The benefits of three-quadrant triacs for small appliances

摘要

Small electrical appliances are used widely in our homes and in our working lives. We have become so used to them that we take them for granted. We expect them to do the job for which they have been designed to make our lives easier or moreconvenient. But not many of us think how they achieve what they do. Triacs or, more importantly, three-quadrant (3Q) triacs are the answer (Figures 1A and 1B). This article aims to explain the advantages of using three-quadrant triacs in preference totraditional four-quadrant types.