L6203 Chip Mounting

The L6203 requires a heatsink if you plan to switch high power loads using PWM. You will need to fix it to a large mass of aluminium metal with a bolt of the correct size.

You should also use a small amount of thermal paste compound to increase the thermal conductivity between the driver chip and the heat sink. A very thin layer of thermal compound, as shown in red in the diagram above, will be sufficient.

The Multiwatt11 chip package is a little difficult to solder to strip boards however; this IC is available in DIP versions as well.

If you have the Multiwatt11, then engineers usually solder lengths of wires directly from its terminals to the PCB. When soldering wires directly to its terminals make sure you do not apply too much heat to them.

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