These two things are closet related, but feel free to stretch the topic.
Years ago, I blew the bond wires in my favorite XML2. Determined to not see it go to LED heaven just yet, I attempted a repair… The SOB worked! Not only that, it takes a continuous 9A beating in my TN31 and only requires 3.90V at that current!
This happened today… found an old Arctic cold white sst40 n4 emitter in my scrap pile that still worked, but will likely never find a home. Emitters like these become my lab rats…
It had been sliced and diced by me months ago and since I have a bunch of DA N5s on the way from Simon, I figured I’d experiment with some dedoming methods. I’ve always wondered what would happen if I run an emitter submerged in solvent as to apply heat were it counts and not fume myself out. All was going well, kept turning up the amps waiting for a boil…
I got it at about 2.5amps. kept the foot to the floor so to speak and then suddenly poof. But it wasn’t what you might think…
The crystal desoldered itself from the substrate. With applied pressure it still lights up… we’ll see if I can bring this one back to life as well… just for fun