I'm new to this forum and my knowledge of wiring circuits is pretty basic. I have wired together 80 laser diodes (not Led's). Each laser has the following specs: 3.2 voltage drop, draws 30ma, with an output power of 3.5-4.5 mw. I wired them in parallel and am using a 2400ma power supply that can be adjusted to both 3v and 3.5 volt. The wiring is also tiered meaning I connect in parallel the lasers in groups of 8 and connect an individual wire to each group, then connect those individuals wires to the power supply (still in parallel).
I have been using the device about 3x week now for a month and recently after each use, a diode burns out, now totally 4 burned out diodes. I don't have to be a genius to realize something is wrong with my wiring scheme. I lowered the power supply to 3v after one burned out so I'm guessing that the modules are drawing vastly different amounts of amperage but they all appear the same brightness though.
Should I incorporate resistors (even running at 3 volts)? Also, could I keep the groups of 8 together and use a resistor for each group (10 total resistors) or would that not fix the problem of varying amperage draws. Am I way off base in my wiring in general??? Any help is much appreciated.
Also, I have wired Led's in the past with success and revisited some of those Led calculator websites for this but I notice that Led's dissipate far more mw (around 80mw) than these laser modules are supposed to (3.5-4.5mw). Does that play into my problem at all? Again, many thanks to any input from someone more knowledgeable than me.
I have been using the device about 3x week now for a month and recently after each use, a diode burns out, now totally 4 burned out diodes. I don't have to be a genius to realize something is wrong with my wiring scheme. I lowered the power supply to 3v after one burned out so I'm guessing that the modules are drawing vastly different amounts of amperage but they all appear the same brightness though.
Should I incorporate resistors (even running at 3 volts)? Also, could I keep the groups of 8 together and use a resistor for each group (10 total resistors) or would that not fix the problem of varying amperage draws. Am I way off base in my wiring in general??? Any help is much appreciated.
Also, I have wired Led's in the past with success and revisited some of those Led calculator websites for this but I notice that Led's dissipate far more mw (around 80mw) than these laser modules are supposed to (3.5-4.5mw). Does that play into my problem at all? Again, many thanks to any input from someone more knowledgeable than me.