Ok, I've got to ask: Can someone please explain why a resistor is needed and how it could matter where it was placed? I could see that the resistor will limit the current which is charging up the gate,but how this would be likely to hurt either the PIC or the FET I don't really understand. Thanks, Sean At 11:32 PM 2/22/99 -0500, you wrote: >>Bob and Dave have both made very good points regarding series >resistors in >>the gate leads of MOSFETs. I'd just like to add that the resistor >should be >>located as close as possible to the FET as possible. I had one >engineer >>forget that - he kept burning up $20.00 FETs because the resistors >were on >>the processor board, about 18" away from the FETs. Moving the >resistors >>right to the FET gate leads eliminated the problem. > > >ROTFLMAO!! > >I never have that problem, I couldn't fit a trace that long :) >Good point though! Unlike clock leads, you want the resistor on the >destination end in this case! > | | Sean Breheny | Amateur Radio Callsign: KA3YXM | Electrical Engineering Student \--------------=---------------- Save lives, please look at http://www.all.org Personal page: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/shb7 mailto:shb7@cornell.edu ICQ #: 3329174