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A project log for POVIT

There is simply not enough blinking LEDs in this world.

peter-gPeter G 06/06/2014 at 01:551 Comment

I did not know PLCC-6 packages also came in a 3mm version. Now I do.

Luckily I happen to have a bunch of clear 5050 RGB LEDs laying around. They will have to do for initial testing while I wait for more diffused ones to arrive. 

Clear LEDs are not really suitable for POV displays as the colors don't blend and you can see the individual component colors, especially when moving. There are ways of diffusing clear LEDs, nail polish, sand paper, hot glue, etc.

The PCBs are 1mm thick, normally I would use PCB scraps to hold it in place while stenciling but I don't have any 1mm scraps. Business cards stacked two deep worked great as a substitute though, and I finally found a use for all those cards.

Stenciled

Stuffed and soldered, one side anyway.

The black-top LEDs made a discomforting popping sound when I re-flowed them. They may have been moisture contaminated, they were shipped in a regular paper envelope from China after all. They all still worked afterwards though.

Discussions

Quinn wrote 06/23/2014 at 16:51 point
If you are concerned about accumulated moisture inside packages(which is real), or have exceeded the MSL rating of the part, it is pretty simple to bake the moisture back out prior to running them through reflow. I usually put parts in the oven ramped up to about 90C, and soak it for a while(several hours to overnight) before ramping back down. Lots of stuff on the web about doing this.

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