174 Re Figure 14.1. Basie Op-Amp Inverter. Table 14.1 Troubleshooting Inverting Operational Amplifiers jation of Tr Output voltage offset is ‘excessive (when input is ze) ‘Output pegged near one ‘power supply rail Output is oscillating? 14, Real Circuits and Real Problems Possible Cause Feedback R too high? Oscillation causes offset? ‘Sneak path for leakage into input? Re is wrong value? Op amp's Vos to0 big? Amplifier out of spec? Other power supply may ‘be missing? Output is shorted? Bad amplifier? Input oscillating? Power supply ose- ‘lating? P'S, bypass caps miss- ing or inadequate? Cap. load too heavy? No feedback cap? Oscillation in air? Comp cap too small? (LMBOLA or similar) Vout Solution Use lower! or better op amp with lower I Use scope, check for oscillation Check for diy, leaky 'PC board oF connectors. Make R+= Rig IR. Vigy should be < Vos x {UR yRg) + 1. Usea Vos trimpot or a better amplifier for low Vos. Ifallother causes are negative, remove op amp andiest it Check voltage on each ino the pan, nor just the PC board, See if amplifiers hot. ‘Check continuity Pall out unit testi Check input. Check cach supply ‘Try more caps, closer ‘unit, orbigger or better ones, Look for cables; measure the C load, See tex; try different values of Cy, ‘Tum off power and watch. Try adding more capac: Cominues)Back to Electronic Circuits 75 Output oscillation is Check o see if output intermittent? is ringing (see Pease's Principle), Output distorts? LLotd too heavy? (Check resistive and reactive load. Input is distoned? (Cheek the input Slew rate distortion? Test with a lower input frequency or size Resictos have bad tl france or wrong valve? Oscillations at various Check for oscillations levels? across working range. In general: Amplifier is suspected Swap in aknown good. tobe bad? amplifier ‘Swapped amplifier is ‘Swap "bad" amplifier “bad,” too? ‘nto a good circuit, "No output?” (Output Output shorted to ground? Amplifier gets hot is zero volts) “Tum off power, measure ohms. Amplifier has low Vos Put in signal thea R, (avery good op amp)? see if output moves. ‘Now, what is the best thing about this table? That it will solve all your op-amp_ problems? Hell, nol! You can surely bump into circuits and probiems that I have never seen, that I have never even envisioned—circuits that need more help than this table will give. Well, is it because it gives you some general approaches that can be used for any circuit? That is a good idea, and this is definitely of some value, but chat is not the ‘most valuable thing. ‘Okay, what is the most valuable thing about this table? The most valuable thing is that you can make up your own troubleshooting tables. You don’t have to be perfect, ‘or brilliant, or unerring. You don’t have to keep perfect notes. You don’t have 10 make a plan of action and follow it exactly, one after another sequentially. You don’t ‘even have to write your plans down, although that is usually a good idea. You don’t hhave to do any one thing, except to fink occasionally. If you do some thinking, in a ‘skeptical way, you can guess solutions and tests and answers that would take me forever. You have your own systems with which you are familiar, and your equip- ‘ment, and your friends. Together, you can solve problems that nobody else can, So, 1 ‘guess I'll admit that some confidence would be a useful tool for you. And if there are specialized techniques zhat you know, well, good for you. I never told you that I know everything. But I bet some of the techniques inthis book will be useful will throw in s couple more scenarios for other basic circuits. They may not solve every problem, dur they will indicate the breadth and depth of thinking that may be needed to solve tough circuit problems. Examples: + Single-ransistor amplifier + Positive regulator (with LM317) + Negative regulator (with LM337) + 723-type regulator + Absolute-value circuit ‘+ Instrumentation Amplifier + Switching regulator using LM3524 + Switching regulator using LM2575,176 Figure 14.2. Basic Single-Transistor Amplifier 14, Real Circuits and Real Problems Table 14.2 Troubleshooting Single-Transistor Amplifiers Indication of Trouble Ponible Cause dove Solution ‘Output at wrong DC level Collector at +12.V? Collector at +10V? Collector at +0.7 V2 Collector at OV? Base at wrong voltage Base at43 V7 Base at-3 V2 No gain or bad gain Oscillation. Low gain (non-inverting) 2 broken or missing? 3 shorted? RI shored? QU's base shorted? Q1's collector open? 3 broken of missing ‘or open? Ri of RZ has wrong, valve? CCollector-base short? ‘Short from collector toground? Solder connection missing? Base-emitter junction probably blown? PNP transistor? ‘Wrong resistor values? Input signal much too big? Capacitor missing oF too small? Bad DC bias? QU installed backwards? General: Power supply oscil- lating? Load is oscillating? Loed causes QI to oscillate? ‘Transistor broken? PNP transistor? (Check abs and volts Touch in 47k across R2. Look for shorted fol Look for shorted fo ‘Measure base voltage. ‘Cheek c- diode. (Check resistor. ‘Touch in 120 across R3. (Check resistors, Look for shorted fil Look for shorted fot or shorted transistor ‘Make sure base and emiter are actually connected. Replace QI Double-check. (Check resistor values. ‘Check with scope [Add a good capaci across Cl or C2. (Check for DC levels, as above. Check. Study frequency of osc’ ‘Check power supply: add ‘more bypasses Short Qi base to ground, look at collector? Remove load, study load, Check as above. Check.