circuit

ideas

BIPOLAR transistor TESTER s.c. dwiv

 Raju R. Baddi sistor produces a green-red-green glow,

T
his tester is primarily meant to nects to the terminal of the transistor. continuously for easy observation,
test bipolar transistors. It can Emitter and collector are differentiated revealing the direction of current flow
indicate the type of the transistor by pressing pushbutton switch S1 that between different test points. So if the
as well as identify its base, collector and actually increases the supply voltage of red LED connected to certain point
emitter pins. The circuit is very simple. the circuit by about 5.1V. glows, it means that n-type of the junc-
The direction of current flow from the At the heart of the circuit is IC tion is connected to that test point, and
terminals of the transistor under test CD4069 (IC3), which oscillates and vice versa. Thus a red-green-red glow
(TUT) is indicated by a pair of LEDs produces pulses required to test a pair indicates npn type of the transistor,
(green-red). An npn transistor produces of transistor leads for conduction in while a green-red-green glow indicates
a red-green-red glow, while a pnp tran- both the directions. Different combina- a pnp transistor. From this observation,
you can easily detect the base.
Collector and emitter are
differentiated based on the
principle that the base-emitter
junction breaks down under
reverse bias much more easily
than the base-collector junc-
tion. Thus under increased AC
voltage, you can easily see that
the emitter conducts more in
the reverse direction (associ-
ated LED glows significantly)
than the collector. Use of trans-
parent or semi-transparent
LEDs is recommended.
Adjust preset VR1 (2-mega-
ohm) to get equal glow when
any two test points are shorted.
Unregulated 15V-18V is regu-
lated by the zener-transistor
combination to power the
circuit.
Fig. 1: Circuit of bipolar transistor tester The testing procedure is
simple. Normally, the transis-
tions are selected by an arrangement tors can be plugged in any orientation
of counter CD4040 (IC1) and bilateral as they come in a variety of possible
switch CD4016 (IC2). arrangements of base, collector and
Fig. 1 shows the circuit of the bipo- emitter pins, such as CEB, BEC and
lar transistor tester. A pair of LEDs is CBE. Simply plug the TUT in the pos-
connected to each test point through sible combinations of three points. A
which current flows in both the direc- red-green-red glow means that it is
tions. Each LED corresponds to a par- npn transistor and the pin associated
ticular direction. In this manner, both with green LED is base. To identify
junctions of the transistor can be tested. the emitter and collector, simply press
The LEDs are arranged to indicate the switch S1 and observe green LEDs
type of the semiconductor across the adjacent to already glowing red LEDs.
p-n junction. The counter is clocked by The green LED glowing with a high
the AC generator built around gates intensity indicates the emitter side,
Fig. 2: Author’s prototype of bipolar transistor tester N5 and N6. This makes the LEDs glow while the low-intensity LED indicates

9 0 • Au g u s t 2 0 1 0 • e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u w w w. e f y m ag . co m
 circuit
ideas
the collector side. observe red LEDs associated with the al- purpose PCB and enclose in a small
Similarly, a green-red-green glow ready glowing green LEDs on the sides. box. Keep the preset knob in the mid-
means that the transistor is pnp type The LED glowing with a high intensity dle. In order to make it easy to plug
and the pin associated with the red LED indicates the emitter side, while the low- the TUT, you can increase the number
is the base. To identify the emitter and intensity LED indicates the collector side. of test points as shown in the author’s
collector, simply press switch S1 and Assemble the circuit on a general- prototype in Fig. 2. 

w w w. e f y m ag . co m e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u • Au g u s t 2 0 1 0 • 9 1