> Sorry to differ with your previous experience with other customers, but if I can read 4+ volts at the base leads of the LEDs in the correct polarity, and they do not light, I would have to believe the LEDs are at fault.
I did not say (nor intentionally imply) otherwise. I absolutely believe that these LEDs are dead. We have helped hundreds of people build and debug issues their BulbDial kits, and we do know that LEDs do sometimes get damaged in the process. That’s one of the reasons that we’re happy to replace parts when needed. Five getting damaged in the installation is surprising, but _certainly_ not unprecedented.
I also stand by my statement about the LEDs arriving in good condition. Test, for example, the LEDs in your green and red bags. Test your replacements when they arrive. (And if you do find any dead, we would _definitely_ want to hear about it!)
> I suppose there could still be a current delivery issue even if I can read voltage with a voltmeter whereas under the 100-some-odd milliamp load there is an issue, but alas, I digress.
I’m not sure where the “100-some-odd milliamp load” part came from. There isn’t anything like that in the kit. Those LEDs are not designed to withstand 100 mA, and can easily be burnt out if you put that much current through them.
> I’m very curious how you propose to repair a cold joint, if not with heat?
I did not propose anything of the sort. What I said is that “We recommend *never* to reheat/reflow a solder joint unless it is known to need repair.”
Yes, if you do have a known cold solder joint, then reflowing it (well, flowing it for the first time) is the correct way to fix it. But reflowing _every single solder joint_ is one of those few consistent ways that our kits can get “totalled.” (That is, damaged such that it becomes much easier to start over than to repair it, for example by delaminating traces and pads from the circuit board.)
> How do you replace parts if not be reheating and removing them? This advice sounds absolutely bizarre to me.
Again, I suggested nothing of the sort. I suggested that only known-damaged components should be removed.
>I guess I’d like to see if it’s possible to source the replacements elsewhere in case customer service isn’t willing[…]
I am the person that designed the Bulbdial kit, and one of the two people that do our tech support and customer service. We’ve already both talked about it and _are_ willing to send you replacement blue LEDs and/or sell you a blue ring with parts at a significant discount if you’d like to start over (most people at this stage prefer that direction). However, you’ll still have to contact us by e-mail or contact form, because our forums are not a good place to discuss things like e-mail and shipping addresses, and so forth.
As far as sourcing elsewhere, you certainly can look up the specs, but we would strongly recommend using parts from the very same LED batch for a reasonable color, intensity, and angle matching. (Ideally, just let us send you the replacement parts, so you can get up and running again, and have a nicely matched clock).
