Control 12v LED strip from Arduino using a Mosfet

A simple guide to controlling 12 volt LED strips from your Arduino using an N Channel Mosfet.

In my example I'm using PWM to fade the 12v LED strip, but you could just as easily turn the LED strip on and off instead of fading it. Also it doesn't have to be an LED strip and it doesn't have to be 12v!

If you're going to drive a motor or a relay (or any inductive load) using this setup, you should add a diode across the positive and negative input of the motor/relay to avoid any back voltage.

I've over simplified things in terms of my description and the circuit, but it should be enough to get you up and running and to give you a basic understanding of how an N-Channel Mosfet works.

Pretty much any N Channel Mosfet will be fine, but ideally you want to go for an L series, because the gate can be reliably driven at lower voltages, such as the 5 volt from the Arduino.

If you're curious, a MOSFET is a metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor. The benefit of a MOSFET over the traditional relay is that it can turn on and off extremely quickly, meaning it's suitable for PWM, compared to the old coil relay which can't turn on and off so quickly. Of course a modern solid state relay can compare against a mosfet or transistor.

[CraigMansfield]

Clear. Intelligent. Nothing superfluous. No annoying music.
What a joy

And how wonderful that is the missing part of my project.

[jonathanm]

Really impressively paced, clear, logical, explanatory and complete. I'm relieved to have found your video so early in my search - to dim about 9m / 7.5A of LED ribbon using an Arduino instructed by the circuit dimming function provided by my house's Dynalite automation system. That second bit is the next challenge - I suspect by analogue sampling. I look forward to exploring the rest of your videos.

[SmartLifeEnthusiast]

The amount of RedBull in this video is too damn high!

[FrozoWolf]

Watched over 10 video's nether of them let me understand how a mosfet works.
This one is just great! I directly understood it and how I can take use of it!
Thank you so much! You earned the like!

[nasirillasarie]

Do you have a link for the exact MOSFET that you used?

[mcbbcn]

I love this video. It's one of the simplest and most effective explanations I have ever seen. That was amazing. Thank you for what you do!!!

[christianeriksson]

A genuine thank you from Sweden for this hands-on and effective explanation of the concept.

[alcidesmarcano]

Thank you so much for your great video, I was stucked in my project with N Channel Mosfet and you light me about the need to bridge my ground to esp8266 and 12v source, thank you so much, I appreciate that... You have one more subscriber!!!

[johnberry]

Another Great tutorial, I cant believe its taken me 6 years to find it lol. Thanks John 👍😁

[JSROOKS]

GREAT video! So well thought-out, and wonderfully presented. Top marks. I am building a 4-bank led controller right now, and I think that the Mosfets and pots(inputs) will do the trick nicely.

[Holoduke]

Thanks mate, i researched some days without a solution. I try to manage high voltage motors with mosfet. At min 3 when you explain the problem of connection between ground of power supplies i got the solution to my problem. Thanks for publishing.

[josephke]

this video is so clear, simple and concise that i cant even not even,
good show, old chap

[jasonorozco]

Excellent! Like you said, I was able to find a lot of videos that just explained the physics behind the mosfet, and I get it, but they all left me unable to figure out how exactly to control some LEDs from my arduino. As soon as you pointed out that the ground of the arduino needed to connect to the ground of the power supply, my problem was solved. I was really concerned about how the gate would be controlled without a ground connection in the first place. Thank you!

[RallyGeek]

Really easy to understand. Perfect inspiration for beginners to get a handle on how to do this. I like how you keep the detail for later follow up. My electronics knowledge is quite lapsed and I needed a quick guide how to drive an Ikea Ledberg strip.
Thank you for the excellent posts! :)

[dogsborodave]

Simplicity rules the day! This is a fantastic tutorial and exactly what I needed. Thank you.

[ekopurnomo]

Your expalanation about mosfet is the clearest. Thank you very much...

[kwisatzhaderach]

Simplicity is exactly what we need. Great video

[MrRobertpn]

excellent video - finally found this after reading lots of technical stuff that assumed a lot of prior knowledge. you are a great teacher!

[Matronidas]

I want to thank you. You did great video without cuts and show that there is nothin else to do. greayt

[MillaeGiuliano]

Great lesson, clear simply and communicative!
You are the Sheldon Cooper of the Electronic science, but more pleasant,
Thaks for publishing.
Roberto.