I have a prototype board with the bq24620. The PowerPad on the bottom of the IC should be tied to ground according to the datasheet; however, on these prototype boards the PowerPad is floating and does not connect to anything intentionally.
I wrote "intentionally" above because the Gerber plots show the PowerPad not attached to any nets; however, pins 2, 6, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 13, 12, and 14 are all tied hard to ground. Pin 11 is the only pin that should be on ground so there is a possibility of the PowerPad being shorted to all the pins listed above during building of these boards.
If I can prevent the PowerPad from shorting all those pins (assuming that is what is happening) does the design have a chance of working? I realize the lack of ground on the PowerPad will reduce current carrying ability and heat transfer. Is the ground connection on pin 11 enough to allow the design to charge a pair of Li-ion batteries?
