Power Supply Design Checklist

Focus:

This 2-page design checklist aims to help designers avoid reliability problems with power supplies operating in either severe or benign environments. It warns of potential power supply design problems and offers possible solutions and recommendations. For operation in extreme environments, the checklist addresses issues such as transient effects, ac ripple current effects, corrosion due to leakage, aluminum electrolytic capacitors, temperature stability, packaging techniques, saturation, potentiometers, short mounting leads, static discharge damage, FET versus bipolar device, junction temperatures, mechanical stresses, solder joint process, and cooling. For benign environments, the checklist addresses issues such as part and unity quality, part derating, electrical parameters, failure analysis, protection circuits, fault flags, and reliability experience.

What you’ll learn:

• How to avoid reliability problems when designing power supplies for extreme or benign environments

Notes:

Steve Sandler of AEi Systems comments that some of the information in this checklist is out of date. Sandler notes that Baker clamps (which were used to protect bipolar transistors) went out with the advent of MOSFETs.He also comments that aluminum capacitors are prohibited for all airborne applications and mica caps are all but obsolete. (Exact publication date of this checklist is not specified. Document is copyright 2001.)

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Author & Publication:

no author specified, Alion Science and Technology, Vendor website, Jan 01 2001

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