DRV8833 PCB Design Guide: Footprint, Pinout, and Alternatives
Dual H-bridge driver for two brushed DC motors or one bipolar stepper, 2.7 to 10.8 V.
The DRV8833 is TI's dual H-bridge driver for low-voltage motor systems: a 2.7 to 10.8 V motor supply, two NMOS H-bridges driving two brushed DC motors or one bipolar stepper, and per-bridge fixed-frequency current chopping against a 200 mV sense reference. In the HTSSOP (PWP) and WQFN (RTY) packages each bridge is rated 1.5 A RMS / 2 A peak at VM = 5 V and 25 °C, and the two bridges can be paralleled for 3 A RMS / 4 A peak. Overcurrent, overtemperature, and undervoltage protection are built in, and sleep mode drops the supply current to 1.6 µA typical.
The reason to pick it over older bipolar bridges like the L293D is the output stage: MOSFETs totaling about 360 mΩ high-side plus low-side instead of Darlington transistors that eat a meaningful slice of a 5 V supply. The reasons not to pick it are just as clear. The supply ceiling is 10.8 V recommended and 11.8 V absolute maximum, so it is not a part for nominally-twelve-volt systems. There is no step/direction indexer, so a stepper takes four PWM lines and a commutation table in your firmware. And the rating is package-dependent: the plain TSSOP (PW) variant is a 500 mA RMS part with no thermal pad.
The recurring board-level failures are consistent: supplies that spike past the narrow VM window under regeneration, designs that read the 1.5 A headline but not its conditions, an unsoldered thermal pad that turns rated load into shutdown cycling, start-up inrush that nuisance-trips the overcurrent protection, and floating nSLEEP or xISEN pins that make a perfectly good board act dead or erratic. Each is covered below.
What breaks boards
VM stops at 10.8 V and absolute max is 11.8 V — regeneration can get you there
The recommended supply range is 2.7 to 10.8 V with an absolute maximum of 11.8 V, leaving almost no transient headroom. A decelerating or braking motor pumps energy back into VM, and long supply leads add inductive spikes on top; either can push the pin past 11.8 V. Give the driver local bulk capacitance — TI calls for a 10 µF minimum ceramic right at the VM pin — and rate the bulk capacitor above the operating voltage so it can absorb regeneration. At the low end, a battery sagging below 2.7 V under stall load drops the driver out of spec and toward undervoltage lockout.
The 1.5 A rating applies to two of the three packages, at 5 V and 25 °C
The 1.5 A RMS / 2 A peak per-bridge rating covers the HTSSOP (PWP) and WQFN (RTY) options and is specified at VM = 5 V, 25 °C. The plain TSSOP (PW) — same pinout, no thermal pad — is a 500 mA RMS part. Below 5 V, RDS(on) increases and the maximum output current is reduced, so single-cell designs do not get the full rating either. Paralleling both bridges doubles the numbers: 3 A RMS / 4 A peak for PWP and RTY, 1 A RMS for PW. Check which package suffix your module or BOM actually carries before budgeting current.
Solder the PowerPAD to copper, or thermal shutdown will cycle the motor
Dissipation is dominated by RDS(on), which rises with temperature — the high-side FET is 200 mΩ typical at 5 V and 25 °C but 350 mΩ max at 2.7 V and 85 °C — so a marginal thermal design runs away. The HTSSOP and WQFN ratings assume the exposed pad is soldered to a copper pour with vias to a ground plane: RθJA is 40.5 °C/W (HTSSOP) and 37.2 °C/W (WQFN), versus 103.1 °C/W for the padless TSSOP. Past thermal shutdown (150 °C minimum) the bridge disables and auto-resumes when it cools; the symptom is a motor that runs, dies, and runs again with nFAULT pulsing low.
The OCP floor (2 A) equals the peak rating — inrush makes motors stutter
Overcurrent protection trips anywhere from 2 A minimum to 3.3 A typical, and the minimum is exactly the 2 A per-bridge peak rating, so a starting or stalled motor drawing full inrush can hit OCP on some units. Current above the trip level for longer than the 4 µs deglitch disables the whole bridge and pulls nFAULT low; after 1.35 ms the driver retries, trips again, and the motor audibly stutters instead of starting. The fix is the built-in chopper: add a sense resistor sized by ICHOP = 200 mV / RISENSE so inrush is regulated below the 2 A floor rather than tripped.
Floating pins: nSLEEP makes the board look dead, xISEN breaks current control
nSLEEP has an internal 500 kΩ pulldown, so left unconnected the part sits in sleep with every output disabled — the classic new-board, no-output-anywhere symptom. Drive it high deliberately, and note its VIH is 2.5 V minimum, higher than the 2 V of the other logic inputs. After nSLEEP rises, allow up to 1 ms (tWAKE) before the bridges respond; PWM edges sent earlier are ignored. AISEN and BISEN are the other trap: if you are not using current chopping, connect them directly to ground. A floating sense pin leaves the chopping comparator input undefined.
Key specifications
| Parameter | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Motor supply range | VM 2.7 V min to 10.8 V max (motor power supply voltage range); absolute maximum VM -0.3 to 11.8 V | SLVSAR1E Rev E, Section 6.3 Recommended Operating Conditions + Section 6.1 Absolute Maximum Ratings |
| Output current per H-bridge | 1.5-A RMS, 2-A Peak per H-Bridge in PWP and RTY package options; 500-mA RMS, 2-A Peak in PW package option (at VM = 5 V, 25 degC); outputs parallelable for 3-A RMS / 4-A Peak (PWP, RTY) or 1-A RMS / 4-A Peak (PW) | SLVSAR1E Rev E, Section 1 Features + Section 6.3 (IOUT, RTY package continuous RMS or DC output current per bridge, 1.5 A max) |
| RDS(on) | HS FET 200 mOhm typ (VM = 5 V, IO = 500 mA, TJ = 25 degC), 350 mOhm max (VM = 2.7 V, IO = 500 mA, TJ = 85 degC); LS FET 160 mOhm typ (VM = 5 V, IO = 500 mA, TJ = 25 degC), 300 mOhm max (VM = 2.7 V, IO = 500 mA, TJ = 85 degC); HS + LS 360 mOhm (Features) | SLVSAR1E Rev E, Section 6.5 Electrical Characteristics, RDS(ON) rows + Section 1 Features |
| Supply current | IVM 1.7 mA typ / 3 mA max operating (VM = 5 V, xIN1 = 0 V, xIN2 = 0 V); IVMQ 1.6 uA typ / 2.5 uA max in sleep mode (VM = 5 V) | SLVSAR1E Rev E, Section 6.5 Electrical Characteristics, Power Supply rows |
| Overcurrent protection | IOCP trip level 2 A min / 3.3 A typ; OCP deglitch time 4 us typ; overcurrent retry period tOCP 1.35 ms typ; thermal shutdown tTSD 150 min / 160 typ / 180 max degC | SLVSAR1E Rev E, Section 6.5 Electrical Characteristics, Protection Circuits rows |
| Current regulation (chopping) | xISEN trip voltage VTRIP 160 mV min / 200 mV typ / 240 mV max (reference fixed at 200 mV, ICHOP = 200 mV / RISENSE); current sense blanking time 3.75 us typ; internal current-control PWM frequency 50 kHz typ | SLVSAR1E Rev E, Section 6.5 Electrical Characteristics, Current Control + Motor Driver rows; Section 7.3.3 Current Control, Equation 1 |
| Sleep wake-up time | tWAKE 1 ms max (nSLEEP inactive high to H-bridge on); nSLEEP has internal 500-kOhm pulldown, VIH 2.5 V min on nSLEEP vs 2 V min on all other pins | SLVSAR1E Rev E, Section 6.5 Electrical Characteristics, Sleep Mode + Logic-Level Inputs rows |
| Thermal resistance (RθJA) | 40.5 degC/W (PWP HTSSOP), 37.2 degC/W (RTY WQFN), 103.1 degC/W (PW TSSOP); PW package option is not thermally enhanced | SLVSAR1E Rev E, Section 6.4 Thermal Information + Section 10.1.1 Heatsinking note |
| Required external components | VM bypass 10-uF (minimum) ceramic to GND; VCP 0.01-uF, 16-V (minimum) X7R ceramic to VM; VINT 2.2-uF, 6.3-V ceramic to GND; each placed as close to the pin as possible | SLVSAR1E Rev E, Section 5 Pin Functions table + Section 10.1 Layout Guidelines |
Verified against the manufacturer datasheet on 2026-07-10. Confirm the current revision before production use.
Alternatives
- DRV8835: TI dual low-voltage H-bridge with a selectable PH/EN or IN/IN interface; lacks the DRV8833's fixed-frequency current chopping.
- DRV8833C: lower-cost TI variant of the DRV8833 with reduced drive current; verify the current rating before substituting.
- DRV8837: TI single-H-bridge sibling for one-motor low-voltage designs, in a smaller WSON-8 package.
- TB6612FNG: Toshiba dual H-bridge (motor supply to 13.5 V), the common hobby/maker alternative in the same class.
Common questions
- Is the DRV8833 rated 700 mA or 1.5 A per bridge?
- Both numbers circulate because Rev E of the datasheet (July 2015) corrected the output current spec to 1.5 A RMS from 700 mA RMS. The current rating is 1.5 A RMS / 2 A peak per bridge for the HTSSOP (PWP) and WQFN (RTY) packages at VM = 5 V and 25 °C, and 500 mA RMS for the TSSOP (PW) package. Thermal design and supply voltage still gate what you actually get.
- Can the DRV8833 drive a stepper motor?
- Yes — the two H-bridges drive one bipolar stepper. There is no step/direction indexer, so your MCU sequences the four IN pins directly. Use sense resistors on AISEN/BISEN for winding-current regulation: the chopper limits current to ICHOP = 200 mV / RISENSE at a fixed 50 kHz, with a 3.75 µs blanking time that sets the minimum on-time.
- Why does my motor stutter and nFAULT pulse at start-up?
- That is overcurrent protection retrying. Inrush above the trip level (2 A minimum, 3.3 A typical) for longer than the 4 µs deglitch disables the bridge and pulls nFAULT low; the driver retries after 1.35 ms, trips again, and repeats. Set the current chopper below 2 A with a sense resistor (ICHOP = 200 mV / RISENSE) so start-up current is regulated instead of tripping OCP.
- What external components does the DRV8833 need?
- A 10 µF minimum ceramic from VM to GND, a 0.01 µF 16 V X7R capacitor from VCP to VM, and a 2.2 µF 6.3 V capacitor from VINT to GND, each placed close to its pin. Add sense resistors on AISEN/BISEN if you use current chopping — otherwise tie those pins directly to ground. nFAULT is open-drain, so it needs a pullup if you monitor it.