Infineon EVAL-IH-R5IPB-A-V1, User Manual, Page: 10 / 34

EVAL-IH-R5IPB-A-V1 Evaluation board
User Guide
Usage
4 Usage
The main purpose of the evaluation board is to show the features provided by the IEWS20R5135IPB in typical
application conditions. While the previous sections explained the basic purpose as well as the hardware of the
board, this section provides detailed instructions on how to set up and operate the board. Section 4.1 describes
how to replace the active switch and how to modify certain board settings, whilst section 5 deals with the
preparation and execution of different experiments.
4.1 Settings
The evaluation board is intended for testing the IEWS20R5135IPB that comes in a TO-247 6 pin package. Due to
the high number of leads, the assembly and disassembly of the device may pose particular difficulties. The
following section explains the best way to replace the switch in order to avoid damage to the PCB.
Attention: Prevent potential exposure to hazardous voltages by turning off all power supplies and
discharging the capacitors before undertaking any of the modifications described in the
remainder of this section.
4.1.1 Replacing the IEWS20R5135IPB
A PCB is subject to severe thermomechanical stress when soldering and unsoldering components. As a
consequence, the adhesion between the copper layers and the core material gets weaker and eventually copper
pads or traces may lift off and break. Normally, the best way to avoid damage to the PCB is to use press-fit pins
for connecting the TO packages and the PCB. However, such a solution cannot be used in the case of the
IEWS20R5135IPB, as the additional parasitic inductance caused by the pins would dramatically affect the
behavior of the device. As a compromise to ease the assembly and disassembly process of the device, the
mounting holes on the PCB have been deliberately designed bigger than what is normally advised by the
footprint. There are several ways of removing the TO packages from the heatsink and the board. The simplest
approach is to cut the package leads, remove the package body from the heatsink, and unsolder one lead after
another from the press-fit pins. This guarantees minimum stress on the PCB. The process is shown in Figure 6:
1. Put the board in an upright position so that the device packages face upwards (a).
2. Push a flat screw driver between the clip and the package body and twist it to pull the clip out of the
heatsink’s groove (b).
3. Cut the 6 leads off the device, starting from the collector and proceed until the VDET pin (c).
4. Remove the leftover part of the pins and clean the pads by using a soldering iron and soldering wick (d).
It is highly recommended to check the spring after mounting, as the disassembly process could modify its shape
thus loosening the pressure force. In case this happens, the original shape can be restored by means of pliers.
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Figure 6 Disassembling a device from the heatsink and the PCB
Application Note 10 of 34 V 1.1
2019-11-25