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C2000 launchpad keeps burning

Dear Friends,

I'm working wit ha C2000 Launchpad for controlling a buck converter. So there are three wires connected from my circuitry to the launchpad: one ground, one wire carrying sampled inductor current (which is basically a ramp shape voltage between 1.5 and 2 volts) to the ADC module and another wire carrying output PWM command to the IR 2110 MOSFET driver. As soon as I connect my launchpad and start the process, the microcontroller gets so hot, and become unusable (forever). The ADC input waveform seems to be well within the limits. I Also checked the power specs for both microcontroller and the IR2110 MOSFET driver. They say that output from GPIO pins of microcontroller is in range of some milli amps, and the input to the IR2110 is in range of micro-amps. So theoretically, there should not be an overload on output happening for the microcontroller. So I'm wondering what is the problem.

Thank you,

Soroush Tafvizi

  • Hi Soroush,

    This mcu can very well source currents upto 4mA and this should not be the problem for sure. One quick question, does the board behave normally/properly like generating the PWM signals and calculating ADCs values even after this over-heat ie after removing the above circuit?

    Generally the controller gets damaged once this overheat occurs. Secondly please check the board for any shorts. Also, provide us with the rough conection diagram ie your launchpad with external circuit.

    Regards,

    Gautam

  • Dear Guatam,

    Thank you for your response. The board breaks down, meaning that even if I disconnect all wires from the converter it does not work, I mean the microcontroller totally dies.

    I checked the circuit and there was no short anywhere. Unfortunately I don't have any software to plot a diagram here, but it is as simple as I told you, just a ground cable connecting ground of the board the the buck converter ground, and one wire bringing the sensed voltage to the ADC and another one carrying the output PWM waveform to the MOSFET driver. 

    Could you let me know about your opinion on why this is happening?

    Thank you,

    Soroush

  • Soroush Tafvizi said:
    Could you let me know about your opinion on why this is happening?

    No shorts... hmmm weird. This means there's some kind of current sourcing or sinking issue. Propagation noise damaging the controller itself seems unlikely but wont rule out the same. 

    I would first like you to check the power supply, is it getting heavily corrupted? How do you power the board, through PC usb port? You need to check the grounding on both power and controller side.

    Regards,

    Gautam

  • Dear Gutham,

    Thank you for your response. I believe I found out what the problem was. When I checked the output buck converter 's current that I tried to sample, there were spikes at switching periods (to aorund 6 volts) that might have damaged the microcontroller. I tried to dump these spikes with a capacitor connected to the ground, and so far it has worked good!

    Thank you,

    Soroush Tafvizi

  • Soroush Tafvizi said:
    I tried to dump these spikes with a capacitor connected to the ground, and so far it has worked good!

    That's Great News, Soroush!

    Goodluck & Regards,

    Gautam