Chinese ESP32-S3 5V pin WARNING

[pllagunos]

Bought a couple of ESP32-S3 N16R8 dev boards from aliexpress, the ones with the RST and BOOT button next to the WROOM instead of the USB ports (which the espressif originals have).

Espressif original: Amazon.com: ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1-N8R2 Development Board : Electronics
Chinese:
Amazon.com: Teyleten Robot ESP32-S3-N8R2 ESP32-S3 Development Board Wi-Fi + BLE MCU Module Integrates Complete Wi-Fi and BLE Functions 3pcs : Electronics

If any one of you gets these dev boards, be careful because the chinese version doesn't have 5V at the 5Vin pin when powered through USB-C. Instead I measured about 1.8V. The issue lies in the N-OUT solder pad,

According to a schematic there should be a diode and resistor in there (see header 22) or at least that's what I gather.

Pinout, schematic and PCB pdfs here: VCC-GND Studio YD-ESP32-S3 (DevKitC 1 clone): high-resolution pinout and specs – Renzo Mischianti

Anyways I just soldered the pad and I finally get 5V out of the pin, before I was only getting 1.8V or so. Just a heads up for anyone that wants to use the 5V pin, for example to use the RS485 protocol with a MAX485 or power a relay board.

[srnet]

@pllagunos

If any one of you gets these dev boards, be careful because the chinese version doesn't have 5V in the 5Vin pin when powered through USB-C.

Can you clarify, 'doesn't have 5V in' is confusing ?

The pin is labled 5V so are you saying there is not 5V 'on' (as in output) on that pin ?

[pllagunos]

Yeah that's what I meant, if you measure the voltage on that pin out of the box it will not be 5V.

[clowzer]

yeah , i got the same probleme, there is no 5v in pin VCC , its 2.8V

[isoboy]

It's the same with the RGB solder pad. You need to solder to connect the LED to pin 48 to control it.

[nmcu3000]

Hi. Did I understand you right, you soldered in-out thing (red-circled) on the board to get 5V from 5Vin pin?

[pllagunos]

Yes

[fsg1]

See: Reddit - Dive into anything

[jmjehl]

Thx !

[solide]

A big thx here as i got the same issue and was trying to understand why my VIN was 0.65v (strange i didn't get the same value as others) and not 5v.

I will solder this asap

[peterb80]

Hi Guys,

Could someone tell me what the result was of soldering these pads, please?

What has changed / become available?
RGB pad seems to be quite simple but what about the others?

If I solder in-out pads and powering the device via usb c cable then I can use 5v pin? What is the max load that can be used from 5v in this case?

If I solder usb-otg pads and powering the device via usb c cable then I will be able to power another connected device via the OTG port like a camera, keyboard, flashdrive etc? Due to the soldering I can use esp32 in host mode only, right?

[stapler_2]

Wow, you deserve internet points. Was very confused about this, much thanks.

[Willem43]

I have the same board. You also have to solder the RGB bridge if you intend to use the neo pixel (connects to pin GPIO48).

I bridged both using a 0 Ohm 0805 resistor.

[camsysca]

Just be aware, the purpose of putting a diode in that location, not a short circuit, would be to provide a slightly lower voltage out(~4.8V) while also protecting the VUSB supply from any stupid mistakes downstream, like inadvertently shorting to 12V. You might regret blowing up your computer's USB port that way.