ESP32 Forum

Hello.
1. Do I need to ground the ESP32-WOOW center pin? It may be enough to smear the central contact with thermal paste for heat transfer.
2. Do I need to connect and ground all the GRN ESP32-WROOM pins, or is it enough to just ground one GRN pin
3. Do I need to put a capacitor at the output of the VCC ESP32-WROOM or are there enough capacitors that are in the DC-DC converter from which the ESP32-WROOM is powered?

Thank you in advance

Rumpel5 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 19, 2024 1:00 pm

Hello.
1. Do I need to ground the ESP32-WOOW center pin? It may be enough to smear the central contact with thermal paste for heat transfer.

From the datasheet: "Soldering EPAD Pin 39 to the ground of the base board is not a must. If you choose to solder it, please apply the correct amount of soldering paste. Too much soldering paste may increase the gap between the module and the baseboard. As a result, the adhesion between other pins and the baseboard may be poor"

2. Do I need to connect and ground all the GRN ESP32-WROOM pins, or is it enough to just ground one GRN pin

While the GND pins are internally connected (meaning it would probably work with one connected), I'd still connect all of them, preferably to a ground plane of your PCB. The ESP32 is an RF device and has a spiky power usage pattern; it's good for WiFi reception/transmission to ground the thing well.

3. Do I need to put a capacitor at the output of the VCC ESP32-WROOM or are there enough capacitors that are in the DC-DC converter from which the ESP32-WROOM is powered?

It depends on your DC-DC as well as your PCB design. I personally tend to add an 10uF/16V ceramic cap close to the 3.3V/GND pins of the module, but if you need to add that (or more) for your design, I cannot say.