Only lights on rain sensor

ESP32 mySQM+ Sky-Meter/Weather Station with loads of features

Brought to you by: brownrb

Only lights on rain sensor

Forum: General Discussion

Creator: Chad Gray

Created: 2021-12-17

Updated: 2021-12-21

Chad Gray - 2021-12-17

Hello, i must have had something die on the PCB.

I plug my 12volts into the PCB and the only thing with lights is the rain sensor. Both red leds are on on the rain sensor.

No funny smells from the PCB no scorch marks... Any testing procedure i should do?

I am going to plug USB into the ESP to see if i can still program it.

Any thoughts are appreciated. It was working great until i tried moving some thing around. I am going to make a permanent box for it now so nothing can short out.

Thanks!
Chad

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Chad Gray - 2021-12-17

Hmmm i can plug in the ESP and it lights up and the USB detect but i cannot program it. Failed to connect. It gets really hot!

So i think i found the culprit.

Chad

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brownrb - 2021-12-18

Something has to be wired wrong if things get hot.
This is the way I normally test new boards - with no chips in place on the pcb
1. I add components for power 12v, fuse, off/on wsitch, voltage regulator, diodes, capacitors, resistors etc
2. I test that I get voltage going to the VIN pin - I use a multimeter for this - if you do not have one then you can use a led, connect black to the gnd pin for the esp chip and the red lead to vin
3. If voltage is good (the led lights up) then I know it is safe to plug in esp chip
4. If the volage is bad or does not light up then one has to troubleshoot where things go wrong, its a matter of following the schematic - starting at 12v in, to diode, to fuse, to switch, to regulator etc

Whatever you do, make sure that you never ever plug chips in or pull them out when power is on to the PCB.

Same goes for stepper motor, never ever disconnect a stepper motor when 12v power is on,

R

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Chad Gray - 2021-12-18

Thanks Robert! I will follow this method.

My ESP gets hot when it is off the PCB and only plugged into USB. So i think it is bad.

So i think my components are OK. I am going to build another PCB just to have a second and i will follow your instructions so i can learn as i go.

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Chad Gray - 2021-12-21

Yes somehow i cooked the ESP. I flashed another one and things are running again.

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