ESP8266 Community Forum

Hi all,

Back again with another power related finding and question. After having gone through so many pages about using LDO to power that my eyes almost bled, I just hooked up a WEMOS mini D1 (R1) to two AAA Duracell batteries (i.e. 1.5V X 2) and got the blink example of Arduino studio successfully running on it!

Now, was I doing things arse-wise? If the board runs on 3V directly from batteries, why should I bother about LDO and all that stuff?

Please let me know as I am crawling here (in ESP8266 world) before I learn to walk.

Thanks
Vijay

Sorry that title says AA and post says AAA, well I was trying both and they worked (of-course because the voltage was similar). But just before somebody points that out.

Depends on your project. Fresh batteries will work for awhile, but will soon fall below the needed voltage as they drain.

Blink doesn't work the ESP8266 much. WiFi will take higher current when it is transmitting. Still within the capability of AA batteries. And you should not need a regulator to bring the voltage down to the range the chip is rated for. New AA batteries (non-rechargeable) have a maximum voltage of about 1.6 volts. No problem as far as maximum voltage goes.

The problem is when the batteries are not in new condition. The ESP8266 has a voltage specification of Operating Voltage 2.5V ~ 3.6V. https://www.espressif.com/sites/default ... eet_en.pdf This is for the ESP8266 chip alone.

A datasheet for the ESP-12S lists the recommended range of 3.0 - 3.6 volts. https://www.elecrow.com/download/ESP-12 ... Manual.pdf

I have had problems with modules when the voltage dipped below 3.0 volts.