I'm looking for a particular type opf transistor for the following application.
I need to switch off a 12VDC circuit when another 12VDC circuit is turned on. When the transistor is conducting it needs to handle at least 3amps at 12VDC.
Can anyone offer any examples that I can use fot his?
Can't you just do this with Diodes? Sort of like the battery backup application, where the battery circuit conducts when the voltage falls on the primary circuit.
Can't you just do this with Diodes? Sort of like the battery backup application, where the battery circuit conducts when the voltage falls on the primary circuit.
Why do you need to use a transistor?. Would not just a relay do. If the power supply that you want to switch off is 0.7v or less that the other supply, you can just put a diode in each + lead, cathode(stripe) towards the load. The higher voltage supply will reverse bias the other one.
Why do you need to use a transistor?. Would not just a relay do. If the power supply that you want to switch off is 0.7v or less that the other supply, you can just put a diode in each + lead, cathode(stripe) towards the load. The higher voltage supply will reverse bias the other one.
I'm not dead set on using a transistor at all. I know very little about electronics and the theory behind it. I'm slowly learning more and more.
Both voltages are identical to one another since they both feed of the same 12VDC supply, so I guess the diode trick is out for me.
I can't find a normally closed relay that can carry 3amps from Radio Shack... and if I can pick up a transistor that will do the trick I'd rather do that than wait on an order from Mouser.