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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Unable to detect current through dummy load

Lumify

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I'm in the middle of setting up a jayrob ss cr2 build, and I've basically put everything together. I just have to connect the driver to the diode, put it in the host and turn it on. I tried testing the circuit using a Rkcstr test load, and my multimeter is picking up absolutely nothing. I know the multimeter and battery are working because I tested the battery with the multimeter. I also know the button end of the host is working, because I've tested it from the threading to the battery positive side. I just have no idea what could be going wrong with the rest of the circuit. It seems like it should all be working.

I have been thinking through all of my steps for hours, trying to imagine where I've gone wrong. I removed all of the components from the original host board and connected the driver (Micro Boost) to the board. I put electrical tape over the rest of the board and laid the driver on top. I soldered the bridge on the dummy load labeled BLU. I screwed the pill with the board into the host, connected the driver to the dummy load, put the battery in, made sure it was turned on, and put the multimeter prongs in the top 2 holes. I just didn't get any voltage at all. I've tried with multiple settings on the multimeter to no avail.

I wish I knew where the problem was, but it seems like I should be getting a current through the test load. :confused: Could anyone give any tips to what might be the problem?
 





daguin

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Examine the driver under magnification. Maybe you have an errant solder bridge somewhere.

Did the driver ever get power put to it while it was NOT hooked up to the dummy load?

Are you getting voltage at the input side of the driver?

What do you mean by "the top two holes"?

Peace,
dave
 

Lumify

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Thanks for the reply. I checked out the driver under magnification, and it turned out my battery - joint was a little sloppy. Even under my huge magnifying glass, I couldn't tell whether it was touching one of the nearby components, but it looked like it could be. I cleaned it up a little bit with the cheap soldering tools I have so that wouldn't be a problem. I put the whole circuit back together, and I was about to connect the driver to the dummy load.

Then I realized that as I just put the whole thing back together, I was running power through the poor little driver. :cryyy: I know I didn't do that earlier though... It doesn't really matter what the problem was now I suppose. Do you think there might be any chance the driver may still be alive? If not, would there be any relatively simple way to fix whatever would have gotten killed?

When I said the "top two holes", I was extremely unclear, especially considering how there are four holes on the test load. I meant the holes with the wires soldered on connected to the driver.
 
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If your Flexdrive ( I assume that's what you have) blew
because of a No Load condition...
It is the teeny tiny main driver chip that has blown..
Without proper SMD equipment... it is virtually impossible
for you to fix it..:cryyy:


Jerry
 
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If your Flexdrive ( I assume that's what you have) blew
because of a No Load condition...
It is the teeny tiny main driver chip that has blown..
Without proper SMD equipment... it is virtually impossible
for you to fix it..:cryyy:


Jerry
Isn't the main Flex IC some sort of BGA package?
Even WITH proper equipement it's more or less impossible, hot air will most likely destroy the coil and it's coating (if it's on the same side), and blow off all components on the same side of the PCB since it's no more than around 9x 12 mm.

It's virtually impossible to repair the driver , but it IS impossible to desolder the BGA chip and replace it without damaging soemthing else which you will need to replace also.
 

daguin

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As has been stated, if the driver was powered in a "no load" condition for any length of time, it is probably toasted. The chances for repairing this condition by a hobbyist are pretty slim.

Congratulations on your first blown driver :) I have thrown several new drivers away because of something I have done to them ;) Failure is a normal and necessary part of science and learning. I have built, literally, hundreds of lasers. I have blown every component possible along the way.

Even with all of my experience and all of the "double checking" I do along the way, I blew a boost driver just a couple of weeks ago by hitting it with 9V by mistake :crackup:

Live and learn. Remember, hobbies cost money :beer:

Peace,
dave
 
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Gotta print out all that great info and hang it on the wall--thanks guys--good help
 

Lumify

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Congratulations on your first blown driver :)
:D Yay!
Remember, hobbies cost money :beer:
Haha, I know that fact far too well. My other hobby is playing acoustic instruments. Those are the only things known to man to be more expensive than lasers, and I chose to do both of them! :p

At least my new BDR-205 diode is safely in a module and heatsink. ;) I couldn't afford to lose another one of those to a giant, demonic globs of solder and my impatience.
 
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:D Yay!

Haha, I know that fact far too well. My other hobby is playing acoustic instruments. Those are the only things known to man to be more expensive than lasers, and I chose to do both of them! :p

At least my new BDR-205 diode is safely in a module and heatsink. ;) I couldn't afford to lose another one of those to a giant, demonic globs of solder and my impatience.
Umm, I don't believe any acoustic guitar can cost as much as Gibson signature electric guitars, some of them went as high as $50.000, according to Gibson website.

On-topic , hell, I don't think any hobby is as costly as this one.
 

daguin

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Umm, I don't believe any acoustic guitar can cost as much as Gibson signature electric guitars, some of them went as high as $50.000, according to Gibson website.

On-topic , hell, I don't think any hobby is as costly as this one.

Try collecting mineral specimens and gemstones ;)

Peace,
dave
 

Lumify

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I play mainly upright bass, and $50,000 dollars is about average for professionals. Since you are talking about the top of the line instruments, Stradivarius violins sell for as much as $3.5 million. I don't think anyone owns a laser worth $3.5 million, with the possible exception of the national ignition facility. :na: I don't know if any enthusiast owns a laser valued at $50,000, do you? /endpwnage :)

Anyway, I think I'm going to make a few cheap handhelds in cheap hosts with cheap/homemade drivers to get my skills up before I try another one like this. I probably should have done that in the first place.
 
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I play mainly upright bass, and $50,000 dollars is about average for professionals. Since you are talking about the top of the line instruments, Stradivarius violins sell for as much as $3.5 million. I don't think anyone owns a laser worth $3.5 million, with the possible exception of the national ignition facility. :na: I don't know if any enthusiast owns a laser valued at $50,000, do you? /endpwnage :)

Anyway, I think I'm going to make a few cheap handhelds in cheap hosts with cheap/homemade drivers to get my skills up before I try another one like this. I probably should have done that in the first place.
*pwned*

Point taken!

What exactly is worth $3.5 million in one violin? Only one ever produced, so theey are trying to get the costs of production back :thinking: I don't get it.

Can you explain?
 

Lumify

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Yeah, the Wikipedia article explains it. It's really because of the sound quality, which is (supposedly) unparalleled by any other violin. There's just so much demand for these insanely high quality instruments, and there are so few of them. Another really interesting thing about most string instruments is that as they age, their value and sound quality actually increases. You don't find that very often in the laser world, or any other world (haha). Basically everyone in the world wants the best 30 instruments in the world that were made 300 years ago, so the prices continually skyrocket.
 




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