ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS
There are numerous types of electronic component – diodes, transistors, thyristors and
integrated circuits (ICs) – each with its own limitations, characteristics and designed application.
When repairing electronic circuits it is important to replace a damaged component with an
identical or equivalent component.
Electronic circuit symbols
The British Standard BS EN 60617 recommends that particular graphical symbols should be
used to represent a range of electronic components on circuit diagrams.
Resistors
All materials have some resistance to the flow of an electric current but, in general, the term
resistor describes a conductor specially chosen for its resistive properties. Resistors are the
most commonly used electronic component and they are made in a variety of ways to suit the
particular type of application.
They are usually manufactured as either carbon composition or carbon film. In both cases the
base resistive material is carbon and the general appearance is of a small cylinder with leads
protruding from each end.
If subjected to overload, carbon resistors usually decrease
in resistance since carbon has a negative temperature
coefficient. This causes more current to flow through the
resistor, so that the temperature rises and failure occurs,
usually by fracturing. Carbon resistors have a power rating
between 0.1 and 2 W, which should not be exceeded.
When a resistor of a larger power rating is required a wire-
wound resistor should be chosen. This consists of a
resistance wire of known value wound on a small ceramic
cylinder which is encapsulated in a vitreous enamel coating.
Wire-wound resistors are designed to run hot and have a
power rating up to 20 W. Care should be taken when
mounting wire-wound resistors to prevent the high operating
temperature affecting any surrounding components.
A variable resistor is one which can be varied continuously from a very low value to the full
rated resistance. This characteristic is required in tuning circuits to adjust the signal or voltage
level for brightness, volume or tone.
The value of the resistor and the tolerance may be marked on the body of the component either
by direct numerical indication or by using a standard colour code. The method used will depend
upon the type, physical size and manufacturer’s preference, but in general the larger
components have values marked directly on the body and the smaller components use the
standard resistor colour code.
TESTING RESISTORS
To measure the resistance of a resistor which is not connected into a circuit, the leads of a
suitable ohmmeter should be connected to each resistor connection lead and a reading
obtained.
If the resistor to be tested is connected into an electronic circuit it is always necessary to
disconnect one lead from the circuit before the test leads are connected, otherwise the
components in the circuit will provide parallel paths, and an incorrect reading will result.
Capacitors
A capacitor stores a small amount of electric charge.
If a test circuit is assembled as shown above and the changeover switch connected to d.c. the
signal lamp will only illuminate for a very short pulse as the capacitor charges. The charged
capacitor then blocks any further d.c. current flow. If the changeover switch is then connected to
a.c. the lamp will illuminate at full brilliance because the capacitor will charge and discharge
continuously at the supply frequency. Current is apparently flowing through the capacitor
because electrons are moving to and fro in the wires joining the capacitor plates to the a.c.
supply.
COUPLING AND DECOUPLING CAPACITORS
Capacitors can be used to separate a.c. and d.c. in an electronic circuit. If the output from circuit
A, shown in Fig. (a), contains both a.c. and d.c. but only an a.c. input is required for circuit B
then a coupling capacitor is connected between them. This blocks the d.c. while offering a low
reactance to the a.c. component. Alternatively, if it is required that only d.c. be connected to
circuit B, shown in Fig. (b), a decoupling capacitor can be connected in parallel with circuit B.
This will provide a low reactance path for the a.c. component of the supply and only d.c. will be
presented to the input of B. This technique is used to filter out unwanted a.c. in, for example,
d.c. power supplies.
TYPES OF CAPACITOR
There are two broad categories of capacitor, the
i. non-polarized and
ii. polarized type.
The non-polarized type can be connected either way round, but polarized capacitors must be
connected to the polarity indicated otherwise a short circuit and consequent destruction of the
capacitor will result.
Polyester capacitors
Polyester capacitors are an example of the plastic film capacitor. Polypropylene, polycarbonate
and polystyrene capacitors are other types of plastic film capacitor. The capacitor value may be
marked on the plastic film, or the capacitor colour code given in the table below may be used.
This dielectric material gives a compact capacitor with good electrical and temperature
characteristics. They are used in many electronic circuits, but are not suitable for high-frequency
use.
Mica capacitors
Mica capacitors have excellent stability and are accurate to ±1% of the marked value. Since
costs usually increase with increased accuracy, they tend to be more expensive than plastic film
capacitors. They are used where high stability is required, for example in tuned circuits and
filters.
Ceramic capacitors
Ceramic capacitors are mainly used in high-frequency circuits subjected to wide temperature
variations. They have high stability and low loss.
Electrolytic capacitors
Electrolytic capacitors are used where a large value of capacitance coupled with a small
physical size is required. They are constructed on the ‘Swiss roll’ principle as are the paper
dielectric capacitors used for power-factor correction in electrical installation circuits. The
electrolytic capacitors’ high capacitance for very small volume is derived from the extreme
thinness of the dielectric coupled with a high dielectric strength. Electrolytic capacitors have a
size gain of approximately 100 times over the equivalent non electrolytic type. Their main
disadvantage is that they are polarized and must be connected to the correct polarity in a circuit.
Their large capacity makes them ideal as smoothing capacitors in power supplies.
Tantalum capacitors
Tantalum capacitors are a new type of electrolytic capacitor using tantalum and tantalum oxide
to give a further capacitance/size advantage. They look like a ‘raindrop’ or ‘blob’ with two leads
protruding from the bottom.
The polarity and values may be marked on the capacitor, or a colour code may be used. The
voltage ratings available tend to be low, as with all electrolytic capacitors. They are also
extremely vulnerable to reverse voltages in excess of 0.3 V. This means that even when testing
with an ohmmeter, extreme care must be taken to ensure correct polarity.
Variable capacitors
Variable capacitors are constructed so that one set of metal plates moves relative to another set
of fixed metal plates. The plates are separated by air or sheet mica, which acts as a dielectric.
Air dielectric variable capacitors are used to tune radio receivers to a chosen station, and small
variable capacitors called trimmers or presets are used to make fine, infrequent adjustments to
the capacitance of a circuit.
SELECTING A CAPACITOR
When choosing a capacitor for a particular application, three factors must be considered: value,
working voltage and leakage current.
The unit of capacitance is the farad (symbol F).
The working voltage of a capacitor is the maximum voltage that can be applied between the
plates of the capacitor without breaking down the dielectric insulating material. This is a d.c.
rating and, therefore, a capacitor with a 200 V rating must only be connected across a maximum
of 200 V d.c. Since a.c. voltages are usually given as rms values, a 200 V a.c. supply would
have a maximum value of about 283 V, which would damage the 200 V capacitor. When
connecting a capacitor to the 230 V mains supply we must choose a working voltage of about
400 V because 230 V rms is approximately 325 V maximum. The ‘factor of safety’ is small and,
therefore, the working voltage of the capacitor must not be exceeded.
An ideal capacitor which is isolated will remain charged forever, but in practice no dielectric
insulating material is perfect, and the charge will slowly leak between the plates, gradually
discharging the capacitor. The loss of charge by leakage through it should be very small for a
practical capacitor.
Capacitor colour code
The actual value of a capacitor can be identified by using the colour codes in the same way that
the resistor colour code was applied to resistors.
Packaging electronic components
When we talk about packaging electronic components we are not referring to the parcel or box
which contains the components for storage and delivery, but to the type of encapsulation in
which the tiny semiconductor material is contained.
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE
A semiconductor or junction diode consists of a p-type and n-type material formed in the same
piece of silicon or germanium. The p-type material forms the anode and the n-type the cathode.
If the anode is made positive with respect to the cathode, the junction will have very little
resistance and current will flow. This is referred to as forward bias. However, if reverse bias is
applied, that is, the anode is made negative with respect to the cathode; the junction resistance
is high and no current can flow.
It can be seen that a small voltage is required to forward bias the junction before a current can
flow. This is approximately 0.6 V for silicon and 0.2 V for germanium. The reverse bias potential
of silicon is about 1200 V and for germanium about 300 V. If the reverse bias voltage is
exceeded the diode will break down and current will flow in both directions. Similarly, the diode
will break down if the current rating is exceeded, because excessive heat will be generated.
Manufacturer’s information therefore gives maximum voltage and current ratings for individual
diodes which must not be exceeded. However, it is possible to connect a number of standard
diodes in series or parallel, thereby sharing current or voltage, so that the manufacturers’
maximum values are not exceeded by the circuit.
DIODE TESTING 151
The p–n junction of the diode has a low resistance in one direction and a very high resistance in
the reverse direction.
Connecting an ohmmeter, with the red positive lead to the anode of the junction diode and the
black negative lead to the cathode, would give a very low reading. Reversing the lead
connections would give a high resistance reading in a ‘good’ component.
ZENER DIODE
It is a special diode with a predetermined reverse breakdown voltage.
In its forward bias mode, the Zener diode will conduct at about 0.6 V, just like an ordinary diode,
but it is in the reverse mode that the Zener diode is normally used. When connected with the
anode made negative and the cathode positive, the reverse current is zero until the reverse
voltage reaches a predetermined value, when the diode switches on. This is called the Zener
voltage or reference voltage.
The diode may be damaged by overheating if the current is not limited by a series resistor, but
when this is connected, the voltage across the diode remains constant. It is this property of the
Zener diode which makes it useful for stabilizing power supplies.
If a test circuit is constructed, the Zener action can be observed. When the supply is less than
the Zener voltage (5.1 V in this case) no current will flow and the output voltage will be equal to
the input voltage. When the supply is equal to or greater than the Zener voltage, the diode will
conduct and any excess voltage will appear across the 680 Ω resistor, resulting in a very stable
voltage at the output. When connecting this and other electronic circuits you must take care to
connect the polarity of the Zener diode as shown in the diagram. Note that current must flow
through the diode to enable it to stabilize.
LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE
The light-emitting diode (LED) is a p–n junction especially manufactured from a semiconducting material
which emits light when a current of about 10 mA flows through the junction.
No light is emitted when the junction is reverse biased and if this exceeds about 5 V the LED may be
damaged.
LEDs are available in red, yellow and green and, when
used with a series resistor, may replace a filament
lamp. They use less current than a filament lamp, are
smaller, do not become hot and last indefinitely. A
filament lamp, however, is brighter and emits white
light. LEDs are often used as indicator lamps, to
indicate the presence of a voltage. They do not,
however, indicate the precise amount of voltage
present at that point.
Another application of the LED is the seven-segment
display used as a numerical indicator in calculators,
digital watches and measuring instruments.
Seven LEDs are arranged as a figure 8 so that when
various segments are illuminated, the numbers 0–9
are displayed
LIGHT-DEPENDENT RESISTOR
Almost all materials change their resistance with a change in temperature. Light energy falling
on a suitable semiconductor material also causes a change in resistance. The semiconductor
material of a light-dependent resistor (LDR) is encapsulated together with the circuit symbol.
The resistance of an LDR in total darkness is about 10 MΩ, in normal room lighting about 5 kΩ
and in bright sunlight about 100 Ω.
They can carry tens of milliamperes, an amount which is sufficient to operate a relay. The LDR
uses this characteristic to switch on automatically street lighting and security alarms.
PHOTODIODE
The photodiode is a normal junction diode with a transparent window through which light can
enter. It is operated in reverse bias mode and the leakage current increases in proportion to the
amount of light falling on the junction.
This is due to the light energy breaking bonds in the crystal lattice of the semiconductor material
to produce holes and electrons.
Photodiodes will only carry microamperes of current but can operate much more quickly than
LDRs and are used as ‘fast’ counters when the light intensity is changing rapidly.
THERMISTOR
The thermistor is a thermal resistor, a semiconductor device whose resistance varies with
temperature. They are very sensitive and because the bead of semiconductor material can be
made very small, they can measure temperature in the most inaccessible places with very fast
response times. Thermistors are embedded in high-voltage underground transmission cables in
order to monitor the temperature of the cable.
Information about the temperature of a cable allows engineers to load the cables more
efficiently.
A thermistor is also used to monitor the water temperature of a motor car.
TRANSISTORS
There are two basic types of transistor, the bipolar or junction transistor and the field-effect
transistor (FET).
The FET has some characteristics which make it a better choice in electronic switches and
amplifiers. It uses less power and has a higher resistance and frequency response. It takes up
less space than a bipolar transistor and, therefore, more of them can be packed together on a
given area of silicon chip. It is, therefore, the FET which is used when many transistors are
integrated on to a small area of silicon chip as in the IC.
When packaged as a discrete component the FET looks much the same as the bipolar
transistor. However, it is the bipolar transistor which is much more widely used in electronic
circuits as a discrete component.
The bipolar transistor
The bipolar transistor consists of three pieces of semiconductor material sandwiched together.
The structure of this transistor makes it a three-terminal device having a base, collector and
emitter terminal. By varying the current flowing into the base connection a much larger current
flowing between collector and emitter can be controlled.
Apart from the supply connections, the n-p-n and p-n-p types are essentially the same but the n-
p-n type is more common.
A transistor is generally considered a current-operated device. There are two possible current
paths through the transistor circuit, the base–emitter path when the switch is closed; and the
collector–emitter path.
Initially, the positive battery supply is
connected to the n-type material of the
collector, the junction is reverse biased and,
therefore, no current will flow. Closing the
switch will forward bias the base–emitter
junction and current flowing through this
junction causes current to flow across the
collector–emitter junction and the signal lamp
will light.
A small base current can cause a much larger collector current to flow. This is called the current
gain of the transistor, and is typically about 100. When I say a much larger collector current, I
mean a large current in electronic terms, up to about half an ampere.
We can, therefore, regard the transistor as operating in two ways: as a switch because the
base current turns on and controls the collector current; and as a current amplifier because
the collector current is greater than the base current.
Transistor testing
A transistor can be thought of as two diodes connected together and, therefore, a transistor can
be tested using an ohmmeter in the same way as was described for the diode.
When many transistors are to be tested, a simple test circuit can be assembled. With the circuit
connected, as shown in Fig. 4.60 a ‘good’ transistor will give readings on the voltmeter of 6 V
with the switch open and about 0.5 V when the switch is made. The voltmeter used for the test
should have a high internal resistance, about ten times greater than the value of the resistor
being tested – in this case 4.7 kΩ ± and this is usually indicated on the back of a multi-range
meter or in the manufacturers’ information supplied with a new meter.
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
They are densely populated miniature electronic circuits made up of hundreds and sometimes
thousands of microscopically small transistors, resistors, diodes and capacitors, all connected
together on a single chip of silicon.
There are two broad groups of IC: digital ICs and linear ICs. Digital ICs contain simple
switching-type circuits used for logic control and calculators, linear ICs incorporate amplifier-
type circuits which can respond to audio and radio frequency signals. The most versatile linear
IC is the operational amplifier which has applications in electronics, instrumentation and control.
When building circuits, it is necessary to be able to identify the IC pin connection by number.
The number 1 pin of any IC is indicated by a dot pressed into the encapsulation; it is also the pin
to the left of the cutout. Since the packaging of ICs has two rows of pins they are called
DIL (dual in line) packaged ICs.
THE THYRISTOR
The thyristor was previously known as a ‘silicon controlled rectifier’ since it is a rectifier which
controls the power to a load. It consists of four pieces of semiconductor material sandwiched
together and connected to three terminals.
The word thyristor is derived from the Greek word thyra meaning door, because the thyristor
behaves like a door. It can be open or shut, allowing or preventing current fl ow through the
device. The door is opened – we say the thyristor is triggered – to a conducting state by
applying a pulse voltage to the gate connection. Once the thyristor is in the conducting state, the
gate loses all control over the devices. The only way to bring the thyristor back to a non-
conducting state is to reduce the voltage across the anode and cathode to zero or apply reverse
voltage across the anode and cathode.
When SWB only is closed the lamp will not light, but
when SWA is also closed, the lamp lights to full
brilliance. The lamp will remain illuminated even
when SWA is opened. This shows that the thyristor is
operating correctly.
Once a voltage has been applied to the gate the
thyristor becomes forward conducting, like a diode,
and the gate loses control.
A thyristor may also be tested using an ohmmeter,
assuming that the red lead of the ohmmeter is
positive.
The thyristor has no moving parts and operates without arcing. It can operate at extremely high
speeds, and the currents used to operate the gate are very small. The most common application
for the thyristor is to control the power supply to a load, for example, lighting dimmers and motor
speed control.
The power available to an a.c. load can be controlled by allowing current to be supplied to the
load during only a part of each cycle. This can be achieved by supplying a gate pulse
automatically at a chosen point in each cycle. Power is reduced by triggering the gate later in
the cycle.
The thyristor is only a half-wave device (like a diode) allowing control of only half the available
power in an a.c. circuit. This is very uneconomical, and a further development of this device has
been the triac which is considered next.
THE TRIAC
The triac was developed following the practical problems experienced in connecting two
thyristors in parallel, to obtain full-wave control, and in providing two separate gate pulses to
trigger the two devices.
The triac is a single device containing a back-to-back, two-directional thyristor which is triggered
on both halves of each cycle of the a.c. supply by the same gate signal. The power available to
the load can, therefore, be varied between zero and full load.