PWM pin floating (even with NRFX_PWM_PIN_INVERTED)

[builder01]

Hi,

I'm testing a prototype with the nRF52840 where I drive a buzzer in the following way:

When I play a signal, I see that the current through the buzzer is about 14mA, which seems reasonable. I do this by writing 0x01 to a characteristic.

The audio only plays for less than 1 second. However, the current remains the same even when it's at silence. The VBE of the 2N3904 is at 0.46V approx.

However, if I use nrfx_pwm_stop(&m_pwm, false) (by writing 0x00 to the characteristic), then the current through the buzzer goes up to 114mA! Measuring Vbe, I find that it's now at 1.1V, which is for sure the cause of the problem.

Obviously, the solution is to put a pull-down resistor at this pin.

The question is: is there a way to handle this within the library?

I'm actually initializing the pin with the NRFX_PWM_PIN_INVERTED, which should pull the pin down, nominally. However, for some reason, this isn't working when stopping the tone.
This is the code with which I initialize the PWM module:

  nrfx_pwm_config_t const pwm_config= 
  {
    .output_pins  = { gpio_pin | NRFX_PWM_PIN_INVERTED,
                      NRFX_PWM_PIN_NOT_USED,
                      NRFX_PWM_PIN_NOT_USED,
                      NRFX_PWM_PIN_NOT_USED },
    .irq_priority = NRF_PWM_AUDIO_PRIORITY,
    .base_clock   = NRF_PWM_CLK_16MHz,
    .count_mode   = NRF_PWM_MODE_UP,
    .top_value    = NRF_PWM_AUDIO_COUNTERTOP,
    .load_mode    = PWM_DECODER_LOAD_Common,
    .step_mode    = PWM_DECODER_MODE_RefreshCount      
  };

Thanks in advance for your help!

[builder01]

I realized my mistake now:

The problem is solved if NRFX_PWM_PIN_INVERTED is removed from my code.

If it's disabled, then the pin will be set high (because it's inverted). Therefore, the logic output will be 1, the voltage will be high, thus the BJT driving transistor will be permanently on, duh!