ESP32 Forum

With the an ESP32 in a closed enclosure going into a hot environment (i.e. an non-airconditioned garage) what things could be done to provide additional cooling?

The ESP32 is on a purchased breakout board, so adding ground planes to the PCB won't work.

Heatsink on the ESP32 metal can?

Fan drawing air through the enclosure?

Other ideas?

The first question that comes to mind is are you sure you need to cool it off. The data sheet says:

The operating temperature of ESP32-D2WD ranges from –40 °C ~ 105 °C, due to the flash embedded in it. The other
chips in this series have no ebedded flash, so their range of operating temperatures is –40 °C ~ 125 °C

105°C = 221°F

Anything, would be long dead in an environment anywhere near that range. So yo sure you need to cool it ?

A heatsink on the can is a good idea, but I dont think the CPU has a thermal pad to the can so it may be useless. Have to lift the can to be sure.