No connection when using the DC/DC converter

[Arne Laugstøl]

Hi I don't get a connection when I run boards from PCBWay, but it works fine with the same boards manufactured by Eurocircuit. When I comment out the statement below, boards from both manufacturer works fine.

err_code = sd_power_dcdc_mode_set(NRF_POWER_DCDC_ENABLE);

Our board is based on nRF52832, and sdk 14.2.0. The two manufacturers have received identical gerber-files, bom etc. I have also double checked (and also replaced the DC/DC components on the PCBWay board, without success). The only difference between the boards is that the boards from PCBWay is thinner than the ones from Eurocircuit.

Both boards starts fine and starts advertising. But, I am not able to connect to the ones from PCBWay with DC/DC enabled (Tried 10 psc. with the same result). Every board (3 psc. from Eurocircuit connects fine.

I would appreciate any tips about what differences I should look for?

Regards Arne

[Andre]

When you connect a debugger, is the code still running after you enter DCDC mode, or does it hang? Does the entire board die, or just the radio?

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

It is hard to say what could be causing this, as the boards fabricated from the same files should be identical. As you say, the DCDC components would be the first suspects, but some other things that could affect the performance of the board is:

• Soldering or etching process could cause short between pins, or components that is not soldered to its pad
• Noise from DCDC causing RADIO RX issues
• Wrong/different component/value. Which revision is the nRF chip, and is this the same on both boards?

Could you upload the production files (schematics/layout/BOM) for a review? If you do not want to share it in public, you can create a new case on MyPage and link to this thread.