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(OT) Polarity protection with MOSFET — Parallax Forums

(OT) Polarity protection with MOSFET

ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
edited 2000-08-28 22:36 in General Discussion
Could someone point to me the circuit made with a single MOSFET that
provides polarity inversion protection without the typical diode voltage
dropout ?

Thanks
ACJacques

Comments

  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2000-08-23 22:59
    Use an N-channel FET (large enough, of course).

    Put the drain to the - battery terminal. The source connects to the load's
    ground. The gate connects to the + battery terminal along with the power
    input of the load.

    The drop will be the FET's on resistance x the current. The on resistance is
    often quite small (.1 ohm or less). This assumes that Vgs is less than the
    power supply voltage (much less) so that the FET will turn on hard. If the
    polarity is reversed, the FET does not turn on, and the device is isolated
    by the FET's off resistance.

    Regards,

    Al Williams
    AWC
    *Floating point math for the Stamp, PIC, SX, or any microcontroller:
    http://www.al-williams.com/awce/pak1.htm




    >
    Original Message
    > From: A.C. Jacques [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=vm2FtWL8ZDYTg2-begQ-XPk4igK_bCf2wI6IQTWqfMTWpqdxcx81COgZtkkvF24vFB9QpLK-FXXIbVuwup5ieQ]acjacques@i...[/url
    > Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2000 4:03 PM
    > To: basicstamps@egroups.com
    > Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] (OT) Polarity protection with MOSFET
    >
    >
    > Could someone point to me the circuit made with a single MOSFET that
    > provides polarity inversion protection without the typical diode voltage
    > dropout ?
    >
    > Thanks
    > ACJacques
    >
    >
    >
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2000-08-28 19:16
    >Could someone point to me the circuit made with a single MOSFET that
    >provides polarity inversion protection without the typical diode voltage
    >dropout ?
    >
    >Thanks
    >ACJacques
    >

    Bob Pease does the following:

    He puts an enhancement-type MOSFET in series with the load, and a 1Meg (not
    critical) resistor from the (+) power terminal to the MOSFET gate. When you
    apply power with the correct polarity, the MOSFET conducts, and you're in
    business. With the polarity reversed, the MOSFET doesn't conduct, and
    you're protected. With the low R-on of many MOSFETS, you drop very little
    voltage across the MOSFET. Pease shows the approach in his book
    "Troubleshooting Analog Circuits".


    (+)-->>
    o
    >>
    \
    | |
    | |
    Power / |
    In \ |
    / 1 Meg [noparse][[/noparse]Load]
    \ |
    | |
    | |
    (-)--<<
    [noparse][[/noparse]S G D]
    <<
    /
    MOSFET
    (eg. IRF540)

    Might be worth a try.

    Steve

    Steve Roberts: sroberts@s...
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2000-08-28 22:04
    Steve:
    MOSFETs have an unavoidable internal diode pointing from source toward
    drain. This diode would conduct for reverse polarity, so you have the load
    in series with a diode when polarity is reversed, unless I am missing
    something.

    Ray McArthur


    Original Message
    From: Stephen Roberts <sroberts@s...>
    To: <basicstamps@egroups.com>
    Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 2:16 PM
    Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Re: (OT) Polarity protection with MOSFET


    > >Could someone point to me the circuit made with a single MOSFET that
    > >provides polarity inversion protection without the typical diode voltage
    > >dropout ?
    > >
    > >Thanks
    > >ACJacques
    > >
    >
    > Bob Pease does the following:
    >
    > He puts an enhancement-type MOSFET in series with the load, and a 1Meg
    (not
    > critical) resistor from the (+) power terminal to the MOSFET gate. When
    you
    > apply power with the correct polarity, the MOSFET conducts, and you're in
    > business. With the polarity reversed, the MOSFET doesn't conduct, and
    > you're protected. With the low R-on of many MOSFETS, you drop very little
    > voltage across the MOSFET. Pease shows the approach in his book
    > "Troubleshooting Analog Circuits".
    >
    >
    > (+)-->>
    o
    >>
    \
    > | |
    > | |
    > Power / |
    > In \ |
    > / 1 Meg [noparse][[/noparse]Load]
    > \ |
    > | |
    > | |
    > (-)--<<
    [noparse][[/noparse]S G D]
    <<
    /
    > MOSFET
    > (eg. IRF540)
    >
    > Might be worth a try.
    >
    > Steve
    >
    >
    > Steve Roberts: sroberts@s...
    >
    >
    >
    >
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2000-08-28 22:36
    The way I found that works fine is:
    Battery + and GATE and SOURCE connected together and
    DRAIN will go to + LOAD.
    there is NO GND connection in the MOSFET.
    Just one component.
    This is REVERSE from Al Williams pointed before.(conduct in BOTH
    polarities)
    ACJacques


    rjmca wrote:
    >
    > Steve:
    > MOSFETs have an unavoidable internal diode pointing from source toward
    > drain. This diode would conduct for reverse polarity, so you have the load
    > in series with a diode when polarity is reversed, unless I am missing
    > something.
    >
    > Ray McArthur
    >
    >
    Original Message
    > From: Stephen Roberts <sroberts@s...>
    > To: <basicstamps@egroups.com>
    > Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 2:16 PM
    > Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Re: (OT) Polarity protection with MOSFET
    >
    > > >Could someone point to me the circuit made with a single MOSFET that
    > > >provides polarity inversion protection without the typical diode voltage
    > > >dropout ?
    > > >
    > > >Thanks
    > > >ACJacques
    > > >
    > >
    > > Bob Pease does the following:
    > >
    > > He puts an enhancement-type MOSFET in series with the load, and a 1Meg
    > (not
    > > critical) resistor from the (+) power terminal to the MOSFET gate. When
    > you
    > > apply power with the correct polarity, the MOSFET conducts, and you're in
    > > business. With the polarity reversed, the MOSFET doesn't conduct, and
    > > you're protected. With the low R-on of many MOSFETS, you drop very little
    > > voltage across the MOSFET. Pease shows the approach in his book
    > > "Troubleshooting Analog Circuits".
    > >
    > >
    > > (+)-->>
    o
    >>
    \
    > > | |
    > > | |
    > > Power / |
    > > In \ |
    > > / 1 Meg [noparse][[/noparse]Load]
    > > \ |
    > > | |
    > > | |
    > > (-)--<<
    [noparse][[/noparse]S G D]
    <<
    /
    > > MOSFET
    > > (eg. IRF540)
    > >
    > > Might be worth a try.
    > >
    > > Steve
    > >
    > >
    > > Steve Roberts: sroberts@s...
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
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