The time delay (t_CTS) can be programmed by connecting a capacitor between CTS1 pin and GND, CTS2 for channel 2. In this section CTSx represent either channel 1 or channel 2.

The relationship between external capacitor C_{CTSx_EXT (typ)} and the time delay t_{CTSx (typ)} is given by Equation 4.

R_CTSx = is in kilo ohms (kOhms)

C_{CTSX_EXT} = is given in microfarads (μF)

t_CTSx = is the sense time delay (ms)

The sense delay varies according to three variables: the external capacitor (C_{CTSx_EXT}), CTS pin internal resistance (R_CTSx) provided in Section 7.5, and a constant. The minimum and maximum variance due to the constant is show in Equation 5 and Equation 6:

The recommended maximum sense delay capacitor for the TPS38-Q1 is limited to 10 μF as this ensures enough time for the capacitor to fully discharge when a voltage fault occurs. Also, having a too large of a capacitor value can cause very slow charge up (rise times) and system noise can cause the the internal circuit to trip earlier or later near the threshold. This leads to variation in time delay where it can make the delay accuracy worse in the presence of system noise.

When a voltage fault occurs, the previously charged up capacitor discharges and if the monitored voltage returns from the fault condition before the delay capacitor discharges completely, the delay will be shorter than expected. The capacitor will begin charging from a voltage above zero and resulting in shorter than expected time delay. A larger delay capacitor can be used so long as the capacitor has enough time between fault events to fully discharge during the duration of the voltage fault. To ensure the capacitor is fully discharged, the time period or time duration between fault events needs to be greater than 10% of the programmed sense time delay.