lit for too long without it being mounted on the heat sink or you can damage or destroy it. It gets hot fast and you know what they say about a race car in the red. The bi-pin driver is capable of operating regardless of the input polarity so don't waste your time looking for which pin is which.

Satisfied that everything is working, apply some thermal compound to the heat sink under the LED and then apply the LED. Insert and tighten the 3 screws, taking care that they do not short out on any of the wires or pads on the star. Once fully seated, use your multimeter to test for shorts.