You still need a diode across the relay. The built in diode does not help.

George

.....  I believe the TIP120 has a built in
reverse diode, so that would reduce part count to 2 (resistor,
transistor).  If you use a transistor without a built in breakdown
diode then be certain to add one or the inductive kickback from the
relay will eventually fry the transistor.


----------
D. Yates
piclist@nerdulator.net


-------- Original Message --------
>Can anyone recommend what they'd use to switch 12V relays from a 5V
PIC? >You'd >be looking at something (FET?) with a 5V gate & rated
current to, say, >300mA, >maybe an Amp, I guess? Gotta keep the
component count to a minimum so don't >really want to use
optoisolators.

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic:
[PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics
(like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics