ESP32 Mounting Cover For USB Charger – Bluetooth Proxy – ESPresense

Description

3D printed covers that allow ESP32 boards to be mounted over a standard UK Amazon 5w USB charger making a tidy and compact deployment solution for Bluetooth proxies (ESPHome / Homeassistant) or BLE presence detection nodes (ESPresense).

The standard version will accept either a NodeMCU CP2102 ESP32-WROOM-32D (standard-sized) board or the smaller D1 Mini ESP32 ESP-WROOM-32 board and has space for a short (around 150mm) USB-A to Micro-USB cable. The larger board is held in using its header pin insulators while the D1 mini clips into place. Mounting points are deliberately tight and will require moderate force to ‘snap’ the boards in place.

Only compatible with the Original Amazon 5w Power Supply detailed in the product images.
This PSU was typically supplied with Kindle e-Readers and, up until recently, was available as a separate item on Amazon.
The required supply has now been discontinued by Amazon so please ensure you either have this exact power supply or can source it from an alternative supplier such as eBay or CeX etc.

The USB power supply is simply a push fit. Whilst this held in place nicely, we have also provided some flat areas inside the cover where either double-sided pads or other adhesives can be applied to make for more permanent fixing to the plug.

The Mini version only accepts the D1 Mini-sized board and will require adapting a USB cable and soldering the +V and GND connectors directly to the board.

The designs are produced around boards supplied by AZDelivery. After using many different ESP8266 and ESP32 boards from various manufacturers, we now solely use AZDelivery boards for our own projects. Although not the cheapest, they are readily available from Amazon UK and have proven to be extremely reliable.
We cannot guarantee these covers will fit boards from other manufacturers.

3D Printed Products
The nature of 3D printing means that layer lines may be visible under certain lighting conditions/angles.
There may also be other minor surface imperfections but these will not be visible at typical viewing distances.

Use of PLA for this application
PLA is deemed unsuitable for electrical housings where the material forms the sole method of protection of mains voltage components from both physical/insulative and flammability perspectives.
It is our view that, as the only mains voltage component that will be employed within this mount is already protected by its own case and was deliberately chosen not only for its compact form factor but also the fact that it is a genuinely certified, double insulated device with limited power output and requires no further protection and, as such, the point above does not apply. We have deliberately left the rear of this cover completely open so as not to impede natural cooling. In addition to the above, the power supply and ESP32 boards produce negligible levels of heat in this application, far below the levels required to deform PLA. Regarding flammability, we have performed several (admittedly rudimentary) tests on the PLA that we use and even under direct and sustained flame from a small gas blowtorch, we have been unable to produce a viable ‘burn’. The material simply melted and did not sustain a flame once the source of heat was removed.
We also could not get the PLA to act as a ‘wicking material’ when directly igniting cardboard placed on the surface of the PLA. The cardboard burned, melted the PLA and, once again, extinguished when the flame had burned out.

Bearing in mind the above observations, we have no reservations about using our chosen brand PLA for this application. But, this is a 3D printed product, has not been certified by any governing body and is used exclusively at your own risk.

We need you to be aware this is a 3D printed product!