Hey, guys! My name is Bruno Basto and this is my first post here so I apologize if I'm not doing it properly. I'm a beginner in electronics design and I do it as a hobby because I'm very interested in learning it
So, here is my question:
I'm trying to build an H-Bridge to drive my
NEMA 23 Stepper Motor. The H-Bridge was built using 2
IRF530 and 2
IRF9530 MOSFETs. I have 1,5K resistors to limit current on the Gate of the transistors. Attached are the schematic and a picture of my protoboard (I took the picture before wiring the connectors, but now there is one green connector for the inputs and one green connector for the outputs).
When I put +5V or +12V (Continuous. Not PWM) on one side of the H-Bridge and 0V on the other side, the IRF530 on the activated side gets hot quickly. I tried various resistors to simulate different loads in the output and it always gets hot.
I tried measuring the current given by the power supply and it reads 1,2A. From what I understand, these transistor are capable of sourcing a lot more current than 1.2A (you guys probably have the datasheet of this FETs memorized
). I know that with PWM I can dissipate less power, but I don't think it should be heating up that fast with such a low current draw.
I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if these transistors are just supposed to heat up and I shouldn't worry. But they heat a lot. To the point where I could burn my fingers if in contact for a bit of time.
I know that there are integrated H-Bridges out there and all, but the lesson I'm trying to learn is how to build an H-Bridge and not how to buy one ;p
Thanks in advance!