ESP8266 Community Forum

- Thu Nov 26, 2020 12:05 am #89564 I seem to be having trouble getting good ESP8266 units. Or, is it me?
I am new to Arduino stuff. I have tossed about 20 D1 Mini and NodeMCU units in the last 2 months.

The latest failure I was monitoring myself closely; no loose wires, not powering any peripherals, simple motor control sketches (separate power source) using IR remote and WebServer, power from PC USB. I was troubleshooting the sketch, which meant loading it about 10 times, unplugged it for dinner, It overheated as soon as I plugged the USB back in.

It is the part under the metal cap, not the voltage regulator.

Any ideas what is going on?

- Fri Nov 27, 2020 5:09 am #89577

I seem to be having trouble getting good ESP8266 units. Or, is it me?
I am new to Arduino stuff. I have tossed about 20 D1 Mini and NodeMCU units in the last 2 months.

The latest failure I was monitoring myself closely; no loose wires, not powering any peripherals, simple motor control sketches (separate power source) using IR remote and WebServer, power from PC USB. I was troubleshooting the sketch, which meant loading it about 10 times, unplugged it for dinner, It overheated as soon as I plugged the USB back in.

It is the part under the metal cap, not the voltage regulator.

Any ideas what is going on?

I have accidentally fried a few D1 Minis. I usually realise why, *just* after it happens

Have you tried putting an ammeter in series with the 5V supply? I'd be inclined to measure current with the D1 on a USB cable only, and when inserted in your board. If the consumption is way higher on the board then you have a short, wiring error or other SNAFU.

Another common reason is putting +12V or higher to the +5V pin. Unlikely in your case as you are using a PC's USB power.

I have to admit that I have been known to put +5V on the +3.3V pin. Not good. You might want to confirm the voltage on your board's 3.3V pin to make sure that isn't shorted high or low.

Finally - I have managed to pull GPIO pins to +12V or higher, typically by incorrectly inserting a MOSFET or opto-isolator. Basic debugging techniques work here - power up board with no peripheral chips; poer up board with 1 chip, etc.

Good luck; let us know how you get on.
Cheers
Sean

- Fri Nov 27, 2020 10:40 am #89588 I can't help you with the arduino stuff (there is a seperate section on that).

But as you're mentioning a motor, I can't suppress the suspicion you're connecting the motor directly to the GPIOs? Don't do that, yes it will kill the microcontroller.