Potential DSC Damage

[EricVanWyk]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

I assume a short from 5V to common would damage the DSC in some fashion, yes?

Thanks for the clarification.

Usually, it would be fine. The 5V supply will detect the short and shut itself down. Periodically it will wake up and try again. I don't remember the exact numbers, but with a dead short I think it averages out to 100-200mA (don't quote me on that). I've left the supply shorted out for hours at a time on the bench without issue.

There is a "danger zone" where it doesn't draw quite enough current to detect the fault. In a worst case scenario, a specially tuned resistance could draw up to 5 Amps continuous. Maybe the sensor + wire path has exactly the wrong amount of resistance?

I'm still mildly surprised it caused permanent damage. 5 Amps is a lot, but there is a solid connection to the power and ground planes to wick away the heat. I'm wondering if bonus current is being added to the circuit - maybe from the compressor?