I saw this circuit at
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16HFEwzkcQ/
The diodes try to charge and discharge the mosfet gate based on static electricity of user touching. Depending on the amount of charge you happen have it might not work at all, might work or could fry the mosfet (they are static sensitive components).
FETs are extremely vulnerable to ESD. The datasheet can provide proof of that. When static electricity is applied to the gate, the gate oxide may be destroyed.
A typical way to protect a MOSFET is to inserting an ESD protection diode between the gate and source terminals. This circuit is lacking those protections, so I expect that it is not very reliable.
4 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
This looks like a recipe to try to kill the mosfet!
Mosfets are ESD sensitive devices, and in this circuit you feed the ESD from user to device gate.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MOSFETs are very sensitive to electrostatic charges and can be easily damaged by them. Here every touch sends smaller or bigger ESD pulse through diode to MOSFET gate. If gate voltage rises to too high voltage, MOSFET is fried. The IRFZ44N has a maximum gate-to-source voltage (VGS) of ±20V. Exceeding this limit can damage the component. The ESD pulse from person touching can easily be hundreds of volts or even several kilovolts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The fix: Add protection like 15V zener diodes that keep G-S gate voltage at safe level.
I would also add a series resistor from user input to zener.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MOSFETs are highly sensitive to ESD because of the thin layer of silicon dioxide that insulates the gate, which can be damaged by voltage spikes that exceed its breakdown voltage. Always use an anti-static workbench and wrist strap when handling bare MOSFETs. This circuit is pushing ESD directly from finger to FET.