NEW PCB for ESP-GO

Peter ScargillGeneral59 Comments on NEW PCB for ESP-GO

You might just like this – I do!

Standard problem number one: finding a none-home-made-looking box for the new project. Standard problem number 2: NOT taking a simple on-off light or heater design and turning it into a wife/husband-provoking nightmare with low-voltage boards needing separate mains power supplies. Collectively these have ben plaguing me for years.

The box

Well, this time we make have it cracked.. first – the box – this is CHEAP from Banggood, LOVELY and useful if you can find boards that will fit inside. Next – yes it has vents top and bottom – handy for thermostats etc.

https://www.banggood.com/10pcs-75-x-54-x-27mm-DIY-Plastic-Project-Housing-Electronic-Junction-Case-Power-Supply-Box-p-1168741.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CNhttps://www.banggood.com/10pcs-75-x-54-x-27mm-DIY-Plastic-Project-Housing-Electronic-Junction-Case-Power-Supply-Box-p-1168741.html&cur_warehouse=CN&utm_source=Youtube&utm_medium=cussku&utm_campaign=247370_111111&utm_content=1087

And now the PCB. We’re about to get some of these with luck, Aidan just finished off the artwork

The board fits neatly into the case which has 4 handy mounting posts. The board has a break-off section on which you can mount up to 5 5v serial RGB LEDs which take 1 port bit to run. The board has its own 3v3 (low cost AliExpress) encased power supply and one heavy duty relay.

PCB

PCB

It also has connectors for 2 pushbuttons (there are also reset and program pcb buttons), Dallas temperature chip, DHT22 and BME280 etc (i2c) and we’ve also brought out the analog input to a connector via a divider just for completeness. In short an ESP8266 smorgasbord in a pretty box.

Hope you like it, more when we get a finished board running. I’m busy playing with it’s predecessor now. Just been first time programming ESP-GO into it, in fact.

ESP8266 with ESP-GO in a box

59 thoughts on “NEW PCB for ESP-GO”

  1. Hello,

    sorry this is late, but did you intend to sell these PCBs? If not, is there any way I can get hold of them?

    Thanks!

    Brian Williams

    1. No marketing plan that I’m aware of… talk to Aidan Ruff in here. I THINK he’s on hols but worth a shot.

      1. Hello Peter, thanks for replying. I’m a newbie here, so how do I contact Adrian?

        Thanks!

        Brian

  2. Aidan… You have a Hi-Link link? I’m assuming you got them from Ali Express but I’m nowhere near a computer.

  4. Thanks Pete.
    Your very extensive firmware is way overkill for this simple toggle switching (with a bit of MQTT and Alexa control) . The reason I have this set up is to replace legacy X10 units which used mains pulsing to toggle their units. Maybe I will write some simpler code to facilitate this.
    John

    1. You might look at Tasmota as it supports Alexa etc. I started to focus on Sonoffs but then the Tasmota guy was doing a great job and it seemed daft to reinvent the wheel. I have a couple of units with his software in, integrated into my home control over in Spain.

      Regards

      Pete

      1. Pete, take a look at this example (video on main page of the author’s github)… just a couple of functions to answer to alexa device searching and make an esp8266 “belkin wemo” compatible… you could make your firmware “alexa aware” (i know, it’s arduino code and yours is C, but even in C you can answer to http requests, of course) 🙂
        https://github.com/nassir-malik/IOT-ESP8266-Alexa_Automation/blob/master/ESP8266_Alexa_Automation_with_URL.ino

  5. Update regarding OTA .. somehow during upgrade from 2.5.06 the ota_host and associated port details got corrupted and needed to be set again on all units.

    1. Hi

      Sorry you’re having difficulty. I just upgraded several boards in various states and versions. I did half by OTA, the rest locally, all seem to work just fine. I suggest if you are having difficuty and your boards work, don’t OTA them. I do my best not to change the memory layout when fixing the software or adding features – so that OTA will work, but as always, no guarantees.

      The boards I upgraded include Sonoff (no OTA as not expanded FLASH), some home made, Wemos D1 and others.

      Current version is 2.7.1.5 and fixes isues with new GPIO0 functionality (and missing defaults for input debouncing on new installs) – also removes historical GPIO0 output – now used for input only.

  6. Ok The Sonoffs are the basic units that you refer to all the time and all with upgraded ram. Almost all have 2.5.06 and some recently upgraded to 2.7.1.0. (which BTW will not OTA to latest version) These units reside on a bus bar and control my whole house. I have had occasion to power down the RPI make additions and upgrade PSU etc. My concern is that if it were to fail in my absence the whole house goes into melt down and her indoors will go daft.

  8. Not sure where to post this but..
    I have 20 sonoffs using ESP-Go firmware and switching mains relay on output12.
    Each time I switch off the RPI and kill Mqtt server the units start randomly switching output 12 and they no longer respond to button press on input 0. Am I missing a setting?

    1. With the info you’ve provided I can tell you almost nothing. Which Sonoffs? Which version of ESP-GO? Just updated it today but not changed GPIO12 use. I’ve no idea as I NEVER turn off the PI supplying MQTT. Why would you want to turn off the software controlling the boards?
      Button 0 relies on the PI to interpret what to do with GPIO0 if not a Sonoff. GPIO behaviour changed in today’s updates. v2.7.1.4 of ESP-GO today.

      1. well, from time to time one should do an update to the underlying OS and so a reboot could be needed, or just a restart of the some service because of a newer version… it’s the same when you update node-red, a little delay while restarting is normal…

  9. You’re board is looking good!

    I also have a ‘bells & whistles’ ESP8266 board designed around entirely different criteria & it’s interesting to share notes.

    In my case I was designing something for students to use, so it needed to be:

    safe – no mains power
    quick & easy to assemble (avoid surface mount as much as possible)
    cheap enough to ‘give’ to students to keep
    supported by ‘off the shelf’ examples

    I used the Wemos D1 Mini as the core for this. A naked ESP12 would have been a cheaper option but it adds the complication of serial interfaces. These can be quite a headache when it’s impossible to install drivers on lab PCs. I also like the D1 Mini Pro for its extra memory.

    My board is quite well documented at: http://www.myiot.co.uk/wemos/

    It’s my ‘go to’ board when I do anything ESP8266 nowadays. So it must be good! 😉
    I guess many of the readers here are past the newbie stage, but there is quite a good set of code examples & pointers which might be of general interest.

    Quick notes on your board: I’ve noticed that all of the Bosch BMPxxx sensors measure the temperature of PCB tracks remarkably well. Keep them as far away as possible from anything warm (eg ESP12).

    I succumbed to a 8 element LED strip as SMD. They cost £0.99. I can’t be bothered with single LEDs.

    I milled isolation slots in my PCB for potential mains use of the relay

    1. I always stick the sensor out of the bottom of the case to keep it away from the electronics.

      I just bought a metre of rsg serial led strip. I can fit 3 leds in the case at a grill side. ESP-Go supports serial RGB with fading.

          2. A word of warning – these are quite challenging to hand solder as the pads don’t quite reach the end of the board 🙁

            If you need to hand solder I suggest a little ‘sanding’ of the carrier board so the pads are exposed.

      2. You put the sensor on a flying lead? I’ve had lots of problems with the Bosch sensors when PCB mounted

        You can also use the same footprint as your BME280 for a lot of other I2C devices as I do on my board. eg SSD1306 OLED might look good on the front?

        1. Hi Ian, thanks for the reply. I have ordered 4 PCB’s I couldn’t see where to change from 2 to 4 so I just did the order twice on PAYPAL.

  10. We are not doing production runs of built boards- will probably make a few for our own use. Details will be on the blog. Bare boards made in China, cheap.

  11. Peter, will you be have these boards mass produced (for your use, not sale items)? If so, would you consider doing a larger production run if it was prepaid? I love what you have done so far, use your ESP-GO solution, and already have 20 of the boxes….

    Just askin’ 😉

  13. I’m using this case as a sensor sensor housing:
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Low-ABS-Plastic-Profile-White-Sensor-Project-Box-Case/121156377995?hash=item1c357b9d8b:g:bZUAAOxywXFSblMh

    The data sheet link on the eBay listing isn’t working, but the link here is:
    http://spiratronics.com/low-profile-white-sensor-case.html

    These cases have a screw in one corner, which you’d normally position at the bottom, that holds the cover on.
    They’re about the same size as a single UK pattress box, so could easily be used to replace an existing wall mounted thermostat.

    Pete.

      1. True, but if you just want two or three wall-mounted thermostat boxes for various locations around the house then it’s not really going to break the bank.

        1. of course. But then, I have something like 50 of the slightly smaller and cheaper ones. I couldn’t resist a bargain and that they are. A couple of thermostats, 3 or 4 sensor boxes, umpteen light switches…

    2. That’s a very nice box, slightly bigger than the one we found- and 8 times the price, but still worth knowing about.

    3. You say “They’re about the same size as a single UK pattress box, so could easily be used to replace an existing wall mounted thermostat.” But the eBay listing and the manufacturer page say “The Back-plate has mounting holes 50mm apart incompatible with standard electrical conduit fittings.” – so not so easy to directly replace, perhaps…

  14. Great work Peter. I’m looking forward to ordering some boards, the wife is going nuts with all my homemade ESP-GO modules hanging off walls in every room. If you decide to do a short run, how about setting something up with the supplier so that anyone wanting to order can just reference your design instead of having to upload the various board files.

    Michael.

    1. My Mrs too is looking forward to this. I have DHT’s and Wemos’s dangling from , plants, chairs, speakers,lights, curtail poles, any where one can be temporerley tested permemently for ever. I am often asked “If you die, who will fix this”

      2. Strangely, Chis, I get exactly the same questions from my wife who recently helped me recover from a nasty stroke last year. I’m more or less functional now and she’s back to delighting in slagging off my IOT efforts. I’ve just spent weeks working on my thermostat efforts – hence the board that Aidan is getting made and the cases – and here we are just about to replace our crappy old oil boiler with an air source heat pump complete with remote and APP, rendering my thermostatic efforts redundant.

        1. Ah! Air source heating. Now there is a subject dear to my heart! Don’t be too quick to dismiss your efforts to control things. Read on.

          I’m now on my second Air Source unit in 10 years after the first one (Thermia) failed miserably to cope with damp, cold Scottish winters. The new one (Daikin) is supposedly much better but we will see. I have zoned underfloor heating and the original controls fitted by the house builder were basic, to say the least.

          I decided early on to look at automating but back then things were just too hard so I opted for Uponor radio thermostats coupled to two Uponor control boxes which in turn controlled 24 valves in 9 downstairs zones plus 8 radiators upstairs with thermostatic valves. In addition, there were 4 pumps, one for upstairs and two on the two manifolds and one in the Air Source unit which never seemed to switch off. Fast forward a couple of years and I was getting very disillusioned with the performance, efficiency and the cost of running the system. To make things worse the Uponor control boxes were always failing, suddenly switching off without apparent reason and then coming back on some time later having lost their settings.

          After taking one of them apart I concluded that the PSU’s were not up to the job so redesigned the system so that the control boxes did not control the valves but instead controlled relays that in turn supplied the valves from a heavy duty 24v PSU. I had to build logic circuits to make sure the correct pumps were running only when necessary.

          As someone who hates inefficient systems, I have been shocked by how badly designed many heating systems are (I think I read on one of your blogs Peter that you too were involved in heating) so have spent hours trying to design and build a better way of controlling heating and particularly Air/Ground/Source/ underfloor heating. In the process, I have learnt that even well-known companies sell products that waste energy running pumps when they are not necessary and cycling systems when they are not needed, a bit like TVs on standby. It is true that the amount of energy used is small but over a year it adds up.

          Sadly the companies that supply the Air source units are not exactly forthcoming with information on interfacing, particularly if you don’t want to buy their interface kit. I’m still trying to figure out my Daikin but it’s not easy.

          That’s where your modules come in. After several attempts at building my own, I have started designing around your ESP-go and thanks to your blog have fallen in love with Node-Red (still very much learning).

          The one thing you don’t have (yet) is any kind of crude intelligence and that is something dear to my heart. I want systems that know automatically which rooms are occupied, hardest to heat, most often used etc. I want my Daikin to adjust the time it boosts my shower water based on my waking habit not on a fixed time schedule.

          I think you may find there is considerable room for improvement in present Air Source control systems. You have plenty to do yet.

          Thanks for giving me so many ideas and helping me make some of them a reality.

          Michael.

          1. Michael, your post is a very interesting read. As a heating engineer qualified in ground source, air source, Solar PV, solar thermal and UFH I can relate to the problems you have experienced. Unfortunately air source heating is over hyped will very little independently proven performance data.
            All you want to do is achievable by your own efforts, unfortunately there is nothing, AFAIK, commercially available because there just isn’t the demand or people with the skills to implement such systems.
            Good luck as you develop your system and reap the rewards.

  15. Peter, last image refers to a prototype, as far as i understand… i can’t see the second relay in the pcb, and the psu is 5v, not 3v3… i like the design and i want some when they’re done, for sure… not kids around, and if some should touch there, he deserves to die 😀

    i’ve bought about 40 of that boxes for 10€ when you published the enclosures blog post a while ago 😀

    1. Not prototype, earlier design, I talked Aidan out of using the second relay in favour of more connectors etc and he decided to switch to 3v3 in the new layout.

  16. When in reach of children or the pets it is a killing box. The bottom just pops off! The bottom must be secured not to pop off by touching it. Space for adult high voltage wiring is very tight!

  19. Peter, Not sure if you have seen this on the Home-Assistant forum – its a bloody long read, but essentially he has developed a PCB and a Nextion display into a wall mounted controller (in the guise of a Light switch) – some interesting extensions and overlap with your ESPGo and the Nextion work you have done

    Might be interesting for you guys to collaborate and come up with the PERFECT solution !

    https://community.home-assistant.io/t/ha-switchplate-diy-lcd-touchscreen-wall-switch-replacement/25464/292

    1. The problem with UK switches is that you dont have the full live/neutral/earth combo to power something in the switch. I have seen somewhere that a guy had put a sonos in the ceiling rose (which has all the connectors) and used the switch wire as a low voltage gpio cable with existing switches. (best of both worlds)

      I thought of doing this but am concerned that if someone else does a rewire on the house in future, they may put 240v through it.

  20. Perfect timing – I’m after a non-ugly yet unobtrusive enclosure for hotel room sensors….

    One thing about the new board – you have a changeover relay, but haven’t brought its n/c contact out to the connector block, where you have a spare way. Or am I missing something?

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