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ericnutsch
Lv 5
ericnutsch asked in Science & MathematicsEngineering · 1 decade ago

Is the casing on a transistor electricaly connected?

A standard BJT has a metal tab on it to connect to a heat sink. Is this electricaly connected to one of the legs? I becomes important very fast when dealing with high voltage...

How about a IGBT? The run higher voltage, does insulated mean it is insulated from the heatsinc?

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.d...

Thanks!

2 Answers

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  • Jon D
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Unless it is specifically says isolated tab (or similar), the metal case if any is usually tied to the collector or drain of the device in question.

    The TO-220FP in the link IS ELECTRICALLY ISOLATED.

  • GibsonEssGee
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    TO-220 encapsulated devices usually have the collector or drain attached to the metal tab. There are TO-220F devices which have plastic insulated tabs. With the likes of a T0-5 or TO-18 encapsulated device you can tell by looking as to whether the collector is physically attached to the case.

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