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Unstable EN voltage

Posted: Sun May 02, 2021 9:55 pm
by georgij
Hi, I am a student working on a custom PCB with an ESP32-WROOM-32E module in a Project course.

I use FT232R as USB-UART bridge. I am having problems with EN pin dropping below the required voltage for chip to be turned on. I have changed capacitor value between EN and GND with no success.

Schematics: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LMw0G- ... Y5YcX/view
NOTE: I only have Power Supply, Main MCU, USB to UART Bridge and Strapping Buttons connected. I don't have any Auto Programming circuitry.

Measurements with oscilloscope (Yellow: EN , Blue: 3V3):
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... nknown.png

I have changed PCB layouts and manufactured the PCB few times now and changed WROOM modules (I tried WROOM-32D and WROOM-32E) and the result is the same. Could anyone please help me understand why this is happening?

Re: Unstable EN voltage

Posted: Thu May 06, 2021 3:43 am
by ESP_Sprite
Interesting. Nothing in your schematic looks wrong. Possibly it's something weird, like a cracked ceramic capacitor on C5?

Re: Unstable EN voltage

Posted: Sat May 08, 2021 1:08 pm
by ZeroxCorbin
Hello, have you gotten any resolution to this? I am experiencing the same thing.

Re: Unstable EN voltage

Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 5:36 am
by georgij
ESP_Sprite wrote:
Thu May 06, 2021 3:43 am
Interesting. Nothing in your schematic looks wrong. Possibly it's something weird, like a cracked ceramic capacitor on C5?
I have several iterations of the same board with the same problem. It runs well for like 20 mins before EN fluctuates.

Re: Unstable EN voltage

Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 5:51 am
by georgij
ZeroxCorbin wrote:
Sat May 08, 2021 1:08 pm
Hello, have you gotten any resolution to this? I am experiencing the same thing.
I ended up throwing out the design and using the ESP32-DevKitC-V4 with an external 3V3 regulator (I have desoldered the one on the DevKit). It works well. The problem with the new design is that whenever I have used the Adafruit's 20-pin 0.1" Female Headers as an adapter, it stopped working. I ended up removing the DevKit's unused pins (as an extra precaution) and soldering the remaining ones on the board. It works now, but I don't like this 'hack'.

Does not work with these headers: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... image0.jpg
This solution works: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... image0.jpg