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Unread 08-07-2012, 14:47
EricVanWyk EricVanWyk is offline
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Re: Turning LEDs on/off

It resolves for me, that FET will work fine. It is a beefy fellow.

An easy way to figure out which way to orient a FET is to look at the arrow in its schematic symbol, as it (sort of) represents the FET's bonus parallel diode. You want this diode to oppose normal current flow, or else it will always allow it and you won't be able to turn the flow off.

In your symbol it points from the source, so you want normal current flow to go the other direction (from the drain).

Sometimes they draw the diode more explicitly, I've seen it several ways.