Trenz Electronic GmbH Support Forum

Trenz Electronic Products => Trenz Electronic FPGA Modules => Topic started by: MSN on August 30, 2011, 10:12:06 AM

Title: TE0300 getting really hot
Post by: MSN on August 30, 2011, 10:12:06 AM
Hey
I want to know if it's normal that my TE0300 becomes very hot during use.
In order to see if it was me who fucked something up in the UCF file, I've tried to load TE0300-01BMLP.fwu firmware, but it is still getting very hot.
The board is not connected to anything other than the usb cable and after a short time, a temperature of 79 C can be measured. 
I have 4 TE0300 boards and they are all hot.
I would just like to know if it's normal that they become so hot?
Title: Re: TE0300 getting really hot
Post by: Thorsten Trenz on August 30, 2011, 10:23:51 AM
Hi,
no, that's not normal. With the delivered bitstream, they stay quite cool. Of course depending on your bitstream, they can become hot, and need some cooling.

Which chips get hot?
What is the current consumption?
Are all voltages in normal range?

best regards
Thorsten Trenz
Title: Re: TE0300 getting really hot
Post by: MSN on August 30, 2011, 12:46:29 PM
I have measured the power consumption of 3 different TE0300 boards with the TE0300-01BMLP.fwu firmware:
Board 1: 190 mA, FPGA temperature 45 C
Board 2: 470 mA, FPGA temperature 79 C
Board 3: 930 mA, after at short time it will power down.

Is Board 1 OK?
It looks like it's FPGA which get hot.
What voltages? where to measure?
Title: Re: TE0300 getting really hot
Post by: Thorsten Trenz on August 30, 2011, 12:54:23 PM
Hi,
Board 1 seems OK, Board 2 and 3 are somehow damaged.
You'll find schematics and assembly diagram in our download section:
http://www.trenz-electronic.de/support/download-area/te0300-spartan-3e-series.html

If the FPGA gets hot, with the default bitstream, than its most likely damaged.
Possible reasons:
- ESD discharge to any pin
- Voltage greater then VCCIO an any pin
- Voltage on any IO pin with unpowered module

best regards
Thorsten Trenz