Reed Switch Motor With Transistor

Difficulty level: 2 (simple, but requires the use of a soldering iron)

Kits covered: Kits #5,8

The reed switch motor is one of the simplest motors and works very well under low
voltages. However, on high voltages a spark may appear between the reed switch contacts.
This significantly reduces the lifetime of the motor. A spark is created because the reed
switch is connected directly to the electromagnet, which is an inductive load. Size of the
spark depends on the diameter and amount of wire in the coil.

There are several ways to address this problem. Usually the best results are achieved by
separating the reed switch from the inductive load. The motor described on this page uses a
transistor for this purpose. You may take a look at how easy it is to assemble this motor
from the kit.

A transistor is a small electronic device invented in 1947 by Shockley, Bardeen, and

Brattain. Almost all of the transistors today are made from silicon. Pure silicon does not
conduct electricity. Therefore boron atoms are added to silicon to create a P-type
semiconductor (positive), and phosphorus atoms are added to silicon to create an N-type
semiconductor (negative). A transistor consists of a stack of three layers. The arrangement,
PNP or NPN, determines which way the current flows.
Transistors have three leads, known as base (B), emitter (E), and collector (C). A very small
emitter-base current allows a much larger collector-emitter current to flow. Therefore
transistors may amplify the signal, or act as a switch. The switching ability of PNP power
transistors is used in these motors, but NPN transistors may be used as well.

This is how power transistor looks like:

It is important to select the transistor with maximum electrical ratings significantly higher
than the electrical consumption of the motor. For example, the motors described on this site
may experience peak current over 1A at 6V. Usually this happens when the rotor is stalled
and the transistor is open. You should not leave the motor in this state as it may destroy
the transistor. When the rotor spins with a proper speed the transistor turns on and off, and
the average current flowing through the transistor is about 10 times smaller.

If the collector current through the transistor is high, the transistor may get extremely hot
and burn the fingers if you touch it. A heat sink (a special metal piece attached to the
transistor) could be used to dissipate heat. Normally, the motors described on this site do
not need it, but you may still add a heat sink if necessary.

Some motors require the transistors that are more sensitive. For that purpose certain kits
use so called Darlington transistors. Darlington transistors are actually two transistors in
one case where the second and more powerful transistor amplifies the signal from the first
transistor. Darlington transistors look the same as regular transistors.

From the engineering point of view (according to different electrical diagrams found in
books on electronics) some of the transistor circuits shown on this site may require
additional elements, such as a resistor, connected to the base of the transistor (which limits
the base current); a protecting diode, connected to the inductive load; etc. The designs on
this site represent the most simple circuits. However, all of them were tested extensively
and proved to be very reliable and worked very well.
During the experiments Stan found that one additional element helped to prolong the life of
the transistor motor. It is a capacitor connected to the ends of the electromagnet. The
capacitor helped to smooth the voltage spikes that occur at the moment when the contacts
of the reed switch connect or disconnect. It is not required to attach this capacitor for the
motor to work.

You can find additional information about transistors and their usage in books about
electronics and on the Internet (see Links).

This is how the motor works:

1. When magnet #1 gets close to the reed switch, the two contacts inside the glass
tube get magnetized and touch each other. A small current flows through the base of
the transistor. The transistor opens, and allows a bigger collector-emitter current to
flow through the electromagnet. The electromagnet pushes magnet #3 away.

2. When the rotor spins away, the reed switch demagnetizes and the contacts move
back to their original position. Since there is no more current flowing through the
base, the transistor turns off. This disables the electromagnet.

3. The rotor continues to spin due to inertia until magnet #2 gets in working range of
the reed switch. It becomes magnetized again and its contacts connect together. The
transistor opens and allows a current to flow between the collector and emitter. The
electromagnet turns on, and pushes magnet #4 away. This process continues until
the power is disconnected.
This motor can be built from the Kit#5. Complete instructions are provided. However, if you
decide to design this motor yourself, you may order only the parts you need (transistor,
reed switch, magnet wire, magnets, heat sink).

You may add a speed control unit to this motor. It will allow you to control and change the
speed of the motor from a complete stop to maximum speed, which may be 10-25%
greater than the normal speed of the motor. The speed control unit is described at the How
It Works: Reed Switch Motor section.

The speed control unit, which contains only few additional parts, is included with
experimentation kit #1 or #3. Complete assembly instructions describing an easy way to
orient the speed control magnet are provided.

This motor speed control is very cheap, simple, and easy to assemble since its control unit is only a

transistor.The transistor is TIP41C or any type of the same specification and current capacity.The voltage is

about 12V DC or more and motor type is 6-12V and max current of 3A.

You can control the speed of motor by adjusting the potentiometer. Increasing the resistance means
decreasing the speed while decreasing the resistance means increasing the speed.

Because of its simplicity, anyone can make this project and assemble it even if not an electronic hobbyist.