Re: MXDL
If you use a LED, 4 diodes could be too much.. Need to measure..
But a CREE LED (or any white LED) will have a Vf of around 3.5V anyway.. So if you use a LED capable of taking high currents, you don't even need a diode in series, but put one or two there anyway. The exact Vf is unimportant, as long as it is in range.
The Vf of the dummy being close to the Vf of the diode only matters, when you use a linear driver, which needs a certain voltage on top of what the load needs.. So there you might want to simulate the right conditions, where the input voltage requirements depend on the output voltage requirements.
With a buck/boost driver, the input voltage doesn't depend on the required output voltage - it just has to be within the input range. And as long as the dummy Vf is within the output range, the current WILL be the same as later with the diode.