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BQ78PL116 cell count

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: BQWIZARD, BQ78PL116

I manated to let a scope probe ground clip touch SW3-1 and it took out Q8.  After replacing Q8 I have not been able to "build the LAN" due to the '116 only seeing 0 cells when 7 is expected.  So I'm wondering if I have a software problem or a hardware one.  Except for not pumping one cell before the Q8 replacement, it all worked.  At this point the bqWizard can talk to the EVM, but I have to click the Ignore button when trying to connect.  At Commands | Connect to pack, I get "Error reading data: An error has occurred while reading the parameters.  The data displayed may not reflect any recent changes."  That's where I click Ingore.  I also get a pop-up message box that says "LAN not built, reported number of cells does not equal expected number of cells."  I see the expected voltages at test points V1 thru V7.  The Pack Confuguration tab shows expected number of cells = 7, actual number of cells = 0.

How does the EVM determine how many cells are hooked-up?

Thanks,

Bob

 

  • Bob,

    Your PL116 is probably damaged. You can touch it to see if it is getting hot. You can also check the voltage across the LDO1 and LDO2 capacitors to see if they are 2.5V. The device uses the cell configuration that you input with the tmap file and tries to build the VLAN bus during initialization. If it cannot configured the proper number of cells, then it will report 0 cells and quit.

    Regards

    Tom

  • Good call, Tom.  2.5 V across C31 (VLD02), but 4 V across C28 (VLD01).  I thought that I heard a small spark when I was trying to probe Q8-1 and shorted it to Q8-2.  I had just previously verified 2.5 V on VLD01.  Must have been my luck to catch an inductor discharge.  The 116 is cool to the touch, though, and it does talk to the EVM.  And there appears to be data on PLAN, though I don't know if -4V, 15 uS pulses riding on 10 V is correct.  I guess I only broke a small part of the '116.  One woulen't think that Q8-1 (a gate with 20K and 3300 pf) could bother anything, but maybe an inductor got involved.

    Luckily, I have already ordered my next (3rd) EVM, planning to try to use one to test my upcoming 1-amp pump circuitry.  I expect delivery next week, while I'll be on vacation.  This means that I can't break another EVM for a week.

    Thanks,

    Bob

     

  • Bob,

    You should try replacing the PL116. It is not too hard, if you have a reflow station.

    Tom

  • Tom,

    I just spent the morning browsing for reflow stations.  Any recommendations?

    Bob

     

  • Bob, 

    I assumed that your company would have solder rework station available for you to use. There are several good hot air solder reflow stations available on the market, but I cannot  make recommendations online. I will contact you by email.

    Regards
    Tom

  • Hello Tom:

          I am an aftersale service technicain,and I want to replace an new bq78PL116 to the normal battery protection board.And I just have a hot air solder.I have to solder it by myself.But I did not know what the proper temperature for such a soldering procedure is.I set the temperature of hot air to be 310℃ to solder the pad which is under the IC on the board firstly and set the tempperature to be 380℃ to solder its pins around the IC on the board.But when I connected the board to bqWizard,it display a warning message"unable connect to the device,please check the power and the connection to the harware ".I think that I may set the temperature in a wrong way to demage the IC when I solder it. Would you like to tell me the proper temperature for such a DIY solder procedure If I solder it using hot air solder?

     

        Regards.

        Shaw

  • Shaw,

    Here is a document that covers the general guidelines for working with QFN packages. It should apply to the PL116 as well.

    Tom

    slua271a.pdf

  • Hello Tom:

    Thanks for your reply in time.
    And there is an important thing I should let you know firstly.I can not find some official agency to sale bq78PL116 in China.So I have to buy the new ones from the wedsite called Alibaba.When I received the new IC.I replace it on to the protection board directly.I did not know if I would make some other initialized procedure,for example downloading some firmware using some special software,before I connect the IC to bqWizard software.And I found that the ICs which I bought them from Alibaba are new.But I did not know if I could use them directly without some other initialized procedure.Could I connect the IC to bqWizard software directly as soon as I received the new IC and solder it on the protection board directly?

    I checked the data file about bq78PL116.It mentions some information about firmware.I can not understand such a part well.And I did not know if there is the firmware in every bq78PL116 when TI company make bq78PL116,and if I can using it directly to connect to bqWizard software.

    Regards.
  • Shaw,
    The PL116 is shipped with firmware already installed and the firmware can be reloaded using the bootloader in the bqWizard tool. The default setup is for three series cells and you can reconfigure this with tmap tool in bqWizard.

    Tom
  • Hello Tom:

         I replaced several bq78PL116 ICs fro my protection board.I thought I may buy the bad IC.Would you like to tell me the official price of bq78PL116?If so I can make the reference to judge if I bought the fake ones.I did not buy it in the official website in China.

        Regards.

        Shaw

  • DigiKey shows that they sell for $9 to $12.