Can transistor be replaced?
Fortunately it is normally possible to use a replacement transistor type as there is often a considerable degree of overlap between the specifications of different types of transistor, and by looking at the basic specifications it is normally possible to choose the correct transistor replacements.
What can cause transistor to fail?
Semiconductor Faults When a diode or a transistor fails, one of two things usually happens: A junction (or junctions) go short circuit (its resistance becomes very low or zero). A junction (or junctions) go open circuit (its resistance becomes very high or infinity).
How is the base voltage of a transistor controlled?
The voltage on the base of the transistor doesn’t have to be controlled by a switch. You can use a potentiometer, connected as a voltage divider, to produce a changing control voltage for the transistor’s base.
How does a transistor work in a circuit?
The regulator is supplying 5V and ground holes are supplying voltage to the rest of breadboard. The transistor allows you to control a circuit that’s carrying higher current and voltage from the a lower voltage and current. It acts as an electronic switch.
How is a transistor used in a microcontroller?
The most common example you’ll see of this in a physical computing class is to use an output pin of a microcontroller to turn on a motor or other high current device. The output pins of a microcontroller can only produce a small amount of current and voltage. But when coupled with a transistor, they can control much more.
How are transistors used to control high current loads?
You can use transistors from circuits like these. For example, you might put a transistor on the output pin of a 555 timer IC (which produces a variable timing pulse), or a shift register IC (which allows you to produce multiple control signals in parallel) to control high current loads from those devices.