MOSFET N-Channel HIgh Power Hook-up

Other Miscellaneous
1

Hello and thank you for helping me,

I have recently embarked on a project which requires amperage above 3A and possibly up to 15A or so. I understand these N-channel MOSFETs are well capable of handling this current but I can not understand how you would set this up. Solder-less breadboards are not safe for that current and solder-able breadboards apparently should not take currents this high even if you leave a solder trace because their resistance is quite high causing more heat. The terminals off the MOSFET are so tiny and close together, they are nearly impossible to solder directly to the wires so I do not understand how their full potential can be maximized. I use MOSFETs in general because nearly all from cheap to those from Texas Instruments can handle absurd amounts of power if properly heat-sinked. May someone please help me find an alternative to moving forward.

Thank you,

Adam

2

Hello, and thanks for posting!

You usually see MOSFETS on a PCB and the PCBs usually have thick and wide traces that are rated for high current. A lot of times the traces are covered in a layer of solder that enhances their current carrying capacity.

A solderless breadboard is really going to be able to pass 15A of current for more than a very short amount of time before bad things start happening. What I’d recommend is to use a solderable breadboard and then lay some 18 to 14 AWG wire along the paths your high current are going to be flowing and solder everything together. The wire will act as “traces” but should be able to withstand the current your passing through them.