Hi,
So I purchased some wall adapters from aliexpress but they don’t seem to work with my D1 mini RGB shield. I plug them in and they flicker once. They don’t do this with any other adapter. I have messaged the company but I’m wondering what the reason for this is? My old chargers measure 4.97v and the chinese ones measure 5.11v. Could this be the reason? Is there a way to fix this or do I need to find a different charger? When just the boards are plugged in (I have tried multiple different ones) the blue LED does flicker when I hit the reset button. But the RGB doesn’t work and I can’t tell if the board is doing anything else. I can’t upload a video here but if someone can tell me where I can upload one and link that’s permitted I’ll try to do that.
Thanks
Yes, it might be.
The output pins of the esp chip produce a 3.3V signal but the input of the RGB led expects a signal at the same voltage as it's power supply, so around 5V. However, the led will accept a signal less than 5V, but there is a limit to how much less it will accept before it cannot read the data.
With 4.97V supply, the signal will be 4.97-3.3 = 1.67V less than the expected voltage. With a 5.11V supply, the signal is 5.11-3.3 = 1.81V lower than expected.
Whichever power supply is used, the output signal from the esp remains the same 3.3V because of its built-in regulator.
So maybe that difference can explain why the led no longer works.
If you disconnect the RGB shield and run the blink sketch to flash the onboard blue led, using the new power supply, does that work correctly?
Little update, I tried a different sketch, and now I can see that the LED lights do turn on, just very faintly. When I press reset they flash bright then lower again. Sounds like you are probably right.
I didn’t think to try the blink sketch. I’ll do that now.
So I tried the blink sketch. It did not work with the new adapters
And the same D1 mini runs the blink sketch correctly with your old PSU?
If so, I think we figured out the problem.
Yes it does. Excellent. I have to make the company fix and replace them then. Otherwise complaint + bad review as chargers are not spec listed
Maybe you should post a link to that spec so that forum members can confirm you will be on solid ground when you complain.
Do you have an Apple device in that list, or can you borrow one? Use that to test the charger. If it does not charge the device, then you have a good reason to complain.
But if the charger will charge one of those Apple devices, then I think you have a choice between accepting that you made an error or lying about what you want to use it for.
It's also possible that an Apple device would give a signal to the charger to begin charging, and the D1 mini is not giving that signal, so the charger is almost immediately shuting down after you connect it. I am not an expert on Apple devices and cannot suggest how to test that theory or overcome it.
I don't really see how I made an error though? As the voltage is not what is listed. They list 5V, but it is 5.11V. This is different to my apple charger which reads as 4.97V. I would expect that anything claiming to charge an apple device at 5V should do that, not at 5.11V.
I have already sent them a video of the device not working, so I can't (and wouldn't anyway) lie to them.