Questions tagged [reliability]
The reliability tag has no usage guidance.
165
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How reliable are screw terminal blocks when the connected cables are allowed to sway a little bit?
2.54 Screw terminal blocks are a really convenient way to wire up devices without the need to solder a port or a jack connector.
However, with all their convenience, how reliable are screw terminal ...
8
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4
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Should I protect against collapsing field effects of a microcontroller-driven small-signal relay coil?
I am building a simple engage/bypass switch for musical (e.g. electric guitar) effects. The signal switching will be done by a single coil (bistable) latching relay, such as the Panasonic TQ2-L-5V. ...
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High reliability, automatic reset, enable switch
I am currently facing the issue that I am currently working on a subsystem for a high power industrial automation system. The panel of this subsystem consists of a lot of components, however here only ...
2
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1
answer
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Output agreement with \$n\$-bit TMR majority gates
I am currently researching triple-modular redundancy implementations and majority-gate voting logic and I'm wondering how the canonical single-bit majority voters found in textbooks are scaled up to ...
4
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2
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171
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Radiation tolerance of MCUs
I'm working on a cubesat project intended to operate in low earth orbit. We're considering a few different options for our flight computer, ranging from Raspberry Pi to something like STM32L476. ...
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3
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How to calculate Bit Error Rate of an electronic equipment with several parts?
I am currently studying integrity of data into electronic systems facing Single Event Effects.
I am focusing on data integrity inside an electronic equipment.
I've been through a lot of papers ...
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5
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153
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Failsafe for relay contact welding
So, I'm fiddling with a design for a widget, and one of the "fun" parts is to ensure that power is reliably cut without human intervention. Power is normally controlled by relays, which have ...
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7
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Is "automotive" grade always better?
I'm working on the parts list for a number of designs for low-voltage (24 VDC) industrial circuits that have no special safety requirements: so long as they don't catch fire no one could be hurt nor ...
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Brief short circuit effects on long-term reliability of a battery
I have ten 220uF ceramic capacitors across a 3.7V 18650 li-ion battery.
The total 2200uF therefore effectively shorts out the battery for about
a millisecond every time I insert it.
Is this ...
5
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2
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77
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Classifying levels of dust and dirt inside power electronics
I have a fleet (100+) of 100 kVA and above uninterruptible power supplies across the UK. They are designed to be super reliable. I work as the "reliability engineer" so local engineers ...
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Capacitors in the path of power and ground
Is there any risk of using capacitors or decoupling capacitors directly between a top level power supply and Vss?
The electrical rule checks don't propagate voltage through capacitors so this issue of ...
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3
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What are the invisible reasons why many discrete transistors do not qualify for automotive use?
I looked today at the datasheets of
this unqualified
and
this qualified
product (per the AEC-Q101 automotive standard) and found no substantial difference, but I assume some stress damages only the ...
3
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Impact of transistor gate connected directly to a supply net/ internal supply
The risk of connecting gate of transistor in analog design is not very much in latest process technologies.
But what is the impact of connected gate to power net unintentionally? Will it damage the ...
1
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3
answers
227
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GPIO with no pullups or pulldowns
I have a SPDT switch connected to a GPIO pin on an nRF52810 microcontroller.
The switch has two positions:
Shorts the GPIO to GND
Shorts the GPIO to V+
The switch is used to toggle a software ...
7
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2
answers
711
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How do the electrical characteristics of an ADC degrade over lifetime?
How do the electrical characteristics of an ADC typically degrade over lifetime?
And is there a way to do a somewhat realistic worst-case estimate for that before doing aging tests over a big batch?
...
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How did the vacuum tube computer technicians know when a tube had failed?
I have read that in vacuum tube computers, a tube would fail every couple of days. How did the technicians know that a tube had failed?
Wouldn't a broken tube silently cause the calculations to ...
0
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1
answer
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I2C Hot Swap design and feasibility
I would like to hear if someone has successfully implemented a working connectable/disconnectable I2C interface. I'm working with the back plane (host device) and am looking into implementing a I2C ...
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1
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If a motor driver IC has shoot-through protection does the controller need to add deadtime?
I'm designing a motor driver and controller system for an E-Bike, and I'm currently using the IRSM836-084MA. The datasheet mentions that it has "cross-conduction prevention logic", but to my ...
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3
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PFHD of Dual Redundant Self Checking Circuit
I'm calculating some ridiculous PFHD values for a Dual Redundant Self Checking Circuit and since I'm no expert in reliability calculations (cough) I wanted to check some of the logic.
I have two ...
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0
answers
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How can we model the piezoelectric behavior of a capacitor to mechanical and thermal transients?
I would like to model the behavior of ceramic capacitor to thermal and mechanical stress.
We are seeing power supply fluctuations during reliability test and suspecting the ceramic capacitors' role in ...
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4
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1k
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Soviet-era mounting techniques to absorb vibration (THT components)
This question is about a historical point of view.
I was watching this video about a Soviet-era dialer. As many Russian devices of that time, the construction is simple and in some aspects strange (...
3
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1
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240
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Why do speed sensors fail so often?
The typical vehicle speed sensor (variable reluctance sensor) is a very basic device which essentially amounts to a coil of wire wrapped around a permanent magnet.
Simple, yes, but very reliable? ...
4
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2
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224
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When to use a high voltage resistor vs multiple standard resistors?
Looking for the smallest & most reliable method of dropping 360V down to ~1V for a PMIC feedback pin. Reliability is probably the most important variable here.
Question:
In general are we be ...
1
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1
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139
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Should I be worried about the possibility of a microcontroller failing?
I'm making a commercial product for the first time and I am worried about the stability of my circuit over time.
The product is a door interlocking system. It locks and unlocks doors using solenoid ...
2
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2
answers
193
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Reliable connection for thin wire
I am searching for a reliable wire-to-board connection. The wire is 0.1 mm enamelled wire. The wire is solderable, but the polymer is very temperature resistant and needs to be mechanically removed ...
1
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2
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192
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Power source redundancy for low voltage application
I am trying to design a circuit that u would like to be as reliable as possible. One feature I would like to add to my circuit is an additional voltage regulator for redundancy purpose. The problem is ...
0
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3
answers
266
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The Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) Quantity
It is the amount of time a system is operational i.e. MTTF plus the amount of time to repair it MTTR.
I am considering repairable systems only.
I know that it helps in scheduling maintenance, safety ...
0
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1
answer
62
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longer reliability in power systems
The highlighted term "longer", I think it should have been lower.
What is longer reliability?
0
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0
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60
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STM32L4S9 low temperature FLASH memory programming
As there is no information on the internet I hope that I will not have any problems (as there are no complaints :) ).
My device will receive OTA updates and my question is:
Did you have any problems ...
0
votes
2
answers
99
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THT components reliability and advantages for small scale production [closed]
Examining this question in the "manufacturing of not consumer electronics".
I'm looking for an opinion by others about some statements that I take for correct.
Are THT components in general ...
0
votes
1
answer
55
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Graphic cards/components reliability after crypto minning
In the near future we will be probably flooded with graphic cards they were used for crypto mining. There are many not very well-founded discussions about their reliability. And similarly many un-...
0
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Can an n-channel mosfet gate be held closed for months at a time and still reliably open when Vin falls below threshold?
I made a prototype circuit to detect the loss of individual 12V lithium batteries in a larger parallel bank due to BMS cutoff (12V continuous signal from an individual battery suddenly becomes open ...
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Which is more robust against temperature cycles, solder or wire wrap?
When connecting a bunch of components in something that will be subject to repeated heating and cooling, are soldered joints likely to be more or less robust than wire wrap?
Intuitively, it feels like ...
3
votes
1
answer
131
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Calculation for IC lifetime for supply voltage overvoltage
What calculation can be used to calculate the lifetime of an embedded processor (<28nm process) when subject to a slight overvoltage?
The supply rail in question is for analog portions of the ...
2
votes
2
answers
302
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Mosfet thermal problems in linear applications
Modern power FET's can be unreliable in some linear applications due to thermal instability causing die hotspots and premature failure. This is called the Spirito effect. How do Silicon Carbide ...
22
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5
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How can we test the lifespan of electrical components?
We work with some electronic devices in our projects. We are at the stage where we need to create some test strategy to validate the lifespan (e.g. 1 to 5 years) of our devices for which we provide ...
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4
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Relay - Doesn't work....at first
I have a latching small signal <2A relay (V23079E1201B301) that switches between two audio signals. The relay has worked in about 10k boards over 7-8 years without much issue. We recently got a run ...
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0
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Durability of SMD MEMS pressure sensors in pure oxygen enviroment
I have a question regarding durability/reliability of COTS SMD mems pressure sensors in oxygen rich (basically 100%) atmosphere under pressure of 1bar/1atm and temperature around 20C/293K.
Sensor ...
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239
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Latching Priority Encoder, circuit works but I don't trust it
I added a schematic even though the question is actually too simple for it. The datasheets for the devices are likely to be more revealing.
The circuit is super simple. I have a 74HC148 priority ...
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0
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How to detect brushless DC motor wear?
The manufacturer of the brushless motor does not specify a lifetime for the particular motor I am using (BLDC5-R-57BL120L2.) For my application it is essential that the axial and radial movement of ...
1
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1
answer
487
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Base-emitter reverse breakdown and current
I have a circuit as follows,
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
which provides a control current to an OTA as \$i_\mathrm{abc} = (3.27\mathrm{V} - V_\mathrm{in})/R1\$. ...
0
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0
answers
238
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How does manufacturer determine initial tolerance for capacitors?
Short version: I understand resistor initial tolerance is commonly obtained through sorting process where manufacturer only picks resistor that has resistance within the advertised initial tolerance. ...
0
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1
answer
538
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Turn off MOSFET with diode - PWM controller Maximal output current
Here is my circuit (and I know that this circuit does not cause any problems at least for the moment):
For turning on, the maximal current from the pin "OUT" is limited by the resistance ...
0
votes
1
answer
145
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Is is possible to calculate the MTBF or Failure rate from a given datasheet when manufacturer have not given these details?
As there are new components getting added to the mouser or digikey, is it possible to calculate the failure rate based on some pre known facts and values? some vendors don't reply for weeks and I can'...
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1
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What to check for when buying an electronic component or module
This has been raised as a canonical Q and A for future reference
How can I acquire electronic parts/items/modules and ensure that there is minimal risk of them being unsuitable for my project or ...
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Why do bare die chips (MOSFET) have a maximum storage temperature?
As far as I understand, a chip in general and a MOSFET in particular has a maximum operating temperature (let‘s say 125 °C or 150 °C for Si) because above that temperature the risk increases of ...
0
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2
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149
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Electronic device operating temperature declaration
How is device operating temperature range determined? I supposed that for a specified temperature range all the built in components have to support it. I am in doubt because I saw some commercial ...
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2
answers
379
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Why are 3.5mm audio jacks unreliable?
Several of my devices with 3.5mm jacks make unreliable connections. The sound will cut out when the plug is wiggled slightly, or one ear will not have sound at all, or the sound will "cancel" in a way ...
0
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4
answers
713
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Is exceeding Opamp Common Mode Voltage safe?
I understand that when you exceed an Opamps Common mode voltage limit that the output will no longer be reliable. And that this limit is often a bit less that the supply rails. But would slightly ...
0
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1
answer
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Li-Ion Battery Swelling Mechanism
I have recently had both a tablet (manufactured 2013) and a phone (manufactured 2017) battery
swell (both batteries are Li-ion). The photo below shows the tablet's damage. Both
batteries still ...