Need advice on what type of transistor to use to switch 1/2A

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Nora

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Hello-
I am switching a 12V, 500-700mA LED load from a 5V source.
I have a few TIP31As lying around and thought I'd use them.
The TIP31As are called medium-power transistors.
Are these OK to use, and if not, what should I be using?
Thanks!
Nora
 

Re: Need advice on what type of transistor to use to switch

Thanks for the reply-
I asked because I am not sure if my current load is too great for that transistor.
Nora
 

Re: Need advice on what type of transistor to use to switch

I asked because I am not sure if my current load is too great for that transistor.
Click to expand...
This is a 3A transistor, so it can easily switch currents below 1A ..
Just keep in mind that the gain of this transistor is not very impressive, so you have to feed roughly {I[collector] / 30} to it's base ..
https://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/TI/TIP31A.pdf

IanP
 

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