IgorT
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teeroy said:This is the second diode I've killed. I have a adjustable power supply that adjusts current and voltage independently. (like this one in the picture) Do I still need a driver? Or should I still use a variable resister in line? I'm almost ready to give up.
I didn't get to the end of the thread yet, so i don't know if this was mentioned...
But i also managed to kill several LDs, when i hooked them up to my lab PSU. Mine also has adjustable voltage and current limiting, so i thought if i set the current to a safe level, i should be fine. If you set the current to 200mA it automatically drops the voltage to a value, where the current you set flows through the LD.. I believed this and a capacitor on the LD was all that was needed.
I got lucky a few times, and the LD survived, but many died this way. In one case i was even using a driver circuit, only that it was powered from my PSU, instead of a battery. I even had a cap directly on the LD. But then i went to reposition it, touched it and it suddenly lost 3/4 of it's power.
From now on i'm only using batteries. A PSU gives ESD a path to discharge through. A battery doesn't. I believe most of my dead LDs are dead because of just this.
Build a proper driver circuit and power it from batteries, also make yourself a grounded wrist strap, and you should be fine.