Minimize Short-Circuit Current Pulse in Hot-Swap Controller

Abstract:Becauseofinternalcircuit-breakerdelayandlimitedMOS-gatepulldowncurrent,manyhot-swapcontrollersdonotlimitcurrentduringthefirst10µsto50µsfollowingashortedoutput.Theresultcanbeabriefflowofseveralhundredamperes.Asimpleexternalcircuitcountersthisproblembyminimizingtheinitialcurrentspikeandterminatingtheshortcircuitwithin200nsto500ns.Maxim>AppNotes>AMPLIFIERANDCOMPARATORCIRCUITSCIRCUITPROTECTIONHOT-SWAPANDPOWERSWITCHINGCIRCUITSKeywords:hot-swapcontrollers,inrushcurrent,circuitprotection,short-circuitcurrentAug27,2004APPLICATIONNOTE3328MinimizeShort-CircuitCurrentPulseinHot-SwapControllerAbstract:Becauseofinternalcircuit-breakerdelayandlimitedMOS-gatepulldowncurrent,manyhot-swapcontrollersdonotlimitcurrentduringthefirst10sto50sfollowingashortedoutput.Theresultcanbeabriefflowofseveralhundredamperes.Asimpleexternalcircuitcountersthisproblembyminimizingtheinitialcurrentspikeandterminatingtheshortcircuitwithin200nsto500ns.Atypical+12V,6A,hot-swapcontrollercircuit(Figure1)contains(like