TIDUF85A August 2024 – December 2024
To sense the arc gap voltage, a similar circuit as for the string voltage sensing is used. The sense resistor R110 is increased; however, to increase sensitivity for lower voltage and allow a lower threshold for AMC23C11.
Typical arc gap voltages are in a range from 10V to 50V depending on the string current. It is important to not exceed the maximum allowed input voltage of AMC3330. This is the maximum string voltage. In case the gap is to wide and the arc extinguishes the full string voltage is applied to this voltage divider. Assuming this scenario 1500V is applied, which leads to a input voltage of 3.1V across R110. This is far outside the linear range, but still within the absolute maximum rating.
In addition a isolated comparator AMC23C11 is used to indicate when the arc gap voltage is above a threshold. This threshold is programmed using R128. A 100μA current source is implemented int the REF pin off AMC23C11 to generate the threshold voltage. R128 is selected to the minimum of 200Ω, resulting in a voltage of 20mV at the REF pin. This equals an input voltage of 9.75V. Figure 2-7 shows the schematic.