18/04/2017 YourPersonalPLCTutorSiteTransistorOutputs

TryouronlinePLCSimulatorFREE.Clickherenowtotryit.
LearnquicklywithourPLCTrainingDVDSeries:onsale$599.00$379
Clickherenowfordetails!

belowtoreceiveemailabout
siteupdatesorsignificantsite
news. TransistorOutputs
yourfirstname
youremailaddress Thenexttypeofoutputweshouldlearnaboutisourtransistortypeoutputs.Itisimportant
Register tonotethatatransistorcanonlyswitchadccurrent.Forthisreasonitcannotbeusedwith
anACvoltage.

Wecanthinkofatransistorasasolidstateswitch.Ormoresimplyput,anelectricalswitch.
Asmallcurrentappliedtothetransistors"base"(i.e.input)letsusswitchamuchlarger
thissitetoafriend currentthroughitsoutput.Theplcappliesasmallcurrenttothetransistorbaseandthe
Your transistoroutput"closes".Whenit'sclosed,thedeviceconnectedtotheplcoutputwillbe
Name turnedon.Theaboveisaverysimpleexplanationofatransistor.Thereare,ofcourse,more
Your detailsinvolvedbutwedon'tneedtogettoodeep.
email
Friends Weshouldalsokeepinmindthataswesawbeforewiththeinputcircuits,thereare
name
generallymorethanonetypeoftransistoravailable.TypicallyaplcwillhaveeitherNPN
Friends
email orPNPtypeoutputs.The"physical"typeoftransistorusedalsovariesfrommanufacturer
tomanufacturer.SomeofthecommontypesavailableareBJTandMOSFET.ABJTtype
SendItNow (BipolarJunctionTransistor)oftenhaslessswitchingcapacity(i.e.itcanswitchless
current)thanaMOSFET(MetalOxideSemiconductorFieldEffectTransistor)type.The
BJTalsohasaslightlyfasterswitchingtime.Onceagain,pleasechecktheoutput
specificationsoftheparticularplcyouaregoingtouse.Neverexceedthemanufacturers
maximumswitchingcurrent.

FindIt

Shownaboveishowwetypicallyconnectouroutputdevicetothetransistoroutput.Please
notethatthisisanNPNtypetransistor.IfitwereaPNPtype,thecommonterminalwould
mostlikelybeconnectedtoV+andVwouldconnecttooneendofourload.Notethatsince
thisisaDCtypeoutputwemustalwaysobserveproperpolarityfortheoutput.Oneendof
theloadisconnecteddirectlytoV+asshownabove.

Let'stakeamomentandseewhathappensinsidetheoutputcircuit.Shownbelowisa
typicaloutputcircuitdiagramforanNPNtypeoutput.

http://www.plcs.net/chapters/transout28.htm 1/2
18/04/2017 YourPersonalPLCTutorSiteTransistorOutputs

Noticethataswesawwiththetransistortypeinputs,thereisaphotocouplerisolatingthe
"realworld"fromtheinternalcircuit.Whentheladderdiagramcallsforit,theinternalcircuit
turnsonthephotocouplerbyapplyingasmallvoltagetotheLEDsideofthephotocoupler.
ThismakestheLEDemitlightandthereceivingpartofthephotocouplerwillseeitandallow
currenttoflow.Thissmallcurrentwillturnonthebaseoftheoutputtransistorconnectedto
output0500.Therefore,whateverisconnectedbetweenCOMand0500willturnon.When
theladdertells0500toturnoff,theLEDwillstopemittinglightandhencetheoutput
transistorconnectedbetween0500andCOMwillturnoff.

Oneotherimportantthingtonoteisthatatransistortypicallycannotswitchaslargeaload
asarelay.Checkthemanufacturersspecificationstofindthelargestloaditcansafely
switch.Iftheloadcurrentyouneedtoswitchexceedsthespecificationoftheoutput,you
canconnecttheplcoutputtoanexternalrelay.Thenconnecttherelaytothelargeload.You
maybethinking,"whynotjustusearelayinthefirstplace"?Theanswerisbecausearelay
isnotalwaysthecorrectchoiceforeveryoutput.Atransistorgivesyoutheopportunityto
useexternalrelayswhenandonlywhennecessary.

Insummary,atransistorisfast,switchesasmallcurrent,hasalonglifetimeandworkswith
dconly.Whereasarelayisslow,canswitchalargecurrent,hasashorterlifetimeandworks
withacordc.Selecttheappropriateonebaseduponyouractualapplicationneeds.

LearnquicklywithourPLCTrainingDVDSeries:onsale$599.00$379
Clickherenowfordetails!

HomePreviousContentsNext

copyright19962011byPhilMelore.Allrightsreserved.
NopartofthissitemaybereproducedbyanymeanswithouttheexpresswrittenconsentofPhilMelore.
.

http://www.plcs.net/chapters/transout28.htm 2/2