We have some stability problems with our DC-DC-regulator design using TPS40041.
At high current the system gets unstable and the TPS40041 turns off (Short Circuit Protection?), also the calculated max current wasn't reached.
The max current is depending very much by the switching MOSFET device IRF7910. Changing a "good" with a "bad" IRF7910 on the PCB causes a factor 2 in max current.
- Changing the COMP R-C-network does not solve the problem. (Thank you, Na, for the link to the compensation design tool).
- Adding a 2,7 Ohm bootstrap capacitor series resistor, the regulator works with all IR7910 until the calculated max current. This would solve our problem.
- We also tested the different Short Circuit Current Limit Thresholds using a resistor at the COMP pin. Here we found that the regulator switched off at lower current using a 12-kΩ resistor, and at higher current using s 2.4-kΩ resistor. This is the inverse behaviour, than we expected from the datasheet.
Can this behaviour give you a hint, what is wrong with our design? Is there a typo in the datasheet?
Thank you.
Regards,
Joachim