Ask Electronics

I'm interested in learning how to make a proper PCB rather than perf board with wires all over the place.

Hi, I'm new here (never used this entire platform before, but as the askElectronics reddit is down I thought i'd follow the trail to lemmy and see what's what). Hopefully this works!

Ok so I have the following -

A variable boost converter This - set to 12v output.

Two sets of 2x 18650 batteries

A 12v LED strip.

The two circuits I'm sanity checking -

1. Two 18650s in series, outputting about 8v, going to the boost (which ups it to 12v) and lighting up the 12v LEDS.

2. Two 18650s in parallel, outputting about 4v, going to the same boost (which still ups it to 12v, so that's working fine and seems to be within its working range), lighting up the 12v LEDs.

Question I wanted to check - Far as I am aware, both of these circuits should be fine and do the job. And I'm aware of how series vs parallel usually works (eg. double the voltage, vs double the capacity). However I've never used them with a voltage booster that sets things to a fixed output voltage.

I am assuming that the way the voltage booster works, means it will 'drain' the parallel circuit twice as fast as the series circuit. And so both will end up running the LEDs for the same amount of time. This sounds right in my head but wanted to confirm before I soldered all my connections.

Also wondered if, in this scenario, the general recommendation is to go with the parallel or the series circuit. I wonder if the series might have less losses through the boost circuit through heating etc, but I was just guessing.

Thanks! Long first lemmy post haha. > Unfortunately after posting this I discovered the TP4056 board won’t charge 18650s in series, only in parallel!

Edit: While it seems that running the cells in series would be more efficient, I have the issue that I recharge them using a TP4056 board, and they are only compatible with charging cells in parallel and not in series!

I'm planning to add a momentary switch to a single loop DC circuit. Will this cause any amount of resistance in the circuit? I'm a complete noobie when it comes to electronics, any resource links or clarification is appreciated. I know the type of material/width of wire and a pot will cause resistance but will any component put in line with the circuit cause resistance, and if so how do I go about measuring the resistance for each component within the circuit?

Hello, we are making a thesis where we use MOSFETs as an alternative radiation detector. So to explain it, it works when the mosfet is irradiated with an external radiation source; its voltage threshold increases, which will be used to determine the radiation dose. I'm currently asking for help on how we measure the voltage threshold. BTW, we are using an n-channel MOSFET (model: IRFP250NPbF). Also in the datasheet provided by the manufacturer, it says here VGS(th)/Gate Threshold Voltage Min: 2.0 ––– Max: 4.0 V. There is a condition here with VDS = VGS, ID = 250 A. Does this mean that to measure the VGS, we need to first satisfy the conditions? To measure the voltage threshold, what node will we use to measure the VGS (th)? Is it at the drain to the source terminal or still at the gate to the source terminal? Feel free to share your thoughts, if you have any. I would also like to add that we have already tried to supply a voltage at the gate with respect to the source terminal. We use a 4 V supply voltage, and when we tried to measure the VDS (drain to source voltage), there was a voltage drop, so we've got a 3.5 V. Also, we are using an Arduino to measure its voltage and a multimeter for checking.

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