PTV12010W inductor gets hot

[NiHaoMike]

I have a TI PTV12010W voltage regulator module supplying the 5V rail in a small desktop computer. At a 2A load (the regulator is rated for 8A), the inductor is too hot to touch, but it otherwise seems to work fine. Any ideas why it is getting that hot at 1/4 the rated load? (I have used a similar module in a homemade router and it also got hot, yet worked flawlessly for over 3 years.)

[sacherjj]

Many electronics devices work perfectly well hotter than it is safe to touch.  As the difference in temperature between the part and ambient increases, so does the thermal energy transfer.  These modules look like they are rated to 85 degree C operating temperature, which is much hotter than I would like to touch.

[TerminalJack505]

Is it getting enough airflow?

The attached is from the datasheet.

[NiHaoMike]

It seems unusual that the inductor is getting that hot at such a small load. It's particularly a problem since there are two nearby electrolytic caps that are very close to the inductor. Looks like I'll need to move those caps... I powered up a similar PTH12000W module and it's getting hot even with no load, so it must be some quirk with the design that seems to be based on an Intersil chip.

[NiHaoMike]

I replaced the inductor and now I know what the problem was. The original inductor was wound with a flat, thin wire and was very small physically. Thus it had significant losses and the small size (and surface area) means that even a little heat made it hot. The new inductor was a toroid, which has a much larger wire size and surface area. Now it only runs warm at full load. I expected a lot more out of that TI product but I guess they really wanted to get the entire module within a certain size spec...