Hi everybody,
first of all, thank you for this great forum which help me to intro to Arduino.
I want to control a small dc motor with a pin from Arduino. I saw a schematic here http://www.hispavila.com/3ds/atmega/motorescc_files/motorcc_tr.gif and I am wondering how can I know the kind of the transistor for this power (5v)? Also, why do I have to put a resistor in front of the Arduino's pin? It is protection? I know they are electronic questions.
Thanks in advance!
If you think about it, the voltage has very little to do with the choice of transistor.
Imagine you'd said "12V motor" - it could be a model railway loco...or a diesel engine starter motor.
Both could be termed "small".
The diagram suggests an NPN, but you need to know the stall current of the motor.
The resistor is there as a current-limiter.
Sorry, I didnt write details for the motor. Is a 3v motor so I think I dont need a transistor, do you agree?
Link specs of the motor.
As AWOL said volts don't matter. It's the current draw of the motor.
Mine is the first one: http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/motors.html
As I can see, I need 450 mA to feed the motor and Arduino´s pin only provide 40 mA. Right?
Something like a TIP120?
I think even a 2n2222 would work.
Quite a lot of current for a small motor - no stall current posted.
I am interested on how do you know is TIP120? where do you look for? what is the way to know a specific transistor? thanks for your answers
I think the TIP120 may be overkill, but is a good solid common transistor to use for stuff like this.
It is a Darlington (actully it is two transistors in one package), so has high gain, and is good for up to about 5 amps (IIRC).
The 2n2222 is good for up to about 1 amp, but the gain is only about 1/3rd that of the TIP120.
but the motor only need 450 mA and you speak about 5 A
Yes. That's right 450mA < 5A
I have a bag full of them, so I use them a lot.
Thank you for explain it me so patiently. I will try with one of them 
