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Comments on Unexpected High Quiescent Current in Step-up converter with Fast EN Cycling

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Unexpected High Quiescent Current in Step-up converter with Fast EN Cycling

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We’ve been working with the this boost regulator and set it up according to the attached schematic. To minimize power consumption, the approach was to enable the boost once every 31.25 ms: we pull the EN pin high (‘1’), take a reading, and then switch it off again.

During analysis, we noticed something unexpected: even in sleep mode (EN held low), the overall current consumption was higher than expected. In fact, the boost converter itself was consuming more power than anticipated, even when EN was always low.

At this point, we are considering leaving the device permanently enabled (EN tied to VIN). However, we are trying to understand whether our initial approach could have caused damage. Specifically:

Could toggling EN at ~31.25 ms intervals lead to long-term damage of the MCP16251?

Is there a specified maximum frequency or duty cycle for cycling the regulator ON/OFF via the EN pin?

Has anyone seen similar behavior or found guidance on safe enable/disable cycling speeds for this device? Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Schematic

History

2 comment threads

Use actual numbers! (1 comment)
Why is there a downvote to this question? (1 comment)
Use actual numbers!
Olin Lathrop‭ wrote about 1 year ago

"Higher than expected" current means nothing to us since we don't know what you expected. I didn't downvote, but the existing downvote could be for this obvious sloppiness. Also what exactly was drawing the current? The 3.3 V input to the chip? The 5 V resulting supply? Something else?