Sonoff - Plug w/ Ground mod

Growroom Design
#1

Where does this thing plug in?

And where do I hook up the ground?

Quick answers are, It doesn’t and It doesn’t. But we are here to add these features…

So here is everything out of the the package of out Sonoff Basic. Simple sleek unit, but useless to us in the out-of-box state. Let make it a bit more user friendly and add a ground to provide safety when we are hooking up our 1k lights.

In addition we used an old extention cord that was chew up in the middle. we cut the last 14" of each plug side to use with our switch.

Sonoff basic has two terminal. N = Neutral(white) and L = Live/hot(black)

Well as it turns out its really easy to run a bypass wire through the unit. Once everything is sealed up, nobody will ever know. At the same time we will be doing a plug mod as well

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We are just going to gentley pry the bottom off with a small flat head screw driver, work the tip all the way around. By the time you come full circle you should be able to pop it off with your fingers.

Now this is important. Make sure you have the

  • MALE PLUG = INPUT
  • FEMALE PLUG = OUTPUT

Make sure the wires are weaved through the plastic housing and solder the ground wires back together. Then wrapped it up with some electrical tape.

Alternative: A wire nut or crimp could be used, just be sure to use a small enough one so that it doe not interfere with the main board. Might take a bit of careful positioning.

Pro tip: Alligator clips are your friend

I bend and form the wire to run on the very corner of the case. This path has the lease components to go through which makes it the ideal path. Preforming the wire ensures one you cram everything back in, it will natural want to rest in edge of the case.

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Trim the excess off the wires, strip them and put the into there corresponding terminal.

  • (N) NEUTRAL = WHITE
  • (L) LIVE/HOT = BLACK

Altho this step isn’t necessary, you will thank me if you have stranded wiring. Sometime they don’t cooperate when trying to push those strands into them holes all while trying to screw them in. It can be done, but with curse words involved.

I remedy this by tipping the end of the wires with solder to add strength so they will not fray. Also gives the screw a little something more to hold on to.

Go ahead and put everything back together. Get those teeth on them wires on each side so they don’t accidentally come out and screw them in snug.

Presto Magica, there you have it folks. A Sonoff basic ready, willing, and waiting!!

Just follow direction to connect to your favorite smart phone, and welcome to the 21st century!

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#2

That’s how I do mine too. Also, if you buy a USB<>serial adapter, and solder a header onto the sonoff, you can flash new firmware onto it (like EasyESP).

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#3

Excellent writeup! I do the same thing, but not nearly so neatly :slight_smile:

4 Likes
#4

I have been meaning to look into doing that. I do not like having to rely on their ‘cloud’.

In addition to it not being all that reliable, the security worries me. Plus, other firmware options are more flexible as far as timing options.

Can you recommend a good link that walks you through the steps in detail?

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#5

Has anyone tested the amperage rating? I’m thinking 10A through one of those is a bit :fire: much… @anon58740919?

:evergreen_tree:

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#6

Nope not me anyway sir

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#7

@lefthandseeds you are indeed correct. And to squeeze out as much feature as you can from this little device, a custom firmware is the way to go. As it is super easy to flash on like you mention.

@anon32470837 thank you sir, I’m currently testing the basic firmware compared to the custom firmware. I do plan on doing a write up once I stabilize everything and sit down pics and type it out. easyESP is what I will be using.

@cannabissequoia they should be able to handle it, looking at the terminals and board, they are nothing special but should handle 10amps no problem :+1: here are the factory specs:

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3 Likes
#8

I see that & thanks; But maybe we could sacrifice one for a real endurance test… say 2 1000w lights + extras in a 65%+ RH, 85F+ degree room and measure it’s temperature as we add more load until it pops :fireworks: :smile: or a bank of them & get an average failure rate…

:nerd: :hammer:

:evergreen_tree:

2 Likes
#9

Thanks a lot for this simple but great info!
I have been loving the sonoffs.

4 Likes
#10

This is the writeup that I followed: https://rutg3r.com/sonoff-firmware-tutorial-to-esp-easy/

The instructions are pretty straight forward. The only potential gotcha is that it seems like some boards might have TX/RX switched. For mine, I just had to follow this tutorial and everything worked.

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