I've designed a custom PCB with a BQ40Z60 for a 4 cell pack, and I'm having some trouble with the bringup and connection procedure. My schematic is nearly a direct copy of the suggested application from the datasheet.
Like many other users, from reading the datasheet I assumed that the BQ40Z60 would provide some basic functionality out of the box, and so my microcontroller is powered by the BQ40Z60 pack output and connected to SMBus. I don't have any provision for an external SMBus connection, but from reading the forum posts it looks like I'll have to hack one together to hook up an EV2300 probe.
That aside, I was attempting to get the controller to power up, following the instructions described elsewhere on the forum: here
I attached my AC adapter, and the chip seemed to power up; I was able to confirm voltage on the PBI pin. After unplugging my AC adapter and plugging it back in, there were some sparks from the chip, concentrated near the VCC pin (22). The pin and pad for VCC are visibly burned. Now when I plug the adapter in, the voltage on the PBI pin is about 0.5V.
