I blew my buckpuck (or did I?)

[flboy]

To make a long story short, I input 13VDC to V- & hooked up V- to V+. It took several seconds on not coming on before I noticed & the buckpuck got a little scorched.

I figured it was a goner, with all the smoke rolling off it.

But on a whim, I corrected my wiring & hooked it up. It seems to work, with the exception of the pot - now there is only one intensity rather than being adjustable.

I'm looking for thoughts... is it safe to use? Is it defaulting to it's max (1A) or something in between?

Thanks.

 

[macforsale]

...

 

[65535]

I would replace it, smoking components are a sign that continued use will cause even more damage.

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Some what related to the OP's story here but I used a DealExtreme 3.6-9v regulator and while I was lucky I didn't blow the reg the first time (I think) when I had put the - to + by accident I turned the light on got a slight elec. burning smell then turned it off to note my wrong wiring then corrected it. While I did not get smoke the first time I think my regulator was on the verge of flaking anytime after that.

I used a slightly used 9v battery which read 8.4v on the DMM on the regulator later and while I shrink wrapped the fixed wiring and regulaotr to prevent any accidental metal touching to short it the 8.4 worked at first giving a nice brightness to drive my 2xSSC P4 light but after about 5mins I got the elec burning smell then saw the white smoke. I think first wiring screw up weakened the regulator to be flaking at anytime. That DX regulaotr I was using is a BUCK regulator.

I had a couple spare 3.6-9v DX regulators so after that burn up I used a new one with correct wiring, shrinked the wiring, shrinked the regulator, then powered it on. No problems at all with currently ~5hrs combined on/off time with the longested sustained one time on of 3.5hrs.

So what I'm saying to the OP is that the regulator may still work but I would only look at it as something to test/play with but not rely on it as it's damaged already. As another poster mentioned and I would like to echo is if you have smoke in electronics there is a high percentage the unit is either blown dead or almost dead if it's still working.

If you plan on riding and using what you still have because of budget concerns that do not allow you to buy another one just yet then I would definately carry one or two spare flashlights and spare batteries just encase hile you're riding. As always even with riding you should always have a spare light as there is no guarntee something won't happen to the mainlight just in this case the OP's mainlight is already damaged so better to take caution with a backup plan or buy a new BuckPuck and work on it an hour after you wake up out of bed so you're awake and check everything over on a checklist before powering up.

Best of luck and hope to see some beamshots later of your light.