SM Transistor for powering small solenoid

I would like to use my 3.3v arduino to give this solenoid:

a 3v 130 ms pulse once per second. I am looking for a transistor to do this for me. I am running the Arduino and coil off of a 3.7v lipo through a regulator. Power savings are important to me so I think I should be using a FET like this one: R8002KND3

No, you shouldn't. You should use a MOSTFET, but that one has a Vgs = 10V which means it needs 10V at the gate to fully turn on. Your system is a 3.3V system. Search for TTL level MOSFET or Logic Level MOSTFET to find one that specs Vgs at 5V.

The other consideration, is how much current that solenoid will draw when first activated. You need to make sure your MOSFET can handle the in-rush of current.

Could you recommend a "general use low quiescent" MOSFET for a low power application like I listed? and if I am using 3.3v circuit why should I be using a Vgs of 5v? I am just in a prototyping phase right now so something a little clunky is okay for now and I can refine later on.

My recommendation = Google "general use low quiescent MOSFET"

If you find one at 3.3V, even better

a "NUD3124" in the SOT23 package from "ON Semiconductor" looks promising, however it says it can work with logic level input, it is made for inductive load switching, and lists the typical gate threshold voltage at 1.8v.

AO3400 is a safe choice that is easy obtainable & affordable. The AO3401 is the P-channel complement.
Don't forget to add a freewheel/bucking diode across the solenoid, otherwise you'll (1) fry your mosfet at some point and (2) create a lot of unnecessary EMI noise.

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thank you, I was hoping there would be a simple solution for this! Any thoughts on the NUD3124, it looks like it has similar specs to the AO3400 but includes the flyback diode.

  • Only for coils rated for up to 150mA, which is pretty small, but may be enough for your purpose
  • Most likely not as easy to get (fewer resellers) than AO3400
  • Most likely more expensive than AO3400 (at least at Mouser.com)

Otherwise functionally similar for your application.

There's probably 137643 devices that would do what you want.

That is the spec for when the device begins to turn on. You can usually ignore it. The spec you want to pay attention to is how they spec Ron (on resistance). They spec it at Vgs = 3.0 and Vgs = 5.0.

For non-Logic level MOSTFETs, they spec it at Vgs=10V or 12 or 15....

This will indicate how much energy will be lost in the MOSTFET.

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Not sure the "flyback" protection is particularly useful - the voltage to which it actually limits is pretty high and easier just to add the diode.

More to the point while it is logic level, its "on" resistance is pretty high - one and a half ohms. So at the specified 350 mA of your solenoid (boy that was hard to find :roll_eyes:) it would dissipate half a watt. The other FETs are far cooler.

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