I am attempting to drive DotStar LEDs with a Huzzah ESP8266 and 5V power source.
Below is the wiring diagram. It works with the DotStar but very quickly heats up.
Any suggestions?
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You should use an I2C level shifting module because the ESP8266 pins SDA and SCL are not (according to the specification) 5volt tolerant. If the power supply is connected but the LED device disconnected, does the ESP8266 still overheat ? If so, check the voltage of your “5 volt” power supply.
If the power supply is connected but the LED device disconnected, does the ESP8266 still overheat ?
Yes
If so, check the voltage of your “5 volt” power supply.
Yes, that was the first thing I did.
Now when I connect to a computer via USB it overheats. Maybe the voltage converted is damaged now.
Could not using an I2C level shifting module damage the voltage converter?
IME, the APA102 dotstar LEDs seem to work fine with 3.3v logic levels. I have 70 of them in my room being controlled like that, and they all work fine. Though, I'm using boards with the APA102TW, not the much more common APA102C (the C has round window, TW has square window and a significantly better red).
Where is the regulator on that board? Please tell me they're not using a rice-grain size regulator to try to power an ESP8266....
Not sure which is the regulator but looking at the possibilities you're probably right.
Board Power Management:
Pinout:
Gee, really? I expect better from adafruit... Was it really that important to make the board a few millimeters smaller that it was worth using a barely-sufficient regulator?
That said, lots of people use them and they do work, even if they must be pushing the regulator, which leads me to suspect that your board has been damaged somehow. Which part is getting hot?
Which part is getting hot?
When plugged into my computer's USB port, the part that is circled gets too hot to touch within seconds:
I will check tomorrow if anything else gets hot when plugged into 5 volt power supply.
That part isn't even the regulator, its the serial adapter. Replace board. Does USB communication with it even work now? It's hard to imagine that it would if the usb-serial interface chip has failed, which it appears to have.
Does USB communication with it even work now?
I have not left it connected long enough to test because it heats up so quickly. I agree that it probably does not.
At this point I think the board is lost. I just want to know what I did to to damage. (see original wiring diagram)
Then I can decide if I want to attempt using this component again.
Does the documentation say you can power it with an external 5v supply connected to USB when it is plugged into USB? A quick look at the doc page doesn't say so, and the schematic looks like that's NOT OK, I am suspicious that doing this is what damaged it; If that is the case, and you should check, I'd connect a micro usb connector (you can get pre-wired ones, or kits to wire your own on ebay for cheap) to the 5v power supply, so that you couldn't possibly have another power supply connected at the same time.
You could also remove the LiPo charging IC (blob of solder on iron, lay it on top of the part so the solder contacts the pins as much as possible; this is how I remove SOT-23 ICs usually. It's that or mangle the chip with pliers until you can desolder it in pieces) and use Bat pin for external power when not on USB.
I just got confirmation by an admin on the Adafruit board that the ground and usb pins should work.
No reply to if there is anything else in the diagram that could have caused the problem.
Such as if not using an I2C level shifting module damage the voltage converter?
I don't mind buying another board I just don't want to waste the time if I'm going to fry another one because of something in my diagram that is causing it.