Hi

It seems as I successively fried two MAX3232E chips and I can't see what =
I did wrong.

I asked MAXIM for free samples including two MAX3232. I got them, but it =
was MAX3232E not MAX3232 (see below). They came in TSSOP packages. I =
soldered one to my prototype board and made a backloop testing of RS232 =
connection. It did not work and after a short time I felt a well-known =
smell instead. I desoldered the part and checked the board twice. I =
soldered in the second part but the result was THE SAME ;-( . I am sure =
the layout of the board is correct, I didn't mix up Vcc with the ground =
or something. Well, I have not mentioned, I hand soldered the part, but =
again, while hand soldering of TSSOP is a bit tricky I am quite =
confident I did not induce any shorted tracks during soldering.=20

As I turned to the datasheet for MAX3232E I noticed that there are some =
differences with the MAX3232. In the "Absolute maximal ratings" section =
I found this note which was absent in the datasheet for MAX3232:

=20

"This device is constructed using a unique set of packaging techniques =
that impose alimit on the thermal profile the device can be exposed to =
during board-level solder attach and rework.

<sniped>

Hand or wave soldering is not allowed".

=20

Is this note really important and this part cannot be hand soldered? Is =
it possible I damaged the chips during soldering?



Arkady
-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist