ESP8266 Community Forum

- Tue Dec 22, 2015 12:58 am #36941

Why not try the method I used. I bought loads of 433mhz sockets. I then knocked up an ESP8266-12 with a RF Tx 433 module, hacked the codes and use one ESP to control all the different sockets scattered around my house. I have even pushed this further and fitted an IR vishay module and now have the flexibility of not only wifi control but can control via my Samsung tv remote using the spare buttons at the bottom of the handset.

Would be much easier than ripping every socket apart and fitting an ESP.

Regards

Dans

Sounds like a lot of people are doing this. But I really want to get away from the dumb 433MHz transmitter. Once I have wifi on the socket, I can do more complicated things like read the on/off status of the socket.

- Tue Dec 22, 2015 1:02 am #36942

Using this thing without its enclosure is seriously dangerous!
Any part of this circuit will have potentially lethal voltage relative to earth ground!

Judging by the pictures you posted, this switch is using a capacitive power supply, there is no isolation from mains voltage. The input capacitor will limit the maximum current you can draw and in this case it's probably designed to deliver only a few mA.

I would seriously advise to go with danbicks's suggestion and control the sockets with a 433MHz transmitter or by hacking the remote.

Thanks for the warning! I'm aware of the danger.

What you said makes sense. The capacitive power supply is probably not capable of supplying anything more than 10-20mA. I really want to avoid the 433MHz altogether. My next idea was to rip out all the internals of this thing and put in three things.

a. A phone charger circuit for 5V/1A
b. Relay board
c. ESP8266 board

- Tue Dec 22, 2015 1:09 am #36943

It's no way to obtain enough power from that transformeless Capacitive power supply to run reliable a ESP8266 module. You have at output there probably max 10-20mA!

The right direction to look is to add a 433Mhz transmitter/receiver to your ESP8266 board + decode the 433 Mhz communication protocol and create some sort of "Radio gateway" with it, from where you can command different 433Mhz receivers.

I've used ELRO Power switches for such a job, and they are working OK with Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP8266, etc.

Have even connected with ESP8266, thru 433Mhz, more fancy stuff like this Weather station

Update: "lethe" was writting almost the same as me in the same time, so ...please compile both posts and please..believe him..it's dangerous !


AND offcourse, if you want to get rid of everyting , you can use a MAINS Power Switch, with Triac as in the link, or with a Relay, your choice.

But again: You will play with LIVE MAINS!! Deadly zone!! . Be sure that you have the right tools and knowledge for something like that.

Thanks a lot, the capacitive power supply is exactly what I was ignoring here. I never realized it wouldn't provide anything more than 10-20mA. Now it makes sense.

The reason I want to avoid 433MHz is that I already have a lot of gateways here, my phone, the RPi, my router, sometimes my AppleTV is I'm controlling over iCloud. The 433MHz remote would be just one more thing that could fail.

And yes, my last option is to do something like the MAINS Power Switch. Even without a custom PCB, there's enough room in there to shove in an iPhone charger circuit, a relay board and an ESP-01.