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I am a software developer and I don't know much about circuits so I need help.

I have an ESP8266 (esp-12) 3.3V and I'm planning to use it with an IR proximity sensor (runs between 4.5-5V). I have 2 AA batteries (3V total) and 4 AA (6V total) power supplies. Also, I have a bunch of 10K Ohm and 330 Ohm resistors.

How can I use a voltage divider to supply sufficient voltage to these components, based on what I have? If it would help, I have a 100uF capacitor and I use a CP2102 to TTL Serial Converter to program. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

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  • You want to use a voltage divider to POWER your boards?!?!?!
    – Majenko
    Apr 15, 2016 at 19:43
  • Yes, i already use esp8266 with 3v (AA batteries ) but now i want to connect it to the sensor which is 5v.
    – sparks
    Apr 15, 2016 at 20:09

1 Answer 1

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My experience with esp8266 tells me that if you power esp8266 with a 3.3V supply and you provide 5V/0V signal to its pins (either Tx/Rx or pin0,1) nothing's gonna happen. It will work fine.

Based on this experience, i would like to suggest you to

  1. power your esp8266 with 3.3V pin of your TTL converter
  2. power your IR sensor using 5V output pin of your TTL converter
  3. connect signal pin of IR sensor to your esp8266 digital pin. (just in case esp8266 heats up, disconnect circuit and try using voltage divided only for this particular connection.

If using those external power supplies don't forget to common GND (or -ive terminal) of those power supplies.

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  • Thank you for the advice. I was thinking of powering the Esp8266 with 3.3V batteries and the sensor with 4 AA batteries 6V(keep in mind this takes up to 5V so i wonder if that would be ok?).And signal wire of the sensor to GPIO12 OR 14 (I am using ESP-12)
    – sparks
    Apr 17, 2016 at 3:07
  • you can check that in datasheet of your IR sensor. i.e. What is the maximum voltage you can apply. you can also connect signal wire to esp8266 GPIO12/14 using voltage divider. that would also be perfectly ok.
    – ARK
    Apr 17, 2016 at 5:43
  • Data sheet says maximum absolute rating supply voltage is -0.3 to 7. Recommended Operating supply voltage is 4.5 to 5.5v, so i am not sure if that is ok. If i do voltage divider how many/which resistors should i use , i have 10k and 330 ohm?. Thank you again.
    – sparks
    Apr 17, 2016 at 7:38
  • No, you don't need voltage divider now. its perfectly ok. Go ahead and be careful, for things like never fail to surprise you.
    – ARK
    Apr 17, 2016 at 16:46

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