10 Watt WD Dual Series DC/DC Converters
2401 Stanwell Drive Concord, California 94520 Ph: 925/687-4411 or 800/542-3355 Fax: 925/687-3333 www.calex.com Email: sales@calex.com
4
3/2001
When using the WD Dual be sure that the impedance at the
input to the converter is less than 0.3 ohms from DC to about
120 kHz, this is usually not a problem in battery powered
systems when the converter is connected directly to the
battery. If the converter is located more than about 1 inch from
the input source an added capacitor may be required directly
at the input pins for proper operation.
The maximum permissible source impedance is a function
of output power and line voltage. The impedance can be
higher when operating at less than full power. The minimum
impedance is required when operating with a 18 volt input at
full load. In general you should keep the voltage measured
across the input pins less than 0.5 volts peak to peak (not
including the high frequency spikes) for maximum converter
performance.
There is no lower limit on the allowed source impedance,
it can be any physically realizable value, even approaching 0.
If the source impedance is too large in your system you
should choose an external input capacitor as detailed below.
Picking An External Input Capacitor
If an input capacitor is needed at the input to the converter it
must be sized correctly for proper converter operation. The
curve
“
RMS Input Current Vs Line Input
”
shows the RMS
ripple current that the input capacitor must withstand with
varying loading conditions and input voltages.
Several system tradeoff
’
s must be made for each particular
system application to correctly size the input capacitor.
The probable result of undersizing the capacitor is increased
self heating, shortening it
’
s life. Oversizing the capacitor can
have a negative effect on your products cost and size,
although this kind of overdesign does not result in shorter life
of any components.
There is no one optimum value for the input capacitor. The
size and capacity depend on the following factors:
1) Expected ambient temperature and your temperature
derating guidelines.
2) Your ripple current derating guidelines.
3) The maximum anticipated load on the converter.
4) The input operating voltage, both nominal and excursions.
5) The statistical probability that your system will spend a
significant time at any worst case extreme.
Factors 1 and 2 depend on your system design guidelines.
These can range from 50 to 100% of the manufacturers listed
maximum rating, although the usual derating factor applied is
about 70%. 70% derating means if the manufacturer rated the
capacitor at 1 A RMS you would not use it over 0.7 A RMS in
your circuit.
Factors 3 and 4 realistically determine the worst case ripple
current rating required for the capacitor along with the RMS
ripple current curve.
Factor 5 is not easy to quantify. At CALEX we can make no
assumptions about a customers system so we leave to you
the decision of how you define how big is big enough.
Suitable capacitors for use at the input of the converter are
given at the end of this section.
Very Low Noise Input Circuit
Figure 2 shows a very low noise input circuit that may be used
with the converters. This circuit will reduce the input reflected
ripple current to less than 10 mA peak-peak (Vin = 48 V, 10
kHz to 1 MHz bw). See the discussion above for the optimum
selection of C1.
Figure 2.
This circuit will reduce the input reflected ripple current to less than
10 mA peak to peak. See the discussion in the text for help on the
optimum selection of C1. L1 should be sized to handle the maximum
input current at your lowest operating voltage and maximum expected
output power.
Suggested Capacitor Sources
These capacitors may be used to lower your sources input
impedance at the input of the converter. These capacitors will
work for 100% load, worst case input voltage and ambient
temperature extremes. They however, may be oversized for
your exact usage, see
“
Picking An External Input Capacitor
”
above for more information. You may also use several smaller
capacitors in parallel to achieve the same ripple current rating.
This may save space in some systems.
Suitable capacitors can be found from the following sources:
United Chemi-Con
Suggested Part:
SXE, RXC, RZ and RZA series
SXE100VB33RM10X15LL
33μF, 100V, 105
°
C RATED
ESR=0.3 OHMS
Allowable Ripple at 85
°
C = 0.8A
Nichicon
Suggested Part:
PR and PF series
UPR2A100MHH
100μF, 100V, 105
°
C RATED
ESR=0.18 OHMS
Allowable Ripple at 85
°
C = 0.8A
Panasonic
Suggested Part:
TS-NH Series
ECES2AG331D
330μF, 100V, 105
°
C RATED
ESR=0.2 OHMS
Allowable Ripple at 85
°
C = 1.1A
L1 = 20 μH
C1= See Text
C2= 10 μF/100 V, 0.25 - 1 ohm ESR