And even less current (down to 50Ma or so) will give you the 5v.
so what happens if voltage spike got to say 200v, would the zener just break down & give up/shut down, have they got an arc over voltage
a zener is not meant to be a "spike" protector. It is meant to be (and works as) an over-voltage controller. Thats means that. within defined limits (fairly tight) the zener can keep an output voltage pretty constant. But below a certain limit, it fails to maintain that constant. Above those certain limits and it fails catastrophically (dies).
You should have the new schematic at your doorstep now.
When I meant a spike, I was meaning voltage spike, looking back you were on about one running alongside the main supply line with it cutting fuse if spike happened
When you say it (the zener, my edit) fails to maintain that constant, does it really matter if voltage low, wouldn't objects just shut down to lack of power
A note about zener diodes. One is there are two breakdown mechanisms, one called Zener and one called avalanche.
It turns out that they both occur at 5.1 V which makes that particular voltage special.
The breakdown voltage is optimized for the zener diode. So the PRV (Peak Reverse Voltage) value is controlled.
Exceeding the PRV is non-destructive. It won't "break" the diode permanently. It will, however not function properly.
So if you exceed the PRV you need to replace it in simple terms
A TVS diode is Zener diode optimized for spike/surge suppression. They have a much larger body.
Will this control neg & pos spikes then **broken link removed**
You can use Zener diodes in series to get different voltages because the voltages will add.
I understand that bit, sad I know
While we are on the subject of diodes:
Regular diodes (especially back to back) are sometimes used to clamp voltages to +-0.2 or +-0.6 volts.
Does that mean you can pin a voltage right down if you know the load, having a varying load would be harder?
Solid state high voltage rectifiers are essentially lots of regular diodes in series. Thes could easily have a 10 V forward drop rather than the typical 0.6 V. The 0.6 V drop is temperature dependent. About 10 mV per degree C. Some designs use 0.7. Shotkey diodes are around 0.2 volts.
ok, lets do diodes before moving onto rectifiers **broken link removed**
When using diodes at low currents, it prudent to check the data sheets.
Datasheets are good, it saves guessing what I'm talking about **broken link removed**
ok, so I did bad, but at least I'm trying to learn
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?