LED Blinker Upgrade

[jonathan]

I am trying to make an LED blinker for a more powerful light than a regular LED. The light I am using requires 12 volts and 6 amps. I am trying hook up 10 or so lights. This would obviously blow most PICs. Any suggestions on a PIC that would be able to handle this much power? If possible I would like to program the chip with assembler.

I think that I could write the code but setting up the hardware is where I am having trouble. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks for the help.

 

[arcom]

Hi jonathan!

Your're right, PIC can't handle so much power. Usually they can provide up to 20 mA output on each pin.

There are two possible solutions: a) use a relay
b) use a transistor switch

I'm sorry but I cannot post any schematics at the moment (I'm not at my PC) but you can search the Internet for "transistor activated relay" or "transistor as a switch" (or something similar). Happy searching...

 

[bogdanfirst]

so you have 12V/6A bulb?
thats a lot of power.....
are you sure it is not 6W? or maybe 0.6A?
anyway....
a relay driven by a transistor would be the best solution
since you have to switch all that power a power transistor will be too expensive and probably it will dissipate too much heat

 

[arcom]

Wow! I just now realized that you have a 6A light bulb. Definitely use a relay if that is true
I mean, that is 12V * 6A = 72W! Car headlights usually have "only" 50W.
By the way, what power supply are you using???

 

[bogdanfirst]

are you SURE the lamps are 6A? and also that you want to hook up so many in paralel?
i mean you will need a huger relay, and also some quite thick wires.....
6A * 10=60A ...huge relay.