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Hello Alex,

I do not see any issues in your circuit setup. 

When the INA168 output is 0V, what is the load current through the 0.01Ohm sense resistor? 

If you're not sure of the load current, can you please measure the voltage drop across the shunt resistor and also measure the voltage between the input pins of the INA168 (Vsense)?  These two voltages shuld be equal, but if they are not, it could begin to help us understand the issue. 

We'll get this worked out.

Thank you,
Collin Wells
Precision Analog

Hi Alex,

I'm sorry to have to ask more questions, but I still am not seeing a reason for the failures.  All INA168 devices leave our factory in working condition as guaranteed by our final test solution. 

To re-state your problem:  with some initial conditions applied to your board, the INA168 output is stuck at 0V and this is how you are detect that it is failing.  You then replace the INA168 and repeat the test, the board works as planned.

What is the expected output of a "working" INA168 board?  The "failing" boards have an output of 0V.

Could you please help me understand what conditions the INA168 is in when you test the boards?  (Vbus = 12V, Vs = 5V, load current = ?, Vsense = ?) 

Does your test sweep the input current from 0-10A when the INA168 output stays at 0V, or does the test apply a single input current value to check the INA168 output?  If the latter, what is the "test" input current?  If you don't sweep the input current, have you tried sweeping the input to see if the INA168 reacts at all to a changing input value?  

Do you ever have to replace the failing device with more than one INA168 before the failure goes away? 

Thanks,
Collin Wells
Precision Analog

Alex,

This is starting to sound like an EOS (electrical over-stress) or ESD related failure, but before we go down that route I have a few more questions.

Have you ever tried taking a "failing" part and try it on a different board to see if it begins working in a different system or not? 

Could you try monitoring the output of a "failing" INA168 during the full startup sequence?  My desire in the previous questions to see if you performed any sweeping of the input current during production testing was to try to see if the INA168 output reacted to a changing input voltage or if it was just stuck at 0V for all inputs.  When the DCDC begins to power-up in the "cold" lamp scenario, you've stated that the initial input current is higher than 10A but less than 27A and then settles eventually to 10A.  Please try monitoring the INA168 output during this changing current to see if the output does anything other than stick to 0V. 

Finally to determine if it may be damage related to EOS, do you have any failing returns from your end customers that display this same issue?  If so, is it possible that there are any transient voltage spikes that you're not noticing on the Vbus line that may violate the +60V DC spec of the INA168.  Spikes can be related to the turning on and off of heavy current loads through an inductive PCB trace or cable. 

Thanks and Regards,
Collin Wells

Hi Collin

Sorry for not answering you soon, I was waiting after a new production unit. This morning I looked for a bad unit, but I was unable to find a unit with a failing INA168. The next production will be the next week, I “hope” that one test will fail with a INA168. At this moment, I will be able to get wave forms & swap INA168 with another product that is working.

This morning, I took screen shot of the first power-up of an unit.

CH2: Output voltage (VOUT, 2 levels possible: 8V & 12V)

CH4: Load current (INA sense), there is a serial switch between load and VOUT; 0A is possible

CH2: INA “output voltage” via 75K (note: probe setup was not very good)

The output voltage (Vout) is protected by MOV (V22ZA2 clamping 43V at 5A). In fact all input and output are protected against voltages spikes and reverse polarity. At this point, we never had returns from our end customers. The first unit was ship 5 years ago, we have over 2K unit in field.

As soon as I will get a failing INA168, I will take screen shots and swap with another one that is working.

Regards,

Alex

Hi Alex,

Thank you for the images and description of the issue.  Based on the fact that none of your units get returned it doesn't seem like it is your system that is damaging the components.  This leads me to believe that they may be damaged before they get assembled or during assembly due to ESD.  Please contact me directly at Collin@TI.com when you get another failing unit and we can get it examined by the failure analysis lab to determine the cause of the failure.

 Just to be thorough, when/ if you do get a failing one and can take screen shots, please also include the voltage directly on both sides of the shunt resistor.  Depending on your layout, J17 and J18 may be convenient places to attach your probes to look at the signals.  So in total I'd like to see:

Shunt + (J17)
Shunt - (J18)
INA168 Output (TP9)
Bus Current 

Thanks,
Collin Wells
Precision Analog