I am working on an application using an air pump where I need to
change the rate of inflation. What I was doing in the past was
decreasing the inflation rate by lowering the the voltage to the
pump. With this approach I am operating the pump out of spec and
sometimes the voltage is too low for a higher load and the pump stops!
I was thinking of changing the duty cycle so that I could account for
variable flow rates. My microcontroller is connected to a MOSFET that
toggles the power to my 3.3V powered pump. Are there any potential
"gotchas" with this this setup?
From a EMI/RFI prospective should I be putting any type of filtering
on the line that is going from the microcontroller to the gate of the
MOSFET? What about some in-line resistance for ringing? Any caps on
the line?
Do pumps in general have any issues being used this way?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
-Brad
