ESP8266 Community Forum

- Mon Nov 26, 2018 10:11 am #79276 Hi,

I had bought a bunch of ESP8266s a while back. Did some tinkering, then tried the D1 minis. They were a lot more practical for my little projects. That said I had seeing the ESPs laying around. Is there an easy way to basically "convert" the 8266's into d1s? The primary thing would probably be having the flashing and power go through a microusb connection.

Thanks.

- Tue Nov 27, 2018 3:24 am #79289 In essence, a Wemos is just an ESP-12 and USB to UART convertor on a PCB.
You could copy the auto-flash and -reset circuitry; it's pretty straight forward (see at bottom-right below):


I however doubt it's cost effective, since a Wemos is about as cheap as a separate ESP-12.

Assumption is the mother of all f*ckups. At least: that's what I'm assuming.

- Wed Nov 28, 2018 4:56 am #79314 Wemos D1 Mini
Very convenient for development flashing and USB powering. Good also for deployment due to relatively small size, Cost ~ UKP 2.50

ESP-12
Very good for deployment due to very small size (1/2 size d1 mini). This is helpful for either smallest possible sensor modules or embediing in other equipment where space may be limited. It needs a simple flashing rig for first off programming but OTA can be used from then on. A LDO regulator can be attached directly to board to keep dimensions small. The ESP-12 is better for battery powered applications due to lowest possible quiescent current. D1 has overhead of a slightly high LDO quiescent current plus the serial chip. Cost ~UKP1.50 (+0.20 for LDO if needed)