I just killed a PHR-803t.....this sucks

Hey I just Killed my new PHR-803t diode....not quite sure how I did it.
Just looking to hear how others have killed their diodes so I feel better.

http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/learn-mistakes-can-happen-anybody-50044.html

Peace,
dave

I don't think there is any member here (that builds) that has not had a diode die on him.
All of my failures , I could not trace down to any reason.
Buy another one and try again. Read all you can on LED'ing and LD failure to make sure it was not something you did. At least it was a PHR and not a 12X:undecided:
Good Luck!

Greenmechanic said:

I don't think there is any member here (that builds) that has not had a diode die on him.
All of my failures , I could not trace down to any reason.
Buy another one and try again. Read all you can on LED'ing and LD failure to make sure it was not something you did. At least it was a PHR and not a 12X:undecided:
Good Luck!

Click to expand...

We drive them in excess of their manufactures' ratings. Sometimes they just die.

Peace,
dave

I am trying to figure out what I did never saw any light out of it....maybe a little violet at first but not sure. I just hooked everything up to the batteries then touched the diode on and off the driver to see if it worked.
What order should I connect things and turn them on?
Thanks Learning this stuff is awesome
Andrew

You must solder the diode to the driver before you connect power to the driver. It is recommended to test your driver before you hook up your diode to make sure the current is set to a desirable amount. Once you test your driver, you must short (connect) the positive and negative outputs of your driver to discharge any capacitors.
And trust me, you'll learn. I've gone through over 8 PHR's, and 2 of which were when they were $33 each :yabbmad:

NEVER just touch the diode to any contact point. ALL diode connections should be securely soldered BEFORE applying any power to the diode. Whenever two electrically charged contacts touch, a small static discharge often occurs. This voltage spike is what killed your diode right off the bat. I highly recommend reading as much as you can find about laser diodes before attempting to build. You would have been informed of the extremely sensitive nature of laser diodes and would likely have found information regarding using them that would have save you this trouble..

On the bright side, a PHR is nearly the cheapest diode you can get, so you're not out much.

I hadn't used my phr with the DDL driver for months and 2 weeks ago, when i soldered the phr to the driver it no work
I forgot to discharge the capacitor lol. Fortunately, it was only a phr.

KertM said:

I am trying to figure out what I did never saw any light out of it....maybe a little violet at first but not sure. I just hooked everything up to the batteries then touched the diode on and off the driver to see if it worked.
What order should I connect things and turn them on?
Thanks Learning this stuff is awesome
Andrew

Click to expand...

This is could be detrimental to diodes if the driver was a buck/ boost type.

Think about that fact that while the driver is charged and set
(this I doubt) then disconnected and reconnected.

The capacitors are charged in an instant resulting in a outflux of unregulated current. Pop.

To better understand and to up your success rate you must read and re-read... the answers are there, I promise.

there are skills you have to acquire and repetition of said skills is what you will need to achieve a high success build rate. You sound somewhat young so I will only tell you that instead of starting with a PHR or a diode for that matter start with a LED and practice with that.

Practice your soldering skills and your test runs after that then move on to
harvesting and so on. Most of all start some folders on your desktop and save all the files that will help you in this hobbie.

you could click the link in my sig that would be an excellent start to your
journey. PM me if you want just don't abuse it. Good luck. jander

Edit: I had a differant reply. Due to the backspace button bringing me back to last page it kindly erased my well though out reply

I killed my first PHR when pressing it into a heat sink I made. Then I killed the driver under a dummy load when a bead of sweat from my forehead shorted the contacts. Its been several months and I can giggle about it now.

Live and learn.