Here is why Gate-Drive Transformers are sometimes essential! | MOSFET Driver Part 2 (Potential-free)

Do you want to know more about the Würth Elektronik components? Then click here: bit.ly/we_onlinecatalog_EN and visit the page bit.ly/Gate_Drive_Transformers to get an overview of gate drive transformers.
Würth Elektronik products, which were used in the video:
- WE-GDT Gate-Drive-Transformer: bit.ly/WE_GDT_en
- WE-GDTI Gate-Drive-Transformer: bit.ly/WE_GDTI_en
- WE-AGDT Auxiliary Gate Drive Transformer: bit.ly/WE_AGDT_en
Previous video: • Fix It!: Self-Dimming ...
DIY Tesla Coil video series: • Make your own Tesla Co...
MOSFET Driver Part 1 video: • Here is why MOSFET dri...
Everything you need to know about Transformers video: • Is it easy to create y...
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Support me for more videos: www.patreon.com/GreatScott?ty=h
In this video I will conclude the MOSFET Driver video series by having a closer look at Gate-Drive Transformers. As a practical example I will be using a Tesla Coil driver circuit that uses a Gate-Drive Transformer to control its MOSFETs. We will be finding out how the transformer works, how to use it in a circuit, how to create a DIY version and why using a commercial solution often makes more sense. Let's get started!
Websites which were shown (used) during the video:
www.ebay.de/itm/230V-Teslaspu...
ferroxcube.home.pl/news/gate%2...
www.richieburnett.co.uk/temp/g...
www.we-online.de/katalog/data...
Thanks to the Würth Elektronik eiSos Group for supporting this video.
Music:
2011 Lookalike by Bartlebeats
0:00 Presenting my new Tesla Coil
1:30 Why does it perform better than my old one?
2:42 Intro
3:03 Overview of what a Gate-Drive Transformer does
4:36 How does the practical Transformer work?
6:13 Having a look at the Waveforms
6:48 Complementary components for the Transformer
7:36 Creating a DIY Gate-Drive Transformer
8:03 Testing the DIY version
9:03 The problem with designing a DIY version
10:16 Getting a commercial Gate-Drive Transformer
11:05 Testing the commercial solution
11:30 Verdict

[@Asu01]

The transition to the sponsorship was so smooth, I didn't realize that I ordered some gate drive transformers from Würth Elektronik and now, they just arrived at my front door.

[@HSelimSerdar]

LMAO

[@greatscottlab]

Smooth is my middle name ;-) Oh boy. Secreat revealed.....

[@liviuconstantin9960]

@@greatscottlab How about you reveal another secret: Did you take the "Great Scott" name from the "Back to the Future" movie?"

[@JjMn1000]

Lol

[@imbw267]

The game was rigged from the start

[@anuragdeshkar]

Man your video production quality is best and also technical knowlegde!!

[@greatscottlab]

Thank you :-)

[@supreethathreyas4577]

1:24 greatScott : decent arcs electroboom : !@#$%

[@naivedyasharma5821]

Lol

[@felixb.1756]

Look at my tesla coil on my channel. These are decent arcs!

[@jhoughjr1]

i hate to say but my tiny coil is almost as big as those

[@Bhavesh_g20]

It feels so good whenever I see that notification from great scott Really appreciate your work

[@greatscottlab]

Happy to hear that!

[@Bhavesh_g20]

@@greatscottlab I've been following you since years I'm very glad you replied It means a lot to me 😊

[@Av-ks8uc]

Your videos are awesome! You inspired me, with your LED cubes videos 6 years ago to start learning about electronics, and now, I am 3 years into my EE degree and I love every bit of it! Keep up the great work man, and stay safe!

[@greatscottlab]

Great story mate😁 Keep going👍

[@rolandasa.1112]

Thanks for the video! Gate drive tranformers were always a grey area to me, but now with the knowledge you provided I can make projects I never imagined I could build.

[@greatscottlab]

Wonderful :-) I love to hear that.

[@Buzzhumma]

I always know i am going to progress a lot in electronics when the Great Scott notifications come up . You are like purity of knowledge and a great teacher . Thankyou !👍🏻🙏

[@thebuttracoon8245]

One more thing to put in my noggin. Thanks Scott! Wishes from Lithuania

[@andrewkay9226]

As always a totally engrossing & educational video. The schematic drawings & accompanying explanations are the best on KZbin

[@darekmario446]

That was a quite helpful video that simplifies this topic. I've always been "scared" of such GDT Circuits. You motivate me to try and practice such solutions! Bleib gesund!

[@greatscottlab]

Awesome👍

[@attackaffection5444]

Woah didn't expect that coming!

[@omsingharjit]

This types of videos are so helpful

[@amansaxena5898]

Love the MOSFET series ♥️

[@Stoneman06660]

Looking forward to going whole hog on my own SSTC as I move up from Slayer Exciter variants to more complex systems. Your tutorials and how-to videos are golden for this. Many thanks from Australia! :D

[@sFeral]

Check out the Tefatronix mini SSTC circuit

[@saxon215]

As always a well researched and informative video. I wish I could hand draw circuits as neatly as you

[@joaolucastorres6845]

Great video as always!!! Cheers from Brazil!!!!

[@zvotaisvfi8678]

Wow I Love this Idea ! Thanks for sharing I never thought about this before ! Thanks !

[@pete3897]

What a seriously good serious this is :) EDIT 8:19 - now that sounded different! Great job :) Your explanations are fantastic BTW.

[@freewarekr]

I saw it well. The content structure, courses, and graphics are all nice. Learn a lot.

[@masoudnikroo6775]

You're actually GREAT, thanks a lot!

[@rohanpawar1603]

The way u draw circuits is amazing

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks :-)

[@dipubiswas8520]

Hi great scott, your videos are always very informative & practical

[@jakobhalskov]

Very useful for my DIY induction heater project :) Thanks for sharing!

[@danstark462]

Thank you sir. You thought this through very well.

[@adarsharao]

Thanks for the tutorial... it was really useful.. although I studied these things in college, my teacher hardly had any hands-on experience, he made it so boring that I never apricated power electronics... now it looks a lot interesting.

[@firstlastname99]

I'm getting a great education from your work on this channel.

[@StephanYazvinski]

This is pretty cool keep it up.

[@Purple431]

Yay! The video I have been waiting for!

[@vishnup.s.8987]

This is moment the moment I have been waiting for

[@squadus1986]

Bro .. malayali alle

[@micaiaskauss]

An audio tip for you: To reduce the breathing sound between your sentences, use a noise gate (or expander) before your compressor. Your videos are awesome, keep it up.

[@gorillaau]

What if he stops breathing? Is that a satisfactory solution for a home studio?

[@micaiaskauss]

@@gorillaau No, I actually like this guy, but you can stop if you want

[@ronvaiz123]

Great video as always

[@cornevanzyl5880]

Wow man, thank you. You really taught me something.

[@JADES-GS-z13-0]

Please make a HFSSTC.

[@titasroy9820]

I want it too

[@prasunkarmakar3303]

please please bro make video on this topic❤️

[@avikroy9698]

You should collab with electroboom. One check circuit 5 times before running it and other one blow circuit breaker 5 times.

[@greatscottlab]

I can put it on my to do list :-)

[@easyelectronics4364]

Beautifully explained! ❤️

[@greatscottlab]

Thank you! 🙂

[@GnuReligion]

A Dixon Multiplier can also be employed to drive/store a charge of Source + 12V, then drained to the gate through an optocoupler.

[@Debraj1978]

For frequency > 100KHz and high side driver, transformer based gate driver is a better option. If you only have high side drive (with no complementary low side), then transformer based gate driver is the best option.

[@Gamezone-sd3er]

Thanks now I know why cfl driver circuit have this type of feedback ❤️

[@kennethlazo940]

Very useful video as always thks

[@Dudong18]

I'm also your electrifying fan, keep it up

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks mate :-)

[@Dudong18]

@@greatscottlab No probs, it's also my hubby

[@attackaffection5444]

Congratulations on 1.5mil subscribers .Wished electronics was a bit more mainstream so you could have a lot more :D

[@greatscottlab]

Well, I am still happy that so many people watch my videos and are interested in the subject.

[@attackaffection5444]

@@greatscottlab 👍

[@florintherepairman9873]

your videos are the bestt!!!👍👍👍

[@AntonioBdeJesus]

Fantastic! Thank you very mutch for sharing!!

[@jamesjohn2537]

Thanks bro. Good explanation!

[@tejassingh3591]

Very good job

[@piconano]

Solid video.

[@charlesdickens6706]

.....okay, and in 2¼ minutes of video I've heard you pronounce the word 'series' as 'serious' . I was also making this mistake when I was eight years of age. Actually your English is very good . Thanks for your work .

[@neagoecatalin879]

Thank you! Great presentation, as always. I've played in the past with the gate transformers, when I was building the solar charge controllers and the multiple, galvanically isolated outputs bench power supplies. ....and I would say that the bootstrap drivers are, to me more reliable and more versatile. Also maybe because, when comes to calculate those transformers I quickly become lazy/confused/stuffed (?) :)) But I still try to understand what/where could be the advantages of using a gate transformer. Maybe on higher frequencies? Again, thanks! All the best!

[@JaviersDIY]

Your very amazing sir

[@letstec9117]

bro biggest fan

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks mate :-)

[@masondaub9201]

Funny timing, I just made my first Tesla coil a couple weeks ago with a gate transformer.

[@pi-tech1817]

Brother you deserve more views and subs,salute for u ,u doing a great job by sharing knowledge of electronics. I am also electronics and electrical engineer, still studying though,but I am very fasinated in the field of electronics. Learned Soo much basic things from u and electrboom ,plasma channel.👏👏👏great job keep going

[@MCsCreations]

Pretty interesting, dude! Thanks a lot for the lesson! 😃 Those transformers with a magnetic ring and wire I would call analog option... That would show easily all the difficulties! 😂 Anyway, stay safe and creative there! 🖖😊

[@reeffisher9393]

Nice video, but note...Galvanic isolation does not = safe. Many gate drive transformers only provide functional isolation which is not suitable when "safety isolation" from AC mains is required. In most cases any user accessible downstream circuits which have a working voltage upstream greater than 60VDC or 42.5Vac should be considered "safety isolation" required. For reference these are the limits for UL Class 2 which is good to follow if no other information is available. In that case you would search for a commercial gate drive transformer which has at least basic isolation, but ideally reinforced (double) isolation. There is also the matter of creepage and clearance, but that's for a different video. :-)

[@electrohardik8497]

Wow , really great I think when I will grow up. I shouldn't go to any University/college for studying electronics as , I have learnt almost everything from you. , I think I am your youngest viewer though , support from India

[@dinshithd515]

You are always great.

[@BenLMitchell]

Another video to watch tomorrown

[@sudheerkumar5966]

Very good

[@user-nr1wn9qt1m]

Thanks a lot

[@throttlescience3639]

You are a great teacher

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks :-)

[@rougenaxela]

For those who like Digikey or Mouser for purchasing parts online, note that the "Pulse Transformer" section is where you'll find these sorts of gate drive transformers in the catalogs, including some from the sponsor Würth Elektronik. :-)

[@osa1121-]

Hi! I am ur biggest fan ( probably) :D

[@Neshx1]

As usual u have a nice hand writing

[@viniciusfriasaleite8016]

Great, now I'm waiting for a video with more power on this tesla coil

[@alexcaceres3060]

Nice info!

[@750kv8]

What wasn't obvious why there wasn't as much of a saturation problem with the commercial GDT is that, it must use more turns with a thinner wire, and most importantly, theres a gap spacer in its core, which the toroid transformer clearly lacks. A submillimeter gap in the core prevents saturation, and in switch mode transformers (inverter PSU's, flybacks, electronic CFL / fluoro ballasts etc.) it helps the magnetic field to collapse as quickly as it can, releasing energy stored in the core. Very well made video, Thank You! Great channel! 👍

[@d614gakadoug9]

The last thing you want in a gate drive transformer is energy storage. A ferrite with a permeability of 5000 is usually quite suitable for a gate drive transformer and requires only a few turns for typical modern switcher frequencies. You don't gap the core for a half-bridge converter. Why would you gap the core for the gate drive transformer for the half bridge? Flyback converters are another matter altogether. There the whole intent is to store energy because the inductive component is not used as a transformer at all, except with regard to multiple secondaries.

[@750kv8]

@@d614gakadoug9 - I admit i was mixing up things a bit.

[@warrenking1815]

Very nice to see a left handed electronic engineer( like me ) who can draw such great schematics!

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks✌

[@chanakasampath9138]

Thanks,great vedio.

[@greatscottlab]

Glad you liked it!

[@ignition_electronics2520]

Well explained Thanks

[@greatscottlab]

You are welcome

[@epic_clips582]

Superb

[@vivekchauhan7468]

As always nice and informative video. One video request... Make it if possible (according to your convenience) How to measure current using shunt with OP-AMP with microcontroller.

[@firefox1136]

Very nice, I hope, that at some point we will see it at full power. (230v)

[@paulkirchhof9546]

I enjoyed

[@ELECTROGYAN]

Thank you for this video But hey Scott can you explain what is boost trapping.... in briefly..

[@greatscottlab]

Watch Part 1.

[@patterrr]

Scott I just discovered your channel, this is a great video, you got my subscription! I'm curious, how did you probe these circuits with your o-scope, considering that you need separate grounds for your primary and secondary sides? Did you end up using a differential probe one side? Thanks!

[@DrunkenSwimmer]

As a self taught electronics engineer (embedded systems) this answered questions that I've wondered about for literal years. Thank you very much.

[@hassankhalid2964]

If I havent started my PhD I wouldn't have understood the gate driver importance from your videos 😅

[@YDKMPablo]

We've got the same variac! Amazing video. About soldering, you'll get cleaner solders if you heat the pad among the leg at the same time in PCB's.

[@charletonzimmerman4205]

D.C. Welders use same principal, a small voltage winding controls variable, welding current, called a "Saturable reactor", also High voltage, Arc Furnace, for steel Foundry's.

[@bashaaksema94]

Very cool video! One thing though, for a DIY project it is not easy to find a gate drive transformer. Mostly because they are not that widely availeble and also because you more often then not require some specifics that a supplier cant offer you

[@patrickjoseph9476]

Scott, bootstrapping can be also done for a single MOSFET too. Refer, 0033mer's video on MOSFET bootstrapping.

[@Davidslabofficial]

Awesome

[@ancientflean7594]

The arc is smaller compare to the Electroboom, but is such a good video

[@korishan]

I have watched many of your videos, which btw, I enjoy how you break down the electronics into something easy to understand (even though you aren't a native english speaker, I can understand you very well). A few questions have come to mind: 1) How long does it take you to draw all those schematics? You are very meticulous in the drawing. Is the one for the video much neater than the original? 2) With your drawings, how come you go over the lines multiple times when the first mark is quite visible? You use very good lighting, nice white paper with a very dark marker. 3) I've forgotten what my other question was. Will have to post it later when I remember it 😜

[@electronic7979]

Very helpful video. I liked it

[@nachoeschetini1718]

With a zvs a FB a spark gap in paralel and a condenser in serie whit a primary coil u got a bigger effect in the secondary coil

[@GoldenKero133]

Its cool video

[@craigs5212]

Use caution when running a Tesla coil or Van de Graaff generator in your lab. They have enough voltage and energy to blow out all sorts of expensive test equipment even without being connect to them. Had a guy bring a VdG into our lab one day and managed to wipe out two HP scopes and a CRT terminal. The VdG was not even on the same bench. When he fired it up corona sparks were jumping all over the place from one metal bench to the next killing the equipment. Those things make a wicked E field.

[@ElIsraelJijijiji]

1:19 that's why you don't get big arcs, that's a pretty simple way to not get advantage of your mains voltage

[@jim40135]

10:32 woah woah woah, wait a minute... you've got a *purple* marker pen as well? :o

[@EDISON_SCIENCE_CORNER]

Wow!

[@omsingharjit]

Hy is it bad idea to replace Half bridge Gate driver ic with Gate driver transformer in diy class D Amplifier ? Because you have mentioned overshoot , oscillation in waveform ?

[@nozma6615]

Hi great scoot, can you make video about how to repair electronics. For example what should we check at first, what is the common fault and something like this. I think it will be very interesting video. Thank you.

[@matthewmaxwell-burton4549]

Nice vid ! I was wondering, what is the coupling factor between the primary and secondary Tesla coil ? And what is the ressonance frequency of the secondary coil (taking into account the parasitic capacitance). If my memory is right you'll need to drive the coils at this frequency and have low coupling. That's how we got it to work at uni a while ago.

[@itamarcohen6868]

Can you make a video about how to select those component values? Interested to make my own Tesla Coil

[@abhijitdey5060]

Helpful video. I have a question. How to calculate pcb trace width for greater than 35 Amp current rating ? 👍👍🙏🙏

[@Diymakervn]

Great!

[@SolaLupus]

Nice video, didn't know about gate transformers before. Do they also apply to low side switching?

[@greatscottlab]

Yep. You can use them for switching your MOSFET wherever it is positioned ;-)

[@osa1121-]

Liked even before watched

[@treasuretotrash2067]

You should make a plasma flame circuit

[@Graham_Wideman]

Hey there Great, I think your home-brew tesla coil may be suffering from having that corrugated hat. The peaks of the ridges become regions of high charge concentration, hence high voltage, and thus leak charge to the atmosphere disproportionately compared to the average voltage, this limiting the overall voltage the apparatus can achieve. That's the motivation to have a smooth dome/hat.