On Fri, 14 May 2010 10:11:37 -0700 (PDT), "larry moe 'n curly"
wrote:





Doesn't the continuous amp rating for a diode apply for any load
lasting more than something like one 60 Hz cycle (or half-cycle?). I
normally run a heat gun a lot longer than that, maybe up to 2
minutes at a time.

Well, if the diode fails in short mode, you will have only high heat.
If it fails in open mode, you'll have a switch that is off-off-low!