Michael F. Robbins on Wed, 22 Jan 2003 20:21:03 -0500


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Re: [PLUG] Component Level


On Wed, 2003-01-22 at 19:05, Bob Schwier wrote:
> They must be running this as a simple diode.  It does come to pass that
> when you design in the shop, you use the parts that you can actually get
> ahold of.  You may be looking at a hardware kludge that got enshrined in
> the production model because nobody thought to correct it.

While it is true that most MOSFETs these days have internal protection
diodes and can be used for just that purpose if desired, note that (as
was mentioned earlier in this thread) two pins on the package are
connected to the board, in addition to the actual back of the transistor
package.  This is typically electrically connected to one of the pins. 
It would make sense for it to be connected to ground here, as the source
pin of the MOSFET.  This is just based on experience, as I don't have
any knowledge about the specific part being used here.

Michael F. Robbins
mike@gamerack.com

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