I used an optocoupler rather than a mosfet, which worked! But unfortunately at only around half the mA I need (80 vs the fans 130) so this isn't ideal. The other two are hard to predict... Sometimes the datasheets will give you the maximum power dissipation without a heatsink, and sometimes they they'll give you information about the maximum internal die temperature, power dissipation, and thermal resistance. Calculating the thermal resistance and temperature drops can get "messy". It is to my understanding that I need a logic level mosfet with an RDs(on) of 3.3V or less, but I am really struggling to find one readily available in Australia... I used a logic level converter to convert my 3.3V signal to 5V, which works perfectly so far. Now I just need to look in to whether PWM is still possible with this setup. The power dissipated by a linear regulator is the voltage drop across the regulator x the current. If you feed 24V into a 12V regulator it will get hotter than if you feed-in 14V. The amperage rating can be misleading. A 1A voltage regulator can overheat at less than 1A depending on how much voltage is dropped across it.

When it comes to analog strips, there are analog RGB LED strips and monocolor LED strips. Analog Monocolor LED Strips The non waterproof strips are lighter, so it is easier if you want to hang them on the bottom of something with tape. The image below shows an example of a non waterproof LED strip.

Wrapping up

R DS(on) : Static Drain-to-Source On-Resistance is the minimum resistance of the MOSFET when it is driven to the fully ON state known as the Saturation Region. The key to look for here is that R DS(on) may be specified at one or a couple of V GS voltages. Analog LED strips have their LEDs wired in parallel. The whole strip works as a giant RGB LED. So, you can light up your whole strip in many different colors, but you can’t control LEDs individually. This means your strip can only be one color at a time. This type of LED strips are cheaper than the digital ones and easier to use.

V GS : Gate Voltage is the voltage differential between the Gate and the Source which is how hard the MOSFET is being driven. frequencies you need to ensure shorter RC time constant in the gate-drive circuit. This usually means Alternatively I have a couple of 2N3904 transistors available but I am not entirely sure how I can use these without frying them. Waterproof or not. The LED strips can be waterproof or not. The waterproof LED strips are coated in a clear silicon as the strip shown below.If it is spec’d at 10V only, the part is not logic compatible and needs something close to 10V to drive it into saturation. This means a MOSFET driver, transistor or some other means is required to drive the gate with something close to 10V. One meter of your analog LED strip can draw approximately 1A per LED pin when all red green and blue LEDs are at full brightness (which produces white). In this post we’ve shown you the main differences between the various types of LED strips out there. V GS(th) : Gate Threshold Voltage is the voltage at which the MOSFET starts to conduct. Any voltage less than this will drive the MOSFET to the OFF state known as the Cut-Off Region. To possibly be logic compatible, the V GS(th) needs to be well under the logic high voltage level.

A device like this can be driven directly off of 5V logic, but because its internal resistance is twice as high, it will drop twice the amount of voltage and dissipate twice as much power/heat in the device for the same current. From a practical standpoint, this means it can handle about 1/2 the full rated current than it could handle if it was driven at 10V. I would consider this as being partially 5V logic compatible. If you are using a 60A device to control a 20A load for instance, this will generally be fine. If you need 40A out of it, then you will need to drive it harder. By calculating the RC time constant and thus the rise/fall time of gate voltage - during rise and fall theI D : Continuous Drain Current is the maximum current that the device can handle. this will often be specified under several conditions such as at 25C room temperature and at 100C or similar high operating temperature. Achieving the maximum current through the device assumes that you are driving it fully on and that appropriate heat sinking is applied. If you have a device that draws 10A, you need an I D> 10A. Generally the higher the I D rating of the device compared to the amount of current you need to pass though it, the easier it will be to manage thermals. This allows a communication via a one-wire interface. This means that you can control lots of LEDs using just one digital pin of your microcontroller. These LED strips just have three pins: VCC, GND and data. VCC and GND are used to apply power to the strip and the data pin should be connected to your microcontroller. I'm quite new to working with arduino and I'm *really* fresh to using the ESP32 and have just discovered that I'm not able to use my current mosfets (IRF520/540) from the 3.3V pin (now obvious to me, as they activate at 4V and 10V (I think) respectively).