Snubbers make problems as well as solving them?

[grizedale]

At an interview i was asked what are problems that using snubbers in SMPS brings?

I said cost of snubber components, and squeezing the extra components onto the PCB, but they were not content with that answer , and wanted more.

 

[dick_freebird]

I dunno, but snubbing is dissipative and will cost some efficiency
(arguably the energy might just be dissipated elsewhere and more
destructively, or with worse EMI emissions).

 

[grizedale]

is it like a voltage snubber can cause overcurrent stress and vice versa?

 

[mtwieg]

Snubbers don't necessarily decrease overall efficiency though; sometimes they improve it. But that depends on the type of snubber used and how aggressive the snubbing is.

Unless they gave specifications for the snubber, I don't see what more they could be expecting as an answer.