12X Diode Life

My 12X diode randomly LED'd this afternoon, driver is working properly pushing 450ma and it wasn't even warm when it died. Needless to say I'm pretty pissed my EDC laser is dead. Worth noting for the past couple days I had switch from a 3 element lens to using a 9mm stock lens, and the power increase was amazing.

Anyone have experience with the longevity of 12X diodes?

Thanks,
Kyle

What sled is the diode pulled from and what driver are you using?

It's a S06J 12X 405 Diode and I was using a micro boost driver. I took the C3 host apart a minute ago and tested the diode on an elasti-drive set to 300ma. Definitely LED'd.

I've been out of the laser game for a while and I can't tell you what to expect out of these, but looking at issue from what I've learned in my EE university classes and some quick googgling here is possibly a logical guess for shorter than normal life.

A. Your using the micro-boost driver, it has a ripple of 5% listed in the datasheet, and that is rather high compared to other drivers. Electronics don't like ripple very much, so that could be a contributing factor in the short life.

B.Prolong exposure to heat. No electronics like heat and assuming this was removed from a sled, this has had heat applied to it 3 times. Once to get soldered in the sled, once to get removed from the sled, and once to get soldered onto your laser. Were all those soldering esd safe and within the stated spec listed in the data sheet? Maybe, maybe not.

C.High current, despite the fact that people run these diodes way beyond their intend power all the time doesn't mean that it will work. These diodes are probably only designed for something like 200-250mA and they all work at that current, but the higher in current you go the fewer and fewer diodes can handle that amount.

Hope this provides you with some insight, maybe you knew this stuff, maybe you didn't, either way, killing a diode sucks!

Does the 9mm even produce a decent beam for you??? I try and use it and it comes out looking dumb....maybe I am doing it wrong....

Yeah Im hoping mine wont LED... It started off at 780 mW @ 530 mA (Moh linear - yes it does work if you have a couple of good bats!)

I have hardly used the laser maybe 10 mins total run time with generally 5 second bursts and a couple of 30 - 40 sec ones on an LPM. I have LPMed the laser probably 6 times and each time with fresh bats the power dropped. It still works well but its now around 500 mW....


From what Ive heard Linears dont have current spike issues, but I could be wrong and just incase, when I built the laser, I soldered a 22 uF cap across the pins...It would be interesting to hear if others have experienced this. BTW its an S06J and LPMed with G2:beer:

@ udanis

I didn't know a few of those points ty, and in hindsight it makes sense that it gave out, especially with ppl here noting how quickly they degrade. I was always pretty careful with the duty cycle but I did get a lot of use out of it.

@ grainde

Thanks I'm glad I'm not the only one, I guess they are just very prone to degrading.

I had one "drop dead" at 450mA , completely random.

Their not made of the same stuff as 450's unfortunately.

I seem to have horrible luck with 405nm diodes. I've had 2 405's from DTR die on me and my 405 rifle from lazerer also recently died on me. I don't abuse the hell out of them either.

I've replaced them with diodes that are currently working but I constantly feel like I'm just waiting for them to die. Also everyone of them that has died has done so while in use. Out of the blue while I'm using them they just dim out and LED.

I don't know what the problem is. Based on other reports from people on this board it seems like 405's can be a bit temperamental. On the other hand i't seems like people can abuse the hell out of their M-140 diodes while only occasionally failing.

M140's are bulletproof , unfortunately 405's aren't designed to be driven the way enthusiasts drive them. you have to be very conservative with the current if you want any kind of longevity out of them....but there have been exceptions of course.

ped said:

M140's are bulletproof

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The same can be said for the 9mm's correct?

Not from personal experience, mine was crap, but everyone else is having fun with them

TheDukeAnumber1 said:

The same can be said for the 9mm's correct?

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I was thinking of doing a 9 mm build some day soon...what have you heard? I was under the impression they were as robust, if not better than the M140's? :thinking:

sorry to hear about the death. you had the driver set right where they recommend too. how long have you had it?

grainde said:

I was thinking of doing a 9 mm build some day soon...what have you heard? I was under the impression they were as robust, if not better than the M140's? :thinking:

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I don't have a ton of experience with the 9mm's but I think there might be some merit to the M140's being tougher. Do we know if they are made by the same manufacturer?

cheech226 said:

sorry to hear about the death. you had the driver set right where they recommend too. how long have you had it?

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I have had it for two and a half months. I'd guess it had about 1-3 hours runtime on it with no visible signs of degrading.

Sorry to hear that bud! I like the 405 but unfortunately I just don't trust them. I had 4 pointers and one supposed 6x off ebay at one point. every single one was below 100mA. one by one they dopped off and now I have one left. I have ABUSED the hell out of this laser and it's still kicking. It's out of a toshiba blu ray and has been soldered and desoldered several times. It's sat on the end of 3 different drivers and it's going strong. I guess it's just the luck of the draw. It'll probably die now that I praised it's strength. Luckily they're cheap enough to just buy and enjoy there color. Sorry again about your loss. I hate that feeling.