- #1
Jdo300
- 554
- 5
Hey Everyone,
The title of this thread may be a bit ambiguous but what I am wondering is if there is a way to determine if a MOSFET in an output stage has shorted. The scenario I want to catch is the case where the FET drain is exposed to too much voltage (from a collapsing spike or some other unpredictable transient) and the drain blows and shorts out. At the moment, my protection circuit is simply a small mechanical circuit breaker which cuts the supply (12V in my case) to stop the circuit from roasting, but I'm trying to determine if there is another way to detect that the MOSFET is blown (so the uC will know) other than testing for a lack of supply voltage on the output stage?
Thanks,
Jason O
The title of this thread may be a bit ambiguous but what I am wondering is if there is a way to determine if a MOSFET in an output stage has shorted. The scenario I want to catch is the case where the FET drain is exposed to too much voltage (from a collapsing spike or some other unpredictable transient) and the drain blows and shorts out. At the moment, my protection circuit is simply a small mechanical circuit breaker which cuts the supply (12V in my case) to stop the circuit from roasting, but I'm trying to determine if there is another way to detect that the MOSFET is blown (so the uC will know) other than testing for a lack of supply voltage on the output stage?
Thanks,
Jason O