Well, after searching, did some looking through the settings in WLED ap.
Found AP Opens: which has a selection box, it was set to “No connection after boot” changed that to “Always” and now WLED-AP shows up in WiFi connected to it and now ESP32-WROOM dev board functions with the WLED ap without being connected to PC!
Now to design PCB and case for it all :^)
KiCad has a steep learning curve, still working at getting it down.
And experiencing other issues.
The settings for Effects and Color function for a while. After resetting the Effects or Color settings or dimming to the lowest setting the control over the board sometimes is lost or the first several lights will lose control or will get a warning that lights could not be accessed. Re-flashing the board resets this, yet it occurs again. This has happened several times now. Have had this with 2 different development boards.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I am using HiLetgo ESP32-DevKit C-32 board. Has anyone used this board before? Could that be where my trouble is? Would a different board be recommended?
What is happening is very random, not the same each time. This is my first time using ESP boards and not familiar with them.
Watched video of ESP Development boards and found that bread board usage is not recommended due to connection issues. Checking my connections on the bread board (wiggling jumpers) finding the random issues come and go during the movement of the jumpers. Any suggestions for alternative development other than bread board?
Thank you for all that have commented and given direction.
Start with making sure your power connections to the ESP32 are good. You can likely use a USB connection to only power the ESP. Power the LED’s separately via a wall-wart or different supply, making sure there is a common ground between the 2 supplies.
That will often make a big difference in your setup, as the LED’s require much more current than the ESP. Removing the LED current path from the breadboard and the ESP board means those connections are more forgiving of less than optimal connections.
After that, you can get better connections by forgetting the breadboard altogether and either solder directly to the ESP pins (best connection) or use something more reliable than the cheap Dupont push-on wires.
-A little bit kludgy- but I’ve had good success in reusing the internal wiring harnesses from old PC’s.
The internal USB cables typically have 9 conductors terminated on one end (and sometimes both) with a push-on housing. The wires and connectors tend to be better than the Dupont stuff and the use of multiple connectors in 1 housing makes the connection “stiffer” and less likely to disconnect intermittently. They will often attach reliably to the pins on most ESP boards.
Eventually you’ll want to work with connections that are closer to “guaranteed “, dedicated adapter boards and/or soldering directly works best.
If you are looking for a permanent solution, the only real answer is soldering a prototype board, designing a board and having them produced, using a bought controller/shield or a combination of things.
You could use a breakout board like these: Amazon.com: 3PCS ESP32 Breakout Board GPIO 1 into 2 Compatible with 30 Pins ESP32S ESP32 Development Board 2.4 GHz Dual Core WLAN WiFi + Bluetooth 2-in-1 Microcontroller ESP-WROOM-32 Chip for Arduino : Electronics (note this is for 30pin Esp32 not 38pin) This gives you a place to slot the Esp and screw terminals, but you would still need to solder wires to a levelshifter unless buying another pre built levelshifter board. Add some wago’s/leverlock connectors or screw terminal blocks for other connections. The more complications the more places for problems. But really anything that provides a secure connection vs breadboards and dupont wires is a step up.
divsys & Jinx,
Good advise! I had followed the 5V Digital LED Strip Wiring Diagram provided on WLED site for my circuit. The LED strips came with a wallwart 24V that is supplying power for the LED strip. A Buck Converter is dropping that voltage to 5V for the ESP32 WROOM dev board and the SN 74AHCT125N IC. That is all on my bread board, common ground, and power does not seem to be a problem. The jumper from GPIO16 to SN 74AHCT125N is where it has been pin pointed. If that jumper pin on either end is moved around in the socket, connection is decayed and the issues arise. Moving the pin to the exact location can alleviate the issue, though changing settings can bring it back. When all is good, moving the pin can bring on the issue.
Otherwise all seems good. My perception is that I am lucky to have the other connection behaving well and this is the problem that has been there, or perhaps not the only one in the past, yet at present.
I got a breakout board off Amazon Amazon.com: ESP32 Development Board with USB Type-C and CP2102 + 38-Pin Expansion Board, Dual-Core WiFi Bluetooth Microcontroller with Breakout Base for Arduino IDE and IoT Projects : Industrial & Scientific and it seems to work well. Still have 74AHCT125N on breadboard. I want to have a PCB to put all this on and a case to put it in for outdoor use. Would be nice to have a socket for ESP32 to plug in to, that is not a big goal at this point though. Having trouble getting the PCB designing done (figuring out KiCad has been a challenge) reading the documentation for the software and attempting to implement it. Right now my PCB is looking decent, getting Net Listed items of a Net List so tracks can be placed is the road block. Foot prints were a challenge for a bit.
Then after that comes designing a case for 3D printing (that seems it will be a challenge as well).
Thank you all for the input, very much appreciated!
Update: Decided to assemble circuit on perfboard to try it on the house lights. The circuit is working very well. Used socket headers for the ESP32 Dev Board and mounted the Level Shifter directly on the perfboard under the socket set up for the ESP Dev Board. This gave just enough room for the Buck Converter to be placed next to the ESP Dev Board. This is on a 50 mm x 70 mm perfboard.
Ended up using 100 uF Electrolytic Capacitor on the 3.3V side for fast response to leveling voltage.
Very happy with the results so far.
Thank you to all that entertained my thoughts and questions.