I am designing a new sensor circuit running ESP32-C3-13 MCU. I used TPL5111 in order to save battery power with RTR040N03 n-channel MOSFET for switch reason and turn off ESP by sending DONE signal over ESP32 IO10. There's no problem with this setup if I don't add one more RTR040N03 (top-right) and attach it to the GND. But when I attach to the GND, TPL5111 do not start and can't generate signal on DRVn to RTR040N03 gate and as a a result device do not work. Please find the design below;
The circuit powering up by TPL5111 thru Q1 MOSFET periodically. Additionally circuit can be powering up by N-channel RTR040N03 MOSFET when the user push tack switch. The problem is when I attach R5 and R6 to GND circuit is powering up as expected and MCU understand that switch has been pushed by reading LOW signal on IO7 pin. But in the case TPL5111 is not work.
If I drop R6 nd R5 TPL5111 works properly but Q2 and Q3 not.
I hope that it i clear. Thank you for your support.
Do you mean just having R5 and R6 in the circuit, without pressing the power button, the TPL doesn't bring the Q1 gate high?
If you leave R5 and R6 in place, but disconnect IO7, does the TPL work then?
By the way, I don't think it's relevant to your problem, but you have R5 and R6 connected wrong. They should go to the other side of R3 and R4. As you have it now, you've created a voltage divider, and are only supplying 1.65V to the gates, which is barely above the maximum gate threshold voltage.
Do you mean just having R5 and R6 in the circuit, without pressing the power button, the TPL doesn't bring the Q1 gate high?
Yes, When I connect R5 and R6 to ground, TPL5111 does not bring Q1 gate high.
If you leave R5 and R6 in place, but disconnect IO7, does the TPL work then?
I didn't check this condition. But I dropped Q2, R4 and R6 from circuit. Only left Q3, R3 and R5. Same problem happened.
By the way, I don't think it's relevant to your problem, but you have R5 and R6 connected wrong. They should go to the other side of R3 and R4. As you have it now, you've created a voltage divider, and are only supplying 1.65V to the gates, which is barely above the maximum gate threshold voltage.
You are %100 right about R5 nd R6 connections. I fixed it and updated diagram regarding your warning. But physically R5 and R6 are connected as you mentioned.
Thank you for your precious reply. However, before using TPL5111 I tried to use TPL5110 in many different conditions. It is very much problematic with ESP32 series. Because of this reason I replaced TPL5110 with TPL5111 and designed whole circuit after all. TPL5111 is more stable with ESP series, at least regarding my experience.
I don't understand how the system could work even without those resistors connected. The ESP32 is connected to the 3.3V supply. If it is not connected to ground, then I think all of its pins will float up to 3.3V. If that happens, then I10 will always be high, always "Done".
But I guess I'm wrong about that. In any case, the Done pin is the only thing I can see that could affect the TPS's operation. You might try measuring the voltage on that pin to make sure it's normally low, and only goes high at the right time. Perhaps the TPS is generating the high output, but immediately turning it off because Done is high.
I'm just guessing here, but this kind of problem is what everybody seems to run into when trying to switch the low side. Your comment about having problems with the TPL5110 is surprising since it should be a simple setup driving a P-channel mosfet.
Yes, you are exactly correct. I measured IO10 and see that pin has voltage. Because of this as you mentioned that TPL having "DONE" signal and turning off the circuit. Thank you for your help. I will try to solve this problem.
On the other hand many people on forums are complaining about TPL5110 and ESP32 combination because of voltage spike at ESP32 startup. As I noted that I tried to find solution but couldn't find. Some of the users recommended adding capacitors can solve the problem. I tried but couldn't have success. Because of I have no experience on this, I gave up on TPL5110. If you can lead me how can I use TPL5110 with ESP32 I would be appreciated.
You need to use high side power switches, as already mentioned. One of the Pololu Power Switch examples would be a better choice for the ESP32 than the TPL5110.
I don't have any experience with the TPL5110 and ESP32 either, but I see references to bootup problems, apparently caused by excess current draw. If capacitors don't solve this problem, then I don't have any better suggestion. We need to find someone who has successfully used these parts, and find out how they solved the problem.
There is another possibility, and that is that some people say the GPIO pins of both the ESP8266 and ESP32 are not always tristate on boot - many of them apparently spike high temporarily. If that's the case, it may make a difference which GPIO pin you use for Done. Something like that could appear to be a power problem, but is really just the Done signal turning off the power right after it boots up.
