Can you safely review this Digital Isolator?

I would assume the isolation voltage meets the specification and focus instead on testing the data rate, presenting both input and output waveforms.

A 5000 V isolation tester costs several thousand euros or dollars, and its practical value is limited. If the device’s isolation fails at, for example, 6000 V, the component is permanently damaged (the datasheet states: “irreparably altered”).

Therefore, such a test is destructive and provides little actionable information beyond confirming the specified limit.

It's not a very good candidate for a road test.

I use isolators in many designs and buy them from reputable suppliers. usually TI or Analog Devices, but sometimes others, including Vishay and Toshiba.

I expect such parts to perform as described and specified in the data sheet.If the supplier can't be trusted it would be necessary to 100% test any such parts used.

The design of the board can seriously compromise the function of the isolator.

Testing one part on a demo board proves almost nothing.

Testing one part in your application may prove that the complete design is (or maybe is not) capable of working as intended.

The problem with these parts is that their function is not very exciting for a road test and the gear required to do a decent test is expensive - the value of the part is not a significant incentive.

(Unlike, for example, a cheap board with a novel sensor or processor chip where the testing demands mainly the effort of the reviewer rather than the gear that they own.)

MK

The Road Test is not really meant as a substitute for the suppliers QA testing, is it ? The voltage stress could be checked with a megger, I would expect few folks to have access to a hi-pot. Id be interested in the exercising of common mode specs. 

At my previous company we had very expensive equipment to test isolation properties. I wouldn't even want that equipment at home. It was large and scary and and required stringent and meticulous safety precautions. It might be feasible to do some functional tests at home, but I expect most people would want some test equipment as an incentive. This type of test and associated equipment is not on my wish list.

It's definitely a good point. Testing its isolation limits not only requires expensive equipment, but also it could destroy the component, so that aspect of the device might not be something fit for testing. Neither would it be its transient immunity of 100kV/uS.

But whether both sides are truly isolated and can maintain the specified data rate should be pretty testable.

The intended working voltage is under 1000V

Exactly. If they want independent recognition and validation I'd think any UL recognised test house could do this too.

Not an expert in this area, but can the isolation specification be tested by a battery powered hi-pot tester.  In spite of the high voltage I think its current is so low that it is relatively safe.

That's something I wondered, although it says 5000v can this be adequately tested under that?

But I suppose you could argue "well that's not testing the full capability of the chip"

I picked up a low cost ($60 USD) megger that had switchable test voltages up to 5000V at a previous job. If a roadtest for the digital isolator included a megger like that for testing, then I could see it being interesting.