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Why did my LED resistor burn while lighting four LEDs in series?

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crystal123

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I have tried to create a circuit to switch a large 7-segment LED display (LDS-CD16RI) using a pair of MOSFETs, as follows:

744cc.png

Here I am trying to use a 3.3V logic signal (illustrated as the circled 1) to switch the 24V to drive the LEDs. This circuit is repeated for each of the segments of the display.

The typical forward voltage of each of the LEDs (which are in series inside each segment of the display) is 6.8V, and their max steady forward current is 20mA, so I aimed for 10mA current through the LEDs. Since my supply voltage is only 24V I planned to actually drop about 5.75V across the LEDs to give me some headroom for the voltage dropped across M2 and R2.

I arrived at the value for current-limiting resistor R2 at 100Ω using:
R=Vs−VfI=24−(5.75∗4)0.01=100Ω
R=Vs−VfI=24−(5.75∗4)0.01=100Ω
Before building this circuit I calculated the power dissipated by R2 as follows:
P=V2R=12100=0.01W
P=V2R=12100=0.01W
0.01W seemed safely below the 0.25W limit of the through-hole resistors I used, so I proceeded with constructing and testing this circuit.

To cut a long story short: R2 burned up shortly after a segment was illuminated. This occurred for each of the separate instances of this circuit driving the various display segments, suggesting that it was a design error rather than a single component failure.

From my calculations and further analysis, I cannot yet understand why this occurred. To check my work, I re-constructed the circuit in a simulator which suggested that power from R2 would in fact be 6.84mW, which is a result I cannot explain but in any case one smaller than what I had calculated above.

I expect I have made an error somewhere in my calculations or my assumptions, but I have been unable to locate it. Assuming the problem is that the resistor [Moderator action: removed hidden link to advertiser site] is indeed dissipating too much power, can my circuit be adjusted to address this? Is R2 a red herring here and the problem exists elsewhere in my circuit? Is my approach itself flawed?
 
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24V is the total applied voltage.
5.75V is the voltage drop on forward conduction for each segment.
(24-5.75)=18.25V is the voltage drop on the resistor R2
You want 10mA current through the series ladder. For the time being, let us ignore the on resistance of the mosfet.

Value of R2=18.25V/10mA=1.825k Ohms say 1.8k (standard value)

You are using 100E; why?

Each resistor will dissipate 18.25*0.01=0.18W; hence the power rating of the resistors is ok.

You are assuming the diode drop for each segment 5.75V; is that correct?

Each segment has four LEDs? Is that correct? Each LED has 5.75V forward drop?
 

hi,
The datasheet shows the 'segment' voltage drop , not the individual LEDs.
Check your maths for '4*'
E
 

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Using the 'typical' value at 10mA per segment of 6.8V from the data sheet and assuming M2 has negligible voltage drop:

R = (VCC - 6.8) / I

R = (24 - 6.8) / 0.01 = 1720 Ohms

W = V * I = (17.2 * 0.01) = 0.172W

So with the correct resistor value of ~1.8K it should be OK.

As you are using 100R, The current will be approx (Segment Vf not specified at this current so I'll guess 7.5V):

I = (24 - 7.5) / 100 = 165mA and power dissipated in the resistor will be (V * I) = 16.5 * .165 = 2.72 Watts. Hence the smoke!

Brian.
 

Hi,

What is FQU13P06L?

I can´t find any information on it.

Independent of resistor:
--> I doubt it can withstand -24V of gate-source-voltage.

--> Why using a big 11A MOSET to drive a very low current gate?

Klaus
 

Each segment is made with 4 LEDs in series. Your display is red so each of the 4 LEDs has a forward voltage of about 1.5V to 2V.
The datasheet for your Mosfets show that they need a gate-source voltage of 10V to fully turn on. Some conduct the "super high" current of only 0.25mA when their gate source voltage is 4V.
 

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