What is the lifetime expectancy of ESP-WROOM-32 Module?

[SaiTejaManchukanti]

Hello, I would like to know lifetime expectancy of ESP-WROOM-32 Module. By lifetime expectancy I mean the amount of duration before ESP-WROOM-32 Module goes non-functional.
Please help me in this regard.

[ESP_Sprite]

In theory, there's nothing that wears down in the ESP32 itself. However, the flash chip in a module can lose its information over time. For instance, the GD25Q32 we use in our modules guarantees a flash lifetime of 20 years, minimum. The other thing that can wear down the flash is repeated erase cycles. Normally this shouldn't be an issue, but if you re-write the flash often (either directly or indirectly through spiffs/nvs/fatfs/...) this may be an issue.

[rin67630]

Hello, I would like to know lifetime expectancy of ESP-WROOM-32 Module. By lifetime expectancy I mean the amount of duration before ESP-WROOM-32 Module goes non-functional.
Please help me in this regard.

If you uses SPIFF extensively, you might get in trouble:
https://github.com/pellepl/spiffs/wiki/ ... flash-live

The WROOM module may be delivered with various quality of memory chips.
Expect the aggressvely cheap ones to include low quality SPI memory modules.

Else the liftime may vary.
Blue smoke coming out of the module significantly reduces the life expectation

[SaiTejaManchukanti]

I am programming the ESP-32 with CP2102 serial programmer. Is this equivalent to writing into flash?

[rin67630]

Yes, programming is a write cycle. By a limit of 10.000 writes you will be worn out before the chip.

[SaiTejaManchukanti]

How can I ensure to buy ESP-WROOM-32 with good quality memory chips like GD25Q32? I need good life time.

[ESP_Sprite]

At the moment, as far as I'm aware, all Wroom32 modules are populated with this chip, and there are no fakes yet. So you should be able to just buy one from any source and you should be fine. If in doubt, I think esptool.py can show you the make/model of the connected ESP32 module.

(Also, that chip isn't particularily special wrt lifetime... from what I know, most flash makers guarantee a lifetime of a similar order of magnitude.)

Additionally, can I ask why you seemingly need such a long lifetime that you're checking out the silicon itself? In my experience, average lifetime is more about making sure hardware can't be accidentally damaged or malfunctioning: good ESD protection, PCB design, cooling etc as well as good coding usually makes a bigger difference than flash lifetimes.