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
5
3/2001
Grounding
The input and output sections are fully floating from each
other. They may be operated fully floating or with a common
ground. If the input and output sections are connected either
directly at the converter or at some remote location from the
converter it is suggested that a 1 to 10μF, 0.5 to 5 ohm ESR
capacitor bypass be used directly at the converters output
pins. These capacitors prevent any common mode switching
currents from showing up at the converters output as normal
mode output noise. See
“
Applying the Output
”
for more
information on selecting output capacitors.
Also see the CALEX application note
“
Dealing With
Common Mode Noise
”
for more information on using common
grounds.
Case Grounding
The copper case serves not only as a heat sink but also as a
EMI shield. The 0.017 inch thick case provides >20 dB of
absorption loss to both electric and magnetic fields at 120
kHz, while at the same time providing 20 to 40 % better heat
sinking over competitive thin steel, aluminum or plastic designs.
The case shield is tied to the CMN output pin. This
connection is shown on the block diagram. The case is
floating from the input sections. The input is coupled to the
outputs only by the low 375 pF of isolation capacitance. This
low I/O capacitance insures that any AC common mode noise
on the inputs is not coupled to your output circuits.
Compare this isolation to the more usual 1000 - 2000 pF
found on competitive designs and you will see that CALEX
provides the very best DC and AC isolation available. After all,
you are buying an isolated DC/DC to cut ground loops. Don
’
t
let the isolation capacitance add them back in.
Temperature Derating
The WD Dual series can operate up to 85
°
C case temperature
without derating. Case temperature may be roughly calculated
from ambient by knowing that the case temperature rise is
approximately 16
°
C per package watt dissipated.
For example: If a WD Dual converter is delivering 8 Watts
with a 48 volt input, at what ambient could it expect to run with
no moving air and no extra heatsinking
Efficiency of the converter is approximately 80% at 8 watts
of output power, this leads to an input power of about 10
Watts. The case temperature rise would be 10 - 8 Watts or 2
Watts x 16 = 32
°
C. This number is subtracted from the
maximum case temperature of 85
°
C to get: 53
°
C.
This example calculation is for a WD Dual without any extra
heat sinking or appreciable air flow. Both of these factors can
greatly effect the maximum ambient temperature (see below).
Exact efficiency depends on input line and load conditions,
check the efficiency curves for exact information.
This is a rough approximation to the maximum ambient
temperature. Because of the difficulty of defining ambient
temperature and the possibility that the loads dissipation may
actually increase the local ambient temperature significantly,
these calculations should be verified by actual measurement
before committing to a production design.
Applying The Output
Figure 1 shows typical output connections for the WD Dual. In
most applications no external output capacitance will be
necessary. Only your normal 1 to 10μF tantalum and 0.001 to
0.1μF ceramic bypass capacitors sprinkled around your circuit
as needed locally are required. Do not add extra output
capacitance and cost to your circuit
“
Just Because
”
.
If you feel you must add external output capacitance, do
not use the lowest ESR, biggest value capacitor that you can
find! This can only lead to reduced system performance or
oscillation. See our application note
“
Understanding Output
Impedance For Optimum Decoupling
”
for more information
and by all means use our low noise circuit provided.
Single Ended 10, 24 or 30 V Outputs
The dual outputs may also be used in a single ended mode as
shown in figure 1 to get 10, 24 or 30 volts of output at the full
rated power levels. To use the single ended mode just
connect your load to the + and - Output pins and leave the
CMN pin floating.
Ultra Low Noise Output Circuit
The circuit shown in figure 3 can be used to reduce the output
noise to below 10 mV p-p over a 20 MHz bandwidth. Size
inductor L1 appropriately for the maximum expected load
current. All of the ground connections must be as short as
possible back to the CMN pin. The filter should be placed as
close to the WD Dual as possible, even if your load is at some
distance from the converter.
Figure 3.
This circuit can reduce the output noise to below 10 mV p-p over a
20 MHz bandwidth. Size inductor L1 appropriately for the maximum
expected load current. The filter should be constructed as close as
possible to the converter and all of the ground connections must be
as short as possible back to the CMN pin.
Operation With Very Light Loads
Dynamic response and cross regulation of the WD Dual will
degrade when the unit is operated with less than about 25%
of full rated power. If this is a problem the most lightly loaded
output may be
“
Pre-Loaded
”
with a resistor to common as
needed. The exact amount of preloading required is dependent
on your system requirements, so some experimentation is
necessary to arrive at the optimum value.
L1 = 20 μH
C1= 22 μF / 20 V, Tantalum
C2= 0.01 μF / 100 V, Ceramic