EMC troubleshooting

01 · List potential solutions

The first step we take when troubleshooting an EMC issue is to create a list of all the possible solutions that we might be able to suggest. Depending on the circumstances, this may vary from case to case. An example of a typical list would be the following:

It might be necessary to add a bulk capacitor, or to add a 4 microHenry inductance in the cable X, or to add an X capacitor, a common mode filter, etc.

02 · Implement each solution

Once we have our list of solutions, we start implementing them one at a time. In order to find a solution that solves the problem, we have to repeat the measurements until we come up with one that works. It is common for us to continue working through the list until we have reached a satisfactory solution, even if we have already found an initial solution.

03 · More EMC critical testing

In some cases, our customers may come to us after they have failed conducted emission tests, but we recommend our customers do some pre-compliance tests on other tests that for that particular application may be critical in order to ensure that they are compliant. There are various kinds of tests that can be performed here, such as radiated emission tests, surge tests, fast transients, etc. In this case, we will repeat steps 1 and 2 if necessary in order to reach a high level of confidence in the redesign.

04 · Implementing the solution

We will finally implement the solution on your hardware at the end of our service.

If you would like to ensure that all the fixes have been effectively implemented, we highly recommend that you get us involved in redesigning both the electronics and the printed circuit board. As long as the design is done using Altium Designer, we can provide this service to our customers.

05 · Final EMC compliance test

We recommend being involved during the final EMC compliance test, since there is still a chance that a problem may appear. The nature of the test does not allow us to guarantee a pass, but we stay with you until the retest is done.