Abray said:
but with all that said, I kept testing the circuit. with the dead diode hooked up, I checked the current reading and it only came out to 300 something. Is this just because the dead diode has a different draw from the batteries?
300 what? mA? uA? What range are you in on your multimeter, and how did you measure this current?
Did you measure voltage across a 1 Ohm resistor, or did you put the meter between the circuit and the LD?
Most of us have a 1 Ohm 1% resistor in series with the LD, so we can measure the voltage drop across it in mV, which is the same as the current through it in mA...
If you put the multimeter between the circuit output and the LD, this is sometimes dangerous, since the output cap can hold a charge and once you solder in the LD, it dumps it all through it.
This is why it's safer to have everything permanently soldered together... You can measure the current at the circuit input, between the battery and circuit, since it's the same as the one going through the LD. Or even better across that 1 Ohm resistor...
Also, when i solder an LD to a cap, i first discharge that cap, using aligator clips. I leave them on, while soldering. Otherwise, if you power the circuit on without a load, it can charge up to a very high voltage - slightly less than the voltage of your batteries..
The thing is, since something was smoking, you must have had a short circuit somewhere.. A component may be dead, and it's possible, that the LD isn't.. But to make sure, we need to know where you measured 300, and 300 what.
