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Associate
October 17, 2025
Solved

L6982CDR application problem.

  • October 17, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 681 views

Hi,We're encountering an issue with the L6982CDR buck converter in our application. Here's the detailed scenario: Configuation: We're using it to convert a 24V input to a 5V output to power the board. Load: The 5V output supplies a load current of approximately 200mA. System Context: The same 24V input is also used to drive a stepper motor. Problem:Following mass production, some units have experienced a loss of the 5V output. The occurrence rate of this failure is low. Key Observations: This fault occurs during operation, not at power-up. The fault clears if the 24V power is restarted. When the failure happens, we measured a normal 24V input voltage and a normal voltage at the VCC pin of the IC. However, the SW pin output remains low. Notably, we have used this chip reliably for a long time, and this is a recent issue.

Here is the schematic of our product:

PL3_1-1760668895581.png

 

Here is the PCB of our product:

PL3_0-1760668869816.png

 

Please let me know if anything is unclear or if you need any tests performed We would appreciate your guidance on troubleshooting this.

Best answer by Peter BENSCH

My only suggestion is to revise the layout. It is important to observe the basic design guidelines for switching regulators:

  • clean separation of the main current path and sensitive surroundings (feedback line, etc.) instead of a large, shared GND plane
  • route the main current path on one level without vias if possible
  • etc

Regards
/Peter

1 reply

Peter BENSCH
Technical Moderator
October 17, 2025

Welcome @PL3, to the community!

You probably connected the stepper motor to VCCMT and thus decoupled it from the L6982 via FL2? What is the inductance of FL2?

Nevertheless, depending on the operating conditions, overvoltage pulses from the motor can have a retroactive effect on the L6982 and possibly cause the problem you observed. This could result in a latch-up effect or maybe the overvoltage protection being triggered.

Your layout looks good, at least in the visible area. Unfortunately, the presumably large GND plane, to which many GND vias are connected, is not shown. Have you considered separating the current paths cleanly, e.g. by using star-shaped GND routing?

Regards
/Peter

Explorer
October 20, 2025

Hello,Peter

My colleague PL3 is on leave, so I am now handling this matter.

In our design,connected the stepper motor to VCCMT and thus decoupled it from the L6982 via FL2(Wurth 742792651)

Our design uses a 6-layer PCB with complete ground plane layers, as shown in the figure below.

Wtm_0-1760923960265.png

The failure recurrence rate is currently quite low in our case, occurring only about once a month. Do you have any suggestions for testing methods or design improvements?Looking forward to your reply!

Regards

 

Peter BENSCH
Technical Moderator
October 20, 2025

Do you have any further information about the failure?

For example, is the motor being turned backwards from externally?