Kelly Corcoran
- Aug 6, 2017
- 6
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2017
- Messages
- 6
Custom-designed pinball machine project here, trying to create a solenoid driver board. Decided to test it out with my first MOSFET driver before I solder all the rest of them, and I'm glad I did because apparently I did the first one wrong.
Transistor is a IRF510 N-channel MOSFET rated at 100V, 5A, trying to drive a 50V circuit. Didn't test the amperage of my solenoid circuit, but as it runs through a 2A fuse, it couldn't be much. Matched up the transistor's leads to the data sheets provided by supplier Jameco Electronics.
The gate is connected to an output pin of a Teensy 3.5, which fortunately was not harmed. It is also tied to ground through a 10K resistor, as I was advised to do to avoid floating gate voltage. Source connects directly to ground, and drain connects to my test device by way of an alligator clip.
When I tested the circuit using a 6.3-volt LED (driven by an appropriately rated wall wart), it worked exactly as intended. Unfortunately, when I tried to use the same setup to operate my flipper coil (with flyback diodes), nothing happened. The LED test no longer worked after that, until I touched another transistor to the first one to piggyback on it. So my HV circuit definitely killed the first transistor.
How can I solve this problem? Transistors in parallel? Darlington pair? Higher-rated MOSFETs? Different circuit arrangement?
Transistor is a IRF510 N-channel MOSFET rated at 100V, 5A, trying to drive a 50V circuit. Didn't test the amperage of my solenoid circuit, but as it runs through a 2A fuse, it couldn't be much. Matched up the transistor's leads to the data sheets provided by supplier Jameco Electronics.
The gate is connected to an output pin of a Teensy 3.5, which fortunately was not harmed. It is also tied to ground through a 10K resistor, as I was advised to do to avoid floating gate voltage. Source connects directly to ground, and drain connects to my test device by way of an alligator clip.
When I tested the circuit using a 6.3-volt LED (driven by an appropriately rated wall wart), it worked exactly as intended. Unfortunately, when I tried to use the same setup to operate my flipper coil (with flyback diodes), nothing happened. The LED test no longer worked after that, until I touched another transistor to the first one to piggyback on it. So my HV circuit definitely killed the first transistor.
How can I solve this problem? Transistors in parallel? Darlington pair? Higher-rated MOSFETs? Different circuit arrangement?