Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths Im Gonna Cry

[Diode_Virgin]

Well tonight I lost two more children :'( My first born was a 803t harvested this evening, She was a beauty ran for a hour or so she weighed in at 110ma and her length ranged between 70 & 80 mw. While focusing her on my neighbors fence (through an open window) It is snowing here and it was a beautiful night pretty purple sparkles dancing, and then alas...she sadly just blinked out and turned into a faint LED :'(

I recovered composure and harvested another 803T got her going she was also weighed in at 110ma and was a strong 80mw. She ran for a while 30 minutes or so then alas she died too. She is the faint image of herself a light purple glow dont know why :-[

All I can assume is my current is to high, i dont think it was the dreaded ESD this time :'( In the future Ill try 100ma. But I am out of money for now :-/ Looks like my wife will be getting a lovely LED diode necklace for valentines day :-*

 

[potatorage]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

I have had my sonar made by drew LED within the first week of use 2 times

 

[ndrew2505]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

]I have had my sonar made by drew LED within the first week of use 2 times

yeah i still dont know why it did that either...i used it for almost a month and had no problems before you bought it. i even turned down the current on it the second time and it still LED'd... :-/

 

[Kage]

Just a thought - If you are not connecting the case of the diode to the circuit (electrically "floating") - you are asking for trouble with ESD for sure...

 

[Benm]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

Must be something like that.. i run them at 100 mW output (130-140 mA), and they've lasted for several hours total runtime so far.

I suppose you sometimes just have a bad streak.. i've had several reds die on me for no apparent reason at some point. Sort of drives you crazy for what you're doing wrong, but could be plain bad luck

 

[john_lawson]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

yea thats why i bought a crap load of prh 803's you know when i'm on my last one i'll have one die but if i have spares they seem to last funny huh : :-?

 

[Diode_Virgin]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

Just a thought - If you are not connecting the case of the diode to the circuit (electrically "floating") - you are asking for trouble with ESD for sure...  

Kage - Thanks for your response guys. No, I am not connecting the case to either leg. Should I connect it to the minus leg?

Benm- I have read that people run them higher and get more power. When I run them to 110ma I have a PM and I get about 70mw if I keep turning them up, I dont get alot more power maby 80 mw.
Bad luck, I have :'(

John Lawson- What you say is true too, but my problem is my diodes die when I have no money or spare diodes :'(

I'll try connecting the case to minus if that is what people suggest. SHALL I???? :-/

 

[lasersbee]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

Hey Laserman532...
 what type of driver are you using with those PHR803Ts... :-?

Jerry

 

[Diode_Virgin]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

Hey Laserman532...
 what type of driver are you using with those PHR803Ts... :-?

Jerry

well, i have my flex drives on order, so currently I am using the LM317 driver ckt. I thought I saw some where someone wrote to stick a ,1uf cap across the diode, I havent done that but I do have a .1uf in the driver ckt. One other thing is..my leads from the diode are pretty long about 14 inches of solid wire wrap wire. I havent seen anywhere where wire length is a problem, but I might have missed that if it is somewhere.

 

[lasersbee]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

Are you using the LM317 Voltage regulator or Current regulator circuit... :-?

The long wires "might" be able to pick up a static charge from you... are you
physically grounded for static (wearing a wrist strap) when handling the LDs or
long wires or the Driver... :-?
The Blu-Ray LD are very static sensitive... much more that any other LDs.

Normally the LD is soldered right to the driver PCB... I haven't read about
any long lead issues either..

Jerry

 

[Diode_Virgin]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

Are you using the LM317 Voltage regulator or Current regulator circuit... :-?

The long wires "might" be able to pick up a static charge from you... are you
physically grounded for static (wearing a wrist strap) when handling the LDs or
long wires or the Driver... :-?
The Blu-Ray LD are very static sensitive... much more that any other LDs.

Normally the LD is soldered right to the driver PCB... I haven't read about
any long lead issues either..

Jerry

I did not know there was a difference - I replicated the circuit everyone calls the DDL ckt. I think it is a constant current.

THe diodes are dying after they are mounted in a aixiz module and mounted in one of my clamshell heatsinks (my solder job is flawless) The drive ckts are on a perf board with a long wire length. I am not wearing a strap, probably should but if they cant handle being moved around just a bit while running then they are not reliable enough for my final project. It is not like i am rubbing rabbit fur on them then walking across the room and touching the door knob with the tip of the module ;D

I ground myself (by touching a magnifier lamp) I dont move my feet on the carpet. I open my window, pick up the module and point it outside. It dosnt happen all the time, but when it does happen it is frustating. My LOC red modules are bullet proof, I abuse them (I have them combined) with a pbs and make right at 400mw when both are running.

I have bad luck with Blu Rays - it is probably something i am doing wrong.

 

[BrewCityMusic]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

Just for the record, I've run long wires between modules and driver boards (8-12") and it hasn't caused any troubles as of yet (my 803t's are running at 114mA approximately 4 hours a night, 4 nights a week in laser displays and have been going strong for just over a month now).

No to ask a stupid question, but the driver circuits you built aren't able to come in contact with anything conductive, are they (potential shorting, etc) ?

Just an observation, and a thought

 

[Diode_Virgin]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

I dont think anything is shorting PCB I try to be pretty careful. Do you short your case to minus? I might try that if it is recommended :-/ In your display, do they run CW or have some kind of duty cycle?

 

[lasersbee]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

No to ask a stupid question, but the driver circuits you built aren't able to come in contact with anything conductive, are they (potential shorting, etc) ?

Just an observation, and a thought

Not such a stupid question... I blew 2 PHR803Ts that same way before the little guy in my
head woke up and I put Heat Shrink over the driver...  

Jerry

 

[jwc]

Re: Damn - 2 more 803T Deaths  Im Gonna Cry

[quote author=BrewCityMusic link=1234588439/0#11 date=1234716368] No to ask a stupid question, but the driver circuits you built aren't able to come in contact with anything conductive, are they (potential shorting, etc) ?

Just an observation, and a thought

Not such a stupid question... I blew 2 PHR803Ts that same way before the little guy in my
head woke up and I put Heat Shrink over the driver...  

Jerry
[/quote]

Yep, same thing happened to me.

I've blown several PHRs now for various reasons. The worst would have to be when I killed a diode before I even turned it on... My pliers slipped when I was breaking the diode from the heatsink and made a small dent in the diode, which shattered the window.

The funny thing is that it still lased, just very weakly.

Fortunately, my latest one has been going strong.