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I had made a circuit for an LED strip using an EDP12e. I had also attached two buttons to change between colors on the strip.

To make it compact I inserted the circuit board inside the casing of the 12V supply. It is a metal box with power circuit and some empty space where my circuit fits exactly. The LEDs work fine except the button inputs are throwing false positive signals when open (floating.)

I had connected a pull down resistor to the input pin. Below is the schematic I used:

Schematic

This is the actual circuit:

Actual Circuit

Please help me solve this issue.

Without passing those wires from supply didn't cause such noisy triggers but I kind of wanted to put my circuit inside the casing.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ How do you expect the ESP8266 to function as a WiFi device when the whole thing including antenna is inside a metal box? Or are you not using the radio functionality? \$\endgroup\$
    – Chris Stratton
    Sep 3, 2020 at 17:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ Actually top part is of plastic and esp's antenna is very close to that. I've a plan of extending antenna to outside of the box too. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rishabh
    Sep 3, 2020 at 18:50
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ChrisStratton: i build lots of ESP projects in metal "handy boxes", and they actually work just fine. Range might be shorter, but it's not been an issue for me. \$\endgroup\$
    – dandavis
    Sep 3, 2020 at 20:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ this is why i (almost) always use INPUT_PULLUP for buttons; no need for external resistors, no interference from strays. You could try EMF blocking ferrite "beads", the black plastic collars you find on some USB cables and other signaling cables; they effectively prevent false PIR firings. Or use grounded+shielded cables to route the buttons. \$\endgroup\$
    – dandavis
    Sep 3, 2020 at 20:38

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Noise is coupling onto the line, with enough current to create a voltage drop across your pulldown resistor.

The quickest fix would be to use a stronger (lower R) pulldown resistor. R=1k would be much less likely to false trigger, and would only draw 11mW.

The next step would be to filter the noise, using a ferrite on the cable or adding an RC (watch the time constant) filter near the input.

schematic

This circuit has the following properties:

  • No voltage divider: input will (eventually) reach full 3.3V
  • C1 charges through R2: rises to 2.1V (63% of 3.3V) in 1 millisec (R2*C1)
  • C1 discharges through R1+R2: drops 63% (3.3V to 1.2V) in 2 millisec ((R1+R2)*C1)
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  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Lowering R helped a lot. Its not sensing false signals now. Although still on touching the input wires, causes false positives but its bearable. Thanks. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rishabh
    Sep 5, 2020 at 16:35
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    \$\begingroup\$ I can add detail for an RC filter if you're interested. \$\endgroup\$
    – mbedded
    Sep 5, 2020 at 17:28
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    \$\begingroup\$ Yes please. I am just about to ask that. Thanks in advance. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rishabh
    Sep 5, 2020 at 17:38

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