TIP120 MOSFET SERIES

There’s a great guide to standard base shapes and their names in Light Sources, Second Edition: Basics of Lighting Technologies and Applications, page 47, by Spiros Kitsinelis.

Lamp Shape and Base - different lamps come in different shapes and sizes, and have different bases. It’s a measure of the equivalent incandescent lamp you’d need, but the number has no bearing on your circuit. For example, if your lamp need 0.4 amps, then pick at least a 0.5 amp supply.Įquivalent Wattage - don’t be fooled by this number. You should leave some overhead in choosing a power supply 20% is a good number. That means its current is about 0.4 amps. For example, this 12-24V landscape bulb operates at 12V and consumes 5 watts. If so, remember that wattage = voltage * current, and you can work out the current. These are higher than the operating voltage of microcontrollers, but well within range of many transistors.Ĭurrent - The current that a lamp needs should be listed in its technical specs, but often you’ll only be given the wattage. Voltage - The most common voltages for DC lamps are +12V, and +24V. When you start to plan a DC lighting project, remeber the relationships between voltage, current, resistance, and electrical power:Įlectrical power (wattage) = voltage * current These are not controllable using the method described here. To control low-voltage DC lamps from a microcontroller, you’ll need a separate power source, and a transistor that’s matched to your voltage and current needs.īe alert when shopping, as there are many LED lamps that operate on high-voltage AC on the market as well. In contrast, low-voltage LED lamps are relatively easy to control from a microcontroller. Although it is possible to control AC dimmer circuits from a microcontroller, it’s both more complex and less safe than working with low-voltage DC circuits. Until recently, if you wanted to control the lights in your home or office, you needed a control circuit for high-voltage AC power. The spread of LED lighting has made it much easier to create domestic lighting projects.

TIP120 MOSFET SERIES

If using with an MCU, it is possible to drive the transistor directly from an output pin using a series resistor to limit current to safe levels.This project is maintained by tigoe Controlling Low-Voltage DC Lamps These are good for general purpose amplification and slower speed switching and are frequently used for driving motors, fans, high power LEDs and similar applications. They can be used when you need to step up to an NPN transistor with more grunt than something like a PN2222 can deliver but don’t really need a big MOSFET. This gives the transistor a much larger current gain which is useful in applications where current amplification or switching is required. The Darlington transistor architecture is actually composed of 2 transistors in an emitter-base follower configuration along with associated resistors in a single package with a BCE pin-out. They are good for up to 60V with a constant current of 5A or up to 8A peak. These TIP120 NPN Darlington power transistors let you control quite a bit of power. The TIP120 NPN Darlington power transistor is a commonly used medium power device that can handle up to 5A 60V.

Tip120 mosfet