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FrozenGate by Avery

My Dominator has died

Some chargers do charge a bit higher than 4.2V, but usually by a margin of <0.1V, closer to 4.25V. This shouldn't be enough of a voltage change to fry anything.

I'm glad you contacted the builder. This is the first step, because most of the later troubleshooting steps would void any warranty or put the burden of proof on you.

When you get it back, be sure to store it properly, sans battery, and out of reach of those unworthy to hold such a device.
 





Does anyone have evidence of a laser frying because of shorting the battery to the host? That makes no sense at all. Even when you press the tailcap switch it *always* turns on and off a lot of times (too quickly to see), which is why logic switches need debouncing...
 
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Finally, the Dominator head with the new diode has arrived. For now it works, and I hope it keeps working for a long time.
 
Glad to hear its back and working again. I also have a Dominator and I can attest to Blords high level of customer service. If you have a problem, he responds to issues very fast.
 
I've killed two diodes in mine, one very fast, the other had a slower, degrading death. I plan to wait for DTR to get those small back of diode heatsinks, then I'm gonna slap a nichi@ 520 9mm in there and use all that copper for the heat I hear those produce. gotta check that thread and look at the current. pretty sure the driver I have is too high for that 9mm diode, not sure if it's adjustable
 
Is the dominator a press in sink? If not then go with the larger back half that is being used with my modules now. Better than the smaller ones.:beer:
 
It is a press in I believe, but it should have just enough room for a short back-half
 
I am sure if I dig around I can find a few of the shorter ones to go with a 520nm diode for you.:beer:
 
let me cram a module in there as far as I can and see how much room there is... one sec...

ok. using the 405nm module I just got from you, with the full size driver encasing module, the aluminum part would need to be slightly less than half it's length to fit in the dominator heat sink. so if you stack two of the shorter ones together, and they are just a mm or so shorter than the full size aluminum ones, that should be a perfect fit. if two of them are the same height or taller, then the lip of the module may stick out a bit
 
its not good to touch the spring to the battery and laser host while screwing it on.

But that is electrically the same thing as flipping the switch. If flipping the switch won't damage anything, then shorting the switch won't either.

Not true.. If the tail clicky is in the ON position when changing the battery there is electrical "noise" produced while screwing the tail cap on that will kill the diode/driver.
 
Not true.. If the tail clicky is in the ON position when changing the battery there is electrical "noise" produced while screwing the tail cap on that will kill the diode/driver.

Strange. Have you actually experienced this? I have done this hundreds of times. They do flicker like crazy but I have never seen a diode/driver get damaged. If the driver is doing its job it should never give more current than what it is set to. Maybe it is an issue with builds that use LED style drivers which have overshoot problems to begin with.
 
I was thinking of the 445's as the discussion was going.

On the 405's hell yea! They are very sensitive and we commonly run them very hard and rapidly hitting them full blast a few hundred mA over their rated max will take a toll. I have seen some kick it just from clicking the clicky button rapidly on/off. An X-boost will help a lot with the 405's as it has a soft start feature.

Anyway with a good driver I don't see this happening to a 445 build.
 
And now it died again. :-(

EDIT: no, it did not die. Embarrassing mistake... I just didn't tighten the battery holder tubes all the way and the circuit couldn't close.
I tried it again now and it works. Man, I feel like a n00b... And it's not even the first time that similar things (not necessarily related to lasers) happen to me. Usually, my problem-solving schedule goes like this:
- Encounter a problem
- Try almost everything
- Be convinced that you tried absolutely everything
- Complain that you cannot find a solution
- Find solution
- Facepalm
 
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I cant speak for Kot but I am guessing he uses LED drivers most of the time. Iirc some of his old threads had links to dx drivers used. I dont kbow if he still does or even did this but thats what my memory has in it. I dont doubt he uses them since his prices are so darn cheap to begin with, that or he gets massive discounts for buying in bulk or the exchange rate is huge in his favor :crackup:

The OP would kbow what driver is used by taking a peak at it and letting us know.

I never trusted thos cheap LED drivers, never bought one and never will use one. Id rather spend $30 on a quality driver and know for a fact it will work, no have spikes and kill my projects
 


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