I have a 5mw green module that I pot modded to 370ma and blew some time ago. I decided to take the diode out. To take it out you have to de-solder the driver then locate the two small holes on either side of where the diode sits, I used two small drill bits that fit in the holes tight. Put the drill bits in backwards(tip facing out) and grab them firmly with a pair of needle nose pliers, then just unscrew. Be careful because the diode will just fall out once the retainer is removed. Under close inspection I found that one of the bonding wires had simple burned up in one small spot(this has been the case with just about 80% of the diodes I have blown, the others went COD) . So I ground my soldering tip to the smallest point I could achieve and picked up the smallest amount of solder on the tip I could get. Under an eye loupe I gently touched the solder between the gap in the wire and quickly removed it. I proceeded to re-install the diode and it continues to work fine today. I wonder how many diodes are still perfectly fine out there, Just little solder and there back in business. While it is much harder to repair a broken bonding wire in a closed can diode it can be done by removing the can. I have repaired about seven or eight diodes this way, sometimes it works indefinatly and other times you just get a couple more hours out of it.
