How to trigger a triac?

[Texton]

Hi all.

I need to trigger a triac using a microcontroller, the question is how long does my trigger pulse have to be to enable the triac?

I found a value named: "gate-controlled turn-on time = 2us" in a datasheet. But is this is value i am looking for?

Thanks in advance

 

[Harald Kapp]

Here is a treatise on triggering a triac via a pulse transformer.

It is a good idea to introduce a potential isolation between the micro and the triac, as a pulse transformer does.

 

[BobK]

Or use an optically isolated triac.

Bob

 

[rajnish]

Triacs can be triggered by either a positive or a negative current applied to its gate electrode , Once triggered, the device continues to conduct until the current drops below a certain threshold.

 

[TedA]

Triggering triacs can be very complicated. Both the gate current and the load current through the main terminals are important factors, along with time and temperature. Polarities matter.

2us seems like a pretty short time. Triacs tend to be slow.

To get more specific advice you will need to tell us more about what you are doing. Triac P/N ( Link to datasheet?), volts, amps, ohms, reactances, Hz.

Do you need isolation? Some times you don't.

Ted