Hi all, i tried searching for a solution to my problem. It seems others have had similar issues but with different solutions. So heres my issue...
I built a driver using a lm338, and am using it to power a m140 diode, first time i tried this, it worked great for a little while but then, it stopped producing the same amount of brightness and power. I figured, dead diode, sucks to suck. So i bought another one. Made sure that it was well heatsunk, and that the driver was working well, i also replaced the lm338 with a new one since it was not heatsunk at all last time and i thought maybe that was part of the issue.
So i turn in on, it works great, i never have it on for more than about 25-30 seconds at a time, but after about 3-5 minutes of runtime, same issue. It will flash bright for a split second, and then dim to probably no more than about 100mw. If i keep trying, it stays bright for less and less time before dimming. If i leave it alone for a while, and try, it will stay bright for that initial time before dimming again.
So my question is this, is my diode dead again? Have i killed two of them? Or is it more likely the regulator thats dead? Or maybe something else i have overlooked. Thanks for reading and for any help you can give!
I built a driver using a lm338, and am using it to power a m140 diode, first time i tried this, it worked great for a little while but then, it stopped producing the same amount of brightness and power. I figured, dead diode, sucks to suck. So i bought another one. Made sure that it was well heatsunk, and that the driver was working well, i also replaced the lm338 with a new one since it was not heatsunk at all last time and i thought maybe that was part of the issue.
So i turn in on, it works great, i never have it on for more than about 25-30 seconds at a time, but after about 3-5 minutes of runtime, same issue. It will flash bright for a split second, and then dim to probably no more than about 100mw. If i keep trying, it stays bright for less and less time before dimming. If i leave it alone for a while, and try, it will stay bright for that initial time before dimming again.
So my question is this, is my diode dead again? Have i killed two of them? Or is it more likely the regulator thats dead? Or maybe something else i have overlooked. Thanks for reading and for any help you can give!