ESP8266 Community Forum

- Sun Sep 25, 2016 1:53 pm #55685 Hello everyone

For a while now, I am trying to setup my first ESP8266 project, however I have no luck and I ended destroying 5 units so far.

What I am trying to do is flash ESP8266-1 with NodeMCU firmware and upload a program with ESPlorer as described in the following tutorial via an FTDI chip. I've tried both powering the ESP directly from the FTDI chip (3.3V) or via an external power supply.
http://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp8266-web-server/

After flashing the NodeMCU and unplugging the GPIO2 from the ground the ESP acts strange like it has a short curcuit. The red led starts to flicker or dim out and the unit starts to heat up after a while. At first I manage to upload the code and in my last attempt I even got a respond when trying to access the server via my pc browser. However, not long after powering the unit, ESP stops responding neither it connects to my modem or can communicate with it via the FTDI chip.


As I already told you, I think all of my units have been destroyed due to the temperature build up, however I am not entirely sure. The units I used are cheap ebay ones, so maybe those are poorly made. What really troubles me is that I don't have those issues just before flashing the NodeMCU firmware.

Any ideas on what I am supposed to do? anyone else experienced some problem? Am I doing something wrong? Just to note the units I used are black and not blue as the most pictures I manage to find on the net. Does it worth buying a ESP from a local ventor or I will just through more money?

- Mon Sep 26, 2016 1:03 am #55703 Do not use the simplified connections that are problematic and can cause destruction of the module. I can recommend a circuit that I use.
The black module has often 8 Mbit (1MByte) memory.

- Mon Sep 26, 2016 8:02 am #55712 It's hard to know what you might be doing wrong - but my guess is this:

Almost every site that shows how to wire the FTDI board to the ESP8266 shows the FTDI with the 5v/3.3v jumper in the wrong position...

For example, these pictures have been copy-pasted all over the Internet:

http://iot-playground.com/images/articl ... rmware.png
http://www.arduinesp.com/arduinesp/wp-c ... pinout.png
https://cdn.instructables.com/FGU/JJZW/ ... MEDIUM.jpg

...for some bizarre reason, *all* of those photos show the jumper on the FTDI in the "5v" position. That's **WRONG** and can certainly blow up your ESP8266 board!! To make matters worse, these FTDI232 boards are shipped from the manufacturer with the jumper in the "5v" position - so if you didn't move it to "3.3v" then that's what's wrecking your ESP8266 boards.

I've posted comments to many of the sites who have these incorrect pictures - but I've yet to see any of them getting fixed!

- Mon Sep 26, 2016 3:01 pm #55727

It's hard to know what you might be doing wrong - but my guess is this:

Almost every site that shows how to wire the FTDI board to the ESP8266 shows the FTDI with the 5v/3.3v jumper in the wrong position...

...for some bizarre reason, *all* of those photos show the jumper on the FTDI in the "5v" position. That's **WRONG** and can certainly blow up your ESP8266 board!! To make matters worse, these FTDI232 boards are shipped from the manufacturer with the jumper in the "5v" position - so if you didn't move it to "3.3v" then that's what's wrecking your ESP8266 boards.

I've posted comments to many of the sites who have these incorrect pictures - but I've yet to see any of them getting fixed!

SteveBaker I am aware of that issue! I also notished that many photos have the ports of the FTDI chip mirrored! The jumper of my FTDI is placed on 3.3V as I already know that ESP is not 5V tolerant both in VCC and RX (and generally all the other inputs)!

I will try jankop's wiring in my next try and I will try to shoot a video to show you the problem if it appears again!