Laser builders, help!

[DTR]

Okay, everything looks good, I will charge the CR123 up. So a CR123 rated for 880mAh can power a 445/Microboost running at 1A?

It can power it. Runtime will be short but it will give you an idea that it works.

 

[IsaacT]

Well, I tried to power it with the now charged CR123 from Rayfoss and I don't get anything....did I miss something with the 5 Groove host that I was supposed to do? Or maybe I killed the driver trying to solder the leads? I don't think I killed the diode, but I suppose it might have happened....I took all esd precautions and did everything slowly....it did take a LONG time to get the leads to the driver tho....do you think I killed the Microboost?

 

[DTR]

Well, I tried to power it with the now charged CR123 from Rayfoss and I don't get anything....did I miss something with the 5 Groove host that I was supposed to do? Or maybe I killed the driver trying to solder the leads? I don't think I killed the diode, but I suppose it might have happened....I took all esd precautions and did everything slowly....it did take a LONG time to get the leads to the driver tho....do you think I killed the Microboost?

I would start at the beginning. See if you host is providing power to the driver. Then check the that the driver is providing power to the diode. Then if you are using the case pin back to the driver negative input make sure that is getting a good connection. Do you have a multimeter?

 

[Mohrenberg]

hmm..

do you have a camera? Some close-ups of your work and your connections would help a lot. So we could see how everything is connected.
How is your wiring done? I'm assuming that the host uses the case for the negative path. Did you solder the diode on like normal, and then solder another lead from the case pin to the driver's negative input?

If only i lived in texas i would come on over and help ya lol.

 

[IsaacT]

Well I have to get to work(black friday is a bitch) but I pressed the diode into the head, soldered leads from the diode pins to the pads on the driver(anode to pos pin, cathode to neg pin) and then I soldered a lead from the - batt in to the case pin. I made sure I isolated all of the different pins and I looked under a magnifying glass to make sure my solder connections on the driver were not touching any components. I used the lead ehgemus already had soldered to the pos point on in the host to go to the pos batt in on the driver. Damn why did I get into electronics so late! I will see if I can get some pictures later.

 

[AUTO XX]

Pics would help get a diagnosis
I have had problems with:
Pcb board not grounding to the host - a glob of solder over the side is an easy fix
driver is grounding to the host - Luckily I found this with a dummy load. A wrap of e-tape is a quick fix.
The negative trace on a flexdrive is broken - Took a while to figure it out, 2 weeks of emails to lava and still no response.
Dead lipo - one of the charged "3000mAh" 18650s died just sitting on my kitchen table. 0.03V... WTF over?
There are other areas you can have problems too, switches can stop working, anodizing can give you poor connections, etc.
DTR is right, you have to go back to the beginning and problem solve your way to the end.

 

[jws]

This is a great post just to show how helpful all the guy's on this site are!!!!