ESP8266 Community Forum

- Sat Dec 11, 2021 10:35 am #93033 Hi,

I've built a small solar powered weather station equipped with an ESP8266 NodeMCU (by HiLetgo) and:

- HDC1080
- BMP280
- BH1750
- MAX17043
- INA219
- TP4056
- 18650 battery 2900 mAh

Everything is working but I noticed that the autonomy is not so long as I've read in other users projects with same hardware.
Data are collected every 10 mins (with battery >50%), 15 mins (battery <50%), 30 mins (battery <20%) and sent to another ESP8266 that "works" as remote display and then the "weather station" goes into deep sleep.
Today I wanted to check the consumption during the deep sleep and I measured (on the Vin pin) about 9 mA.
According to the datasheet (and a lot of articles) it should be 20 uA, so I tried to disconnect all of the sensors but nothing has changed.
So how much consumption should I expect from an ESP8266 NodeMCU into deep sleep in real?
Thank you, regards.


Roberto

- Sat Dec 11, 2021 8:25 pm #93038 The NodeMCU is a development board: the whole design itself, without the ESP, already draws "A lot" of current on it's own (for instance the USB-TTL convertor, but also the voltage regulator are not very lean).

The µA ratings given at deep sleep are for an ESP8266 on its own without "Peripherals" attached.

Assumption is the mother of all f*ckups. At least: that's what I'm assuming.

- Sun Dec 12, 2021 5:44 am #93039 Is there some "ESP8266" equipped board that absorbs less than the NodeMCU?

- Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:00 am #93040 If you search for "ESP8266 boards" on the web you can see most of the range.

So following what QuickFix said you want one without a voltage regulator and USB connection. The less parts on the board the more complicated it becomes to use. That is whiy the Wemos and node MCU's are good for beginners.

I have started using the esp-12f and in one project I used some pin headers and jumpers to allow it to be programmed via a USB > TTL lead. In another I use a adaptor board to program it and the relied on a OTA program to update. The problem with this if you have an error or the network details change it would be a pain to re program.

There are Youtube videos showing alternate methods to program an esp-12f; this is one but not the one I was thinking of which had more methods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37KlzYhJaQs&t=62s