Big problems???

Ok...I just completed my 445nm build, with a flexdrive. Curent is set to 950mA. It ran perfectly for about 2 min of usage....however it started to strobe....no kidding.

I am concerned about what this means....
Driver issue?
Diode issue?
Battery to low? 3.1V (no load) 18650

Right now I leaning towards (Hoping) the battery simply being to low.

Any ideas?

Either the battery cannot keep up with the demand or the driver is overheating. At only 950mA, I would be leaning toward the battery. If it is fully charged, it is either a high resistance battery, or low reserve, or is on its way out (too old)

I just built one today ( a bit higher current ) that is going to have to either be turned down or I will have to find some way to heat sink the driver.

Peace,
dave

Thanks for the response Dave. I will be posting a video of what it is doing. What you said confirmed what i was guessing was wrong...
FYI: battery is on the charger. Also, it really isn't an old battery.

3.1 is quite low for an 18650 at no load. 2.8 is the low voltage cutoff on my trustfires and you could be reaching that under load, cutting out, kicking back in, etc. 3.7 is nominal but 4.2 off the charger is even better. Hope you just need a charge!

Keep in mind that "age" isn't the same for lipo as it is for other rechargeable batteries.
Lipo degrade chronologically, the longer the battery has gone since its creation, the less capacity it has.
NiMh and NiCad deteriorate from use and/or improper charge cycling.
The hardest thing on a Lipo is to be at 100% charge on the dash of the car on a hot day.
Well, I guess overcharge/discharge is technically harder on them
but you know what I mean ^_^
I read somewhere that a Lipo at 100% charge in 30*C temp will be reduced in capacity by something like 40% in a year.... Pretty brutal.
Keep your batteries in the fridge

Confirmed. It was just the battery. Woooohoooooo

Hey Dave, try the DTR coin heat sink mod for your driver if it fits.

it looks like a problem but I know that a pulsed laser can burn things way faster then a continuous wave one - but its probably not sosposta do that

Not that type of pulse :crackup:

strangely enough I am having the same thing happen - 1090ma driver on a solar force 2900mha batteries

when it started to blink I thought it was getting to hot, since it had been on for a min or 2 at the time - A 1 min duty cycle is hard to do if I am turning it on and have to go across the room to look at the termination point and then run back to turn it off - but it wasnt even hot so I tested the battery

the battery read 3.82v - the new batteries read 4.25

this is stupid since they are 3.7v batteries - if they are going to be 4.25 then call them 4.25v batteries - is this like when Mitsubishi would claim there evo car was 276hp because any higher and it would be in another category for racing and instuance, but it was more like 302hp not 276hp - is the same thing happening because if the batteries were 4.25v then they would have to be a different class and require more restrictions on shipping and such - from what I understand, the reason that most all batteries are made up of mant 1.5v cells is because the FAA wont let anything over 1.5v per cell in the air because it could bring a plane down if a whole shipment decided to go up

go and get a 12v camera battery - it is made up of 8 small 1.5v button cell batteries stacked together - check this out

12 Volt Battery Hack! You'll be Surprised...