PROJECTS: LED Filament Jewelry
3. SOLDER THE LED FILAMENTS
3a. Identify the polarity of the LED filament. Each
end has a solder pad, and the solder pad with a
hole is usually the positive (+) side. Currently, the
top piece is soldered to the negative (–) side of the
battery holder, so you want to solder the ring to
the pad without a hole (Figure
N
).
WARNING: These LED filaments are quite
fragile and will break if not handled carefully. They
might still light up, but will flicker if broken.
3b. Slightly bend the LED filament’s solder pad
and position it against the center of the V, making
sure the solder pad is on the inside of the ring,
and position the filament so that it’s roughly
parallel with the battery holder (Figure
O
). Take
your time here, it can be a little challenging to
sufficiently align the filament. Try to get the brass
rod as close as possible to the LED filament so
that much of the solder pad is hidden behind the
brass rod.
2b. Brush on a tiny bit of solder flux in the joint
between the rod and the battery holder’s solder
pad (Figure
K
). This will help the solder adhere
to the brass rod better. Using water-based flux
will help with easier cleanup since you can just
rinse the ring after soldering.
2c. Heat up the joints, and wait for a bit of the flux
to heat up and release smoke. When you think
it’s hot enough, touch the solder to the joints
themselves and not the soldering iron (as much
as possible) — this will help to ensure a strong
connection. Let the solder flow, and release
(Figure
L
).
2d. Ideally you’ll end up with the V shape roughly
centered on the battery holder (Figure
M
). Also,
it’s OK if you don’t end up soldering the gap shut,
the alignment is a bit more important.
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