Hole Through Pad Too Small

[tenwatt]

I recieved a double sided board from Music PCB and holes for a 2n4001 are too small to accept the leds.  Should I just drill it out?

[12345]

Hey dude!
I wouldnt drill it out in case its plated through. Solder it like you would a SMD and then snip the leads?

[midwayfair]

Use any silicon -- 1N914, 1N4148, etc. Edit: Actually, if it's from 9v to ground, just omit it. The diode to ground doesn't do anything as polarity protection anyway unless you're momentarily connecting a battery incorrectly. A power supply will just fry it and then cook the board. You can't re-drill it. You can also snip the diode lead at an angle and solder in the now-pointy bit.

The library it was created from (probably Gusmarkov's) has default drill sizes, which are too small for the giant leads on 1N400x diodes. This is a common problem with boards in the DIY community.

Madbean, JMK, and 1776, and most of the other folks around here releasing projects here use a modified library and you won't have that problem with many of them.

[GermanCdn]

If you're in need of a 1N4001 with thinner leads, I can drop one in the mail for you, I bought a bunch of imports and they all came in with smaller diameter leads.

[hoodoo]

I haven't tried it myself, however i read elsewhere about a similar problem, and the advice given was to use your wire strippers on them to reduce the size of the leads, supposedly works. Worth a try, Matt.

[madbean]

You should be able to scrape some of the lead width off with an Xacto knife, too.

[tenwatt]

You can also snip the diode lead at an angle and solder in the now-pointy bit.

Thanx for the suggestions guys.  I went with this and it worked well.