BC550 Transistor Pinout, Equivalent, Features

The BC550 transistor is a general-purpose BJT transistor of the BC547 series. The transistors in this series are commonly used for wide purpose applications in commercial devices and also in academic and hobby electronic projects. This Transistor can be used for both switching and amplification.  When used as a switch it can control load until 100mA. The max collector dissipation is 500mW and the maximum DC current gain value is 800mW so it can also be used as a preamplifier or signal amplifier. BC550  made in different (hFE) values which can be determined by the last alphabet used after the transistor number if the last alphabet is “A” the (hFE) value will be 110 – 220, if “B” the (hFE) value will be 200 – 450 and if “C” then the (hFE) value will be 420 – 800.

Pinout of BC550 Transistor

Features of BC550:

• Type of Package – TO-92
• Noise Figure – 1.2 dB
• Collector Current: 0.1 A
• Type of – NPN
• Collector & Emitter Voltage: 45 volt
• Collector the Base Voltage: 50 volt
• Emitter the Base Voltage: 5 volt
• Transition Frequency – 150 MHz
• Collector Dissipation – 0.5 Watt
• DC Current Gain (h_fe) – 110 – 800
• Operating and Storage Junction Temperature Range -65 to +150 °C

The complement of the BC550  transistor is the BC560.

The Alternate of BC550 are: BC847 BC850 (SOT-23), (SOT-23) BC847W (SOT-323),  and BC850W (SOT-323).

The Replacement of BC550 are: BC546 or BC547

How We Can Use It: 

BC550 transistors can be used in the type of general applications. If we use it as a switch that we should drive a load of 100mA. Which is enough current to drive microcontrollers, LEDs, relays, ICS, power transistors portion of a circuit, etc? The emitter-base voltage is only 5volt so it can also be used at the output of the microcontroller to operate loads. On the other hand, it can also be used as an amplifier for audio and other small signals. Furthermore, this transistor can also be used as a preamplifier or audio preamplifier for any small electronic signals.

Applications of BC550 Transistor:

• Signal Amplification
• Audio Preamplification
• Switching Loads Under 100mA
• Audio Amplification
• Microcontrollers Output
• Darlington Pairs

How to Safely Long Run in a Circuit:

To get long performance from Transistor BC550  it is recommended to not operate load more than 100 mA and 45 volts. Always use a suitable base resistor to procure the required base current to the transistor.BC550 Transistor is also projected using the transistor in recommended the temperature that is more than -65 centigrade and below 150 centigrade.

BC550 vs 3904:

BC550 Datasheet: Click