- Joined
- Jan 14, 2011
- Messages
- 3,816
- Points
- 63
So I figured I would share this story with you guys.
For starters, the reason I have not been as active as I used to be is because I have been working on school pretty intently, working at my job pretty intently, and, in my spare time, either hanging out with my girlfriend or working on my 40W 808nm eventually-to-be-handheld laser.
And, who woulda thunk, it was when working on this laser that such a disastrous event occurred!
Up until now, I have been heavily draining three IMR18650s in series as my power supply for the CC driver (the driver can output up to 50A! Whew!). However, while cleaning my workspace (at the request of the lady), I found I had a modded ATX PSU under my bench, complete with an on/off switch, a capacitor draining high-power resistor on the inside, and two banana plugs for the 12V and 0V rails. I figured that, instead of draining my batteries over and over (probably killing their lifespan), I could just hook up my modded ATX PSU to the Vin on my driver, solving any battery life issues. So I did some soldering and got it hooked up. Note that, at this point in the story, the ATX PSU is off.
Then, after some simple rewiring so everything looked nice and tidy (or at least as tidy as it could get!), I attached my Mastech PSU to the other input, set at 2.5V (I am - err, was - using it as a 2.5V reference because I haven't ordered the correct voltage regulator yet - still in the testing mode of the driver). Then, once I assured that everything was hooked up properly, my driver's switch in the off position, the ATX PSU's switch in the off position, and my Mastech in the off position, I flipped on my Mastech PSU first, as has been my protocol whenever I worked on this driver (with batteries, of course).
All of a sudden, I see smoke coming out of the Mastech (thick, black smoke) and I peak inside the gratings and I see a huge flame inside!
Holy hell, that was a shock.
Anyway, I quickly blew out the flame (from the outside through the grating), turned off the Mastech PSU, unplug it, open the windows and start ventilating the area (if the smoke alarm went off because of something in my room, the rooming people would come and confiscate all of my soldering equipment, etc.).
Fortunately, the fire alarm didn't go off and the CC driver and ATX PSU both seem to be intact.
Something interesting to note: my ATX PSU was not even on when it burst into flames. The only thing different between this set-up and my previous set-up is that my Mastech's ground was connected to the ATX 0V rail - no other circuits had been made yet because the other two switches were off.
Anyway, I opened up the Mastech and, obviously, I see large scorch marks on the top of the metal cover, the bottom of the main board is charred (but maybe still functional?) and there is a wire between the main board and something else that literally broke connection - i.e. the connection fried. My guess is that is the problem. It may also be related to the 2N3055 on the back though.
Anyway, I figured I would share this with you guys, in hopes that you guys get a nice laugh. It wasn't a fun experience for me, but it sure as hell is worth a story!
For starters, the reason I have not been as active as I used to be is because I have been working on school pretty intently, working at my job pretty intently, and, in my spare time, either hanging out with my girlfriend or working on my 40W 808nm eventually-to-be-handheld laser.
And, who woulda thunk, it was when working on this laser that such a disastrous event occurred!
Up until now, I have been heavily draining three IMR18650s in series as my power supply for the CC driver (the driver can output up to 50A! Whew!). However, while cleaning my workspace (at the request of the lady), I found I had a modded ATX PSU under my bench, complete with an on/off switch, a capacitor draining high-power resistor on the inside, and two banana plugs for the 12V and 0V rails. I figured that, instead of draining my batteries over and over (probably killing their lifespan), I could just hook up my modded ATX PSU to the Vin on my driver, solving any battery life issues. So I did some soldering and got it hooked up. Note that, at this point in the story, the ATX PSU is off.
Then, after some simple rewiring so everything looked nice and tidy (or at least as tidy as it could get!), I attached my Mastech PSU to the other input, set at 2.5V (I am - err, was - using it as a 2.5V reference because I haven't ordered the correct voltage regulator yet - still in the testing mode of the driver). Then, once I assured that everything was hooked up properly, my driver's switch in the off position, the ATX PSU's switch in the off position, and my Mastech in the off position, I flipped on my Mastech PSU first, as has been my protocol whenever I worked on this driver (with batteries, of course).
All of a sudden, I see smoke coming out of the Mastech (thick, black smoke) and I peak inside the gratings and I see a huge flame inside!
Holy hell, that was a shock.
Anyway, I quickly blew out the flame (from the outside through the grating), turned off the Mastech PSU, unplug it, open the windows and start ventilating the area (if the smoke alarm went off because of something in my room, the rooming people would come and confiscate all of my soldering equipment, etc.).
Fortunately, the fire alarm didn't go off and the CC driver and ATX PSU both seem to be intact.
Something interesting to note: my ATX PSU was not even on when it burst into flames. The only thing different between this set-up and my previous set-up is that my Mastech's ground was connected to the ATX 0V rail - no other circuits had been made yet because the other two switches were off.
Anyway, I opened up the Mastech and, obviously, I see large scorch marks on the top of the metal cover, the bottom of the main board is charred (but maybe still functional?) and there is a wire between the main board and something else that literally broke connection - i.e. the connection fried. My guess is that is the problem. It may also be related to the 2N3055 on the back though.
Anyway, I figured I would share this with you guys, in hopes that you guys get a nice laugh. It wasn't a fun experience for me, but it sure as hell is worth a story!