ESP8266 Community Forum

- Sat Mar 31, 2018 5:33 pm #75041 Hi all,

Back again with another power related finding and question. After having gone through so many pages about using LDO to power that my eyes almost bled, I just hooked up a WEMOS mini D1 (R1) to two AAA Duracell batteries (i.e. 1.5V X 2) and got the blink example of Arduino studio successfully running on it!

Now, was I doing things arse-wise? If the board runs on 3V directly from batteries, why should I bother about LDO and all that stuff?

Please let me know as I am crawling here (in ESP8266 world) before I learn to walk.

Thanks
Vijay

- Sat Mar 31, 2018 5:34 pm #75042 Sorry that title says AA and post says AAA, well I was trying both and they worked (of-course because the voltage was similar). But just before somebody points that out.

- Sat Mar 31, 2018 5:45 pm #75044 Depends on your project. Fresh batteries will work for awhile, but will soon fall below the needed voltage as they drain.

- Sat Mar 31, 2018 6:02 pm #75045 Blink doesn't work the ESP8266 much. WiFi will take higher current when it is transmitting. Still within the capability of AA batteries. And you should not need a regulator to bring the voltage down to the range the chip is rated for. New AA batteries (non-rechargeable) have a maximum voltage of about 1.6 volts. No problem as far as maximum voltage goes.

The problem is when the batteries are not in new condition. The ESP8266 has a voltage specification of Operating Voltage 2.5V ~ 3.6V. https://www.espressif.com/sites/default ... eet_en.pdf This is for the ESP8266 chip alone.

A datasheet for the ESP-12S lists the recommended range of 3.0 - 3.6 volts. https://www.elecrow.com/download/ESP-12 ... Manual.pdf

I have had problems with modules when the voltage dipped below 3.0 volts.