Having trouble sourcing a flyback transformer for a 65 W USB-C PD wall adapter

shout out to Kristof_2649 for responding to my earlier post about having trouble finding a flyback transformer for my USB-C 65W power supply design, after changing the ic to more easily findable transformer i now find myself in the exact same problem I’m working on a 65 W isolated USB-C PD wall adapter and I’ve hit a practical roadblock on the magnetics side.

The design is based around TI’s UCG28826 offline quasi-resonant flyback controller, with a USB-C PD controller on the secondary side for voltage selection. Target input is 90–265 VAC, and the main output target is 20 V at 3.25 A.

From going through the datasheet and reference design flow, I’ve narrowed the flyback transformer target to roughly:

Primary inductance: about 200–220 µH

Turns ratio: about 6:1

No auxiliary winding

Reinforced isolation

Low leakage inductance for a compact 65 W QR flyback design

The closest reference part I’ve been able to identify is the Renco RLTI-1464, which appears in TI’s UCG28826EVM-093 documentation. From what I found, it’s around:

200 µH

6:1 turns ratio

low leakage

intended for this exact 65 W UCG28826 USB-C PD flyback platform

So electrically, it seems like I’ve deduced the right class of transformer.

The problem is that when I try to move from theory to actual implementation, the part is basically nowhere to be found through normal distribution. I’m also running into the usual follow-on issues:

no easy sourcing path

limited practical documentation outside the reference design

no straightforward symbol/footprint workflow

uncertainty on whether I should design around this exact transformer or treat it as a semi-custom magnetic from the beginning

At this point I know pretty well what transformer I need, but I’m less sure about the best engineering path forward.

For people who’ve built offline flyback adapters before, what would you do here?

Contact the transformer vendor directly and treat the reference transformer as a custom / RFQ part

Find the closest available off-the-shelf flyback transformer and redesign around it

Switch to a different controller/reference design with easier magnetics sourcing

Something else

Also, if anyone has experience sourcing parts like the RLTI-1464 or finding realistic alternatives in the 65 W, 6:1, ~200–220 µH, no-aux-winding range, I’d appreciate any pointers.

I’m trying to handle this like a real product-design problem, not just a schematic exercise, so I’d value practical advice from people who’ve dealt with magnetics sourcing in low-volume or prototype builds.

Yeah, it looks like there would be manufacturer minimum quantities for the RLTI-1464 but at least they indicate they offer samples:

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Where do they offer sample components to buy?

You would need to email that address to ask.

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Thank you now and always

Power supply magnetics are still quite often a custom item, being that they’re the major ingredient in the secret sauce for a given supply.

Wurth offers customs, Renco was fantastic last I used them (though since acquired) and digging around the Power Integrations site can yield some good info germane to the topic since the company more or less grew up building things to pair with a custom transformer.

There’s also something to be said for acquiring yourself a coil winder, some bobbins, tape, wire, etc. and prototyping your own. Turn times are rather faster and actually doing something offers unique insights as to how things are done.

The plain fact of the the matter is that off-the shelf SMPS magnetics represent speculative solution sets to a complex, multivariate design problem that are likely to leave something on the table in terms of optimization. Building one’s own supply rather than buying one is choosing the Way of Suffering from a regulatory standpoint, so the motivation to wring as much benefit from that process is strong.

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Thanks, im actually im pretty reluctant too ( mainly because i dont wanna mess up ) i only found one vid on youtube explaining how to design a flyback transformer yet they dont demonstrate it with an example. Two days of searching and I will go that route instead.

I’m assuming it’s an educational exercise you’re taking on here. DIY-ing a product that’s more or less a commodity at this point makes little sense otherwise.

Errors and failures are a part of that process. Embrace them, expect them, and mitigate your risks in the process.

Youtube can be a great information source, but it has it’s limits. Haven’t looked, but I suspect that how-to YT vids on coronary bypass procedures are likewise not abundant, for reasons not so different.

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Hi msuleman,

You might want to check out info on the Ridley website. Dr. Ray Ridley is a subject matter expert.

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Wow thanks will give him a look

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