Did my soldering iron kill my FETs?

[Refugee1]

I once got a false short circuit on a MOSFET and it turned out to be the gate holding charge. It came from the meter I was testing it with and the charge was held long enough for the FET to remain switched hard on for the next test.
My advice for testing FETS is to touch all three leads on a bit of foil between tests to avoid false readings.

 

[Fusor]

Wrap all 3 legs of the MOSFET with a thin metal wire so that they are all shorted before inserting the component into the PCB, then solder and unwrap the wire. You will not kill a MOSFET again with your iron.

Me too. I started using 32 gauge galvanized steel wire to short the gate. Have not lost a MOSFET since.