Sonoff Mini R4 Switch ESP32 and ESPHome & TASMOTA How To Guide

[@mattvipond3840]

Hey, how did I miss you talking about that little board at 14:32 to access the shelly headers? That looks slick. My operation is embarrassing...

[@digiblurDIY]

www.tindie.com/products/voltlog/voltlink-cp2102n-usb-serial-adapter-programmer/ Or if you are US based and want it quicker wantmoore.tech/products/voltlink

[@mattvipond3840]

@@digiblurDIY Thanks! do you have a video on it? I like the shelly adapter, but im curious how that board is better than my cheapo FTDI adapter. Keep up the great work!

[@digiblurDIY]

Not a full blown one kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGTbp6CGpNJpg8U it is my go to board now though. USB-C and no issues powering up stubborn hungry devices like many other adapters struggle with.

[@largepimping]

The yellow box at 5:25 is definitely not a fuse, it's a "class X safety capacitor." It will be connected across the live and neutral AC lines. It's designed such that if it fails, it will fail open but not short (for obvious reasons).

[@digiblurDIY]

Ahh... I've seen those fail in some dimmer refurbs before, but that must have been fuses as they had an amperage label on top of them. Once we replaced them the unit started working again. Thanks for the clarification on the no fuse thing.

[@SittingDuc]

5:24 as noted, CX1 is an X-class capacitor, for RF noise reduction. But just above that is a resistor wrapped in heatshrink and in series with the full mains input, and this is a "fusable resistor", designed to self-destruct if presented with overcurrent - and then the heatshrink stops ceramic shards going everywhere. Not a great design, but not the worst either. (at 5:46, the underside of the board shows D2 connected to a 'Z' shaped trace with a hole in the pcb just above your finger, that is the underside of the fusable resistor, showing that it does indeed cut power to almost all the PCB when it self-destructs)

[@Mechotronic]

Being a luminary controller I don't sweat the 10a rating, especially with LEDs taking over these days. A lot of old dimmers would smoke too if pushed near the max rating. I wouldn't hook them to outlets, or thermal loads though. The yellow box is an X class capacitor.

[@digiblurDIY]

If only we had this luxury we wouldn't need breakers at all ;)

[@Mechotronic]

@@digiblurDIY You would be terrified if you opened some UL listed devices. The breaker is for the wiring not the load. I don't recommend throwing caution to the wind, but the chance of the fire jumping out of both the enclosure, and the wall box is low. It's your house, your decision of course. :)

[@digiblurDIY]

yeah not going to be me. I mean there is a reason why you don't see 5 or 10 amp rated switches and sockets in homes.

[@Mechotronic]

@@digiblurDIY It's within code to derate lighting circuits. You'll find plenty of dimmers rated less than 15a. Outlets and lighting circuits are different animals. You can reliably calculate the max load a lighting circuit will see because the fixture socket physically limits the max load possible, and is relatively constant. Of course a wall outlet is different because you can plug a single 20 amp device in and max the entire circuit out. For a lighting circuit you know what's past each switch and calculate the typical load. A 10a switching device on a lighting circuit is 100% safe for most installations.

[@Wayde-VA3NCA]

Came here to say this... Don't put this on a circuit with downstream plugs, or other high, or non (primarily) resistive loads and you'll be fine , and safe. It's a luminary switch controller and used as such it'll be good.

[@jdl3408]

10A, no fuse, no DC switching. That’s what I needed to know. Thanks!

[@digiblurDIY]

Yup. And I did confirm it is indeed 10A rating on the relay.

[@running_rich]

Great rundown. Thanks for reinforcing the fact this device is rated 10A, so it should not be connected to a standard 15A US circuit without additional overload protection for 10A. I didn't see anywhere that this particular one is UL Listed?

[@digiblurDIY]

No listing on it that I saw.

[@digiblurDIY]

UPDATE: I pulled the relay off and indeed it is 10A on the back side. I'll update the website with the pics.

[@torfinnsrnes6232]

You need to separate shorts from overload. If you have a 15 amp fuse and get a short after this fuse the short circuit current may be in several hundred amps. So for a short circuit situation it does not matter if you have a 10 or 16 amp relay. They will both be subjected to several hundred amps. So it is impossible to say if they will survive a short. The fuse will disconnet the short after a very short period of time ( milliseconds). An overload situation is possible worse. You need to be certain that the load you connect to the relay is less than 10 amps. For example a lightbulb. You should not connect an outlet to the relay in this case as you dont know what load it will be subjected to.

[@jperquin1807]

Nice vid! What’s the tool around 14 mins that hooks into the shelly flash connectors? Very handy and prevents you from mixing up dupont cables..

[@digiblurDIY]

Voltlog... I put it in the description for easy finding ;)

[@exqmedia]

Hi Digiblur ... the relay coil is powered at 5V as old version of ZB Mini?

[@MaxGoddur]

What is your favorite thermostat that works right out of the box with Home Assistant?

[@digiblurDIY]

Probably the Venstar still but the supply chain issues hit them hard and the prices reflect that. Fully local API. Pretty slick. Ecobee with the homekit integration is another that isn't half bad.

[@MaxGoddur]

@@digiblurDIY well after many videos on YT found out I can't install a smart thermostat apparently a "C" wire which is the ground side of the transformer in the furnace housing, is required.

[@digiblurDIY]

@@MaxGoddur some have adapter kits and some have internal batteries and sip off the other lines.

[@rogerthomas7040]

Just about all the Sonoff marketing has this device handling lights, which explains the 10a load and the lack of DC. In the UK about most lighting circuits are now configured with 6a fuses/breakers, with the complication that most wall installed lighting back boxes where this device will be place as likely to be earthed metal boxes which impacts their comms. If a higher load is placed on the device the relay contacts are likely to be the fusing point, but I have not tested such an outcome.

[@digiblurDIY]

I haven't been able to find 10a breakers easily in the US. Sticking with the Shelly relays with 15 or 16 amp ratings

[@ConChairman]

One quibble- the mains circuit breaker is NOT the weakest point in a circuit. Not by a long shot. The circuit breaker is the LAST LINE of defense. Fuses and circuit breakers are protection devices and exist to protect components upstream of the protection device. Your master circuit breaker may be 100 or 200 Amp and below that a bunch of 15, 20 and even some 30 Amp breakers. If you have a 15 amp circuit that experiences a failure, the breaker or fuse on the appliance will remove the failing device from the upstream circuits to protect them. The failing device is already toast, so there's no protecting it. All other circuits are protected because the failure path has been broken. Thus the name: "Circuit Breaker".

[@digiblurDIY]

They are the weakest link in my setup. No way am I running 200 amp on smaller circuits.

[@mjneil]

So in regards to the way you described the current situation. The supply after the circuit breaker is limited to 15 amps meaning the total load on the circuit cannot exceed 15 amps and will open circuit and stop excess load. The device is rated at 10 amps so if you are switching a load greater than 10 amps the device will fail. Essentially the current in a circuit is determined by the load and the circuit protection is there to provide protection to the fixed cabling in the house. There's many examples of where the supply and the devices down stream are rated at less than the supply device

[@digiblurDIY]

Yep. That's why we see 15-20 amp switches at the store and not 5 and 10 amp ones. Probably overkill for many lighting circuits today but everyone would need to change at the same time and makes it difficult.

[@mjneil]

@@digiblurDIY I suppose my point is that the device and the circuit breaker are not really related in they way you portrayed it in the video. There is nothing wrong with it being 10 amps rated as long as what you control with it is not going to draw more than 10 amps through any part of that circuit. If you look at your phone charger that may have a rating of 0.5 amps (primary) and a few amps (secondary) but you wouldn't necessarily worry about that when plugging it into the wall. This is just one step more complex where you have to consider the type of load that you attached to the device insuring the load is within the device rating. Especially with any inductive load like small machines where start up current can be quite high when compared to their current rating shown on the rating plate. Anyway I think it's important to understand the circuit breaker is there to maintain the safety of the fixed wiring of the installation. Good video, I look forward to watching more of your content

[@digiblurDIY]

Look at some electrical code requirements on load switching. It is the reason we see 15 amp and 20 amp switches in homes switching 1 amp or less lights. Otherwise we would have simple little 5 amp or less switches in the home everywhere.

[@mjneil]

@@digiblurDIY I'm an electrician. The fixed electrical wiring has to be at the same rating as the circuit breaker. The circuit breaker is part of the fixed wiring in the house

[@mjneil]

If the switch was to be used as a fixed part of the wiring in the house then the best course would be to put it on its own circuit breaker but if it's an appliance then I wouldn't worry about it.

[@ThomasOrdon]

Why can't it be used for DC Pop out that AC relay find where the trigger mechanism is and alter it to trigger a DC relay

[@digiblurDIY]

Used by DC as in by changing the wire terminal position and/or jumper without hardware mods.

[@patrikhagglund8486]

Can you use this if you dont have any swiitches just direct current 🤔 I have led light that i need to be able to switch on and off 🤔 does that work with this ???

[@digiblurDIY]

These are AC based.

[@tengelgeer]

Did you check the markings on the relay? Is it really 10A?

[@digiblurDIY]

It must be on the side against the PCB. I pulled the pink bubble gum off and it is blank. I'll have to go off their suggested ratings that they came up with.

[@tengelgeer]

@@digiblurDIY It's not on the top against the capacitor? Hopefully somebody does a desolder of the relay otherwise. Btw, the 10A will certainly not be a problem with a short. If you have a real short current will spike high enough to trip a 16A breaker. Overloading is a bigger issue, aka, don't make it switch an output aka, unknown load. Other then that I would happily use it on a 16A circuit.

[@digiblurDIY]

No, I followed the load traces from the terminal to the relay. Not something I'd feel comfortable using without a fuse inline in the wall. But at least that's an easy fix but then again I'd probably just rock the Shelly line with pin headers and 16A ratings.

[@clixium]

It must be 10A, 20 or 30A relays are much bigger, those could not fit in case

[@tengelgeer]

@@clixium Hard to get a sense of size, but I have pretty small 16A relays in my collection.

[@ianwhitford3596]

10amps is its rated continuous duty rating. Its the fault current capacity that determines what protection the device requires. I think up to 20amp MCB or HRC fuse would be fine.

[@Kisbalta]

Hello Sir! Your tutorial is perfect, i was able to integrate the device into Home Assistant, thank you! Still i am not sure how to address the detach relay on this device as an entity in Home Assistant.

[@digiblurDIY]

What firmware are you using now?

[@Kisbalta]

@@digiblurDIY esp32dev by Espressif Firmware: 2023.8.3. (created with ESPHome) I would like to add a sensor entity for S2. Is it possible? Currently, the S2 is connected to a live phase. S1 is empty (the 3rd wiring instruction in the manual). I was able to figure out how to be in ,,detach mode,, now i would like to create a sensor entity for S2 live phase, which is connected to a physical wall-mounted switch (to monitor the switch state, and turn other smart device on/off based on this). Many thanks in advance.

[@digiblurDIY]

@Kisbalta I only recall one GPIO for the S1 and S2

[@LeonardoDestro]

@@Kisbalta I am looking for that too, I'd like to know if that's possible before flashing the esphome fw. have you found any way to do that?

[@Kisbalta]

@@LeonardoDestro all you need to do is to comment out or delete these lines on_state: - switch.toggle: relay

[@TheDesertsweeper]

Fascinating - absolutely no clue what this thing is or does, or why your video came into my feed. But fascinating nonetheless...

[@digiblurDIY]

It's a smart switch that is designed to go behind the regular wall switch.

[@reneroman1421]

I have bought a SONOFF MINIR4 so I can get an application, with Alexa creating a routine, for my solar energy system. The idea is that it tells me when I have power from the electric company and when I don't...the question is, can I put a 120v cable on the S2 so that it tells me when there is power and when the power went out?...thanks

[@digiblurDIY]

I don't think you can wire it like that according to the docs. sonoff.tech/product/diy-smart-switches/minir4/

[@SLOposum]

Do they still need to be reflashed to upgrade FW? I read you can do it OTA now.

[@digiblurDIY]

Esp32 would probably require serial flash anyways with these different flash partitions sizes.

[@beatsizedj]

How would this procedure be woth the zigbee version of the r4mini? Is that possible?

[@digiblurDIY]

Zigbee will just pair out the box as that is a local protocol.

[@beatsizedj]

@@digiblurDIY how do i get into the pairing mode? Or just config the mqtt settings in tasmota?

[@stoni-k7155]

Hi, have you any information, because to install a switch on S1 and S2 on a Mini R4 with Tasmota flasd device?? thanks

[@digiblurDIY]

I'd stick to the wiring diagrams the device comes with.

[@gijzzzdude]

I used your template for Tasmota but it does not toggle power when using only S2 as a switch input.

[@digiblurDIY]

Did you wire like this? itead.cc/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/MINIR4-1000pxITEAD_13.jpg

[@ronm6585]

Thanks Travis.

[@djashjones]

Shame issue in the UK. There are loads of UK Tuya plugs (outlets) that are rated at 10A while our plugs are 13A fused with a 32A breaker. Never understood how they can be legally sold in the UK.

[@digiblurDIY]

Shelly knew what they were doing with that 16A rating for sure. I have seen Evvvr's relay that is load fused but only 3A and it popped during testing on me. 10A would be fine with a load fuse on board. Covers most things.

[@kawsarhussain7942]

Uk light switch breaker is 6A not 32A. For wall socket it’s 32A breaker

[@jameshancock]

You don’t need to worry about a 15amp short. Power travels over the least resistive path. It won’t go through the switched plug and the rest is soldered and will easily handle the surge. It’s only the relay that is 10amp rated. In fact, if it’s UL rated, it’s 20 amps unswitched by law. The switched part is 10amps…and with leds it light get 2.

[@digiblurDIY]

No UL here and most likely a 10amp rated relay.

[@jameshancock]

@@digiblurDIY even if not UL the power isn’t going through the relay unless it’s switched so if you’re using LEDs it still won’t matter because LEDs are capacitively issolated from mains and can’t draw more even in a short because of the X cap. (That yellow thing in the video is an x cap (safety cap that fails open in the case of a short)

[@digiblurDIY]

So why not use a 5A relay? And why do we use breakers?

[@AndrewJoakimsen]

@@digiblurDIY Did you get a pic of the relay specs or p/n?

[@jameshancock]

@@digiblurDIY you could easily use a 5a relay with LEDs. When was the last time you had 600w on a single switch for lights? The NEC is written for incandescent bulbs. It doesn’t differentiate between resistive lighting and LEDs that are all DC devices at all. (Yes you can power any LED bulb with DC power. Typically 52ish VDC and up to 170 will work) We use breakers because they’re in the power path (and as the NEC makes clear, are there to protect the grid, not you. Only GFCI/AFCI protect you). And I’m sure you’re aware but if I draw 20 amps on a 15 amp breaker it takes minutes before it will pop. Only a dead short will trip it instantly. The relay is NOT in the parallel circuit power path. That is amperage draw from a socket hooked up to this thing in parallel doesn’t go through the relay at all. It goes through the bridged solder connections all of which can easily handle 20 amps, not just 15. And even in the case of a dead short down stream, the breaker will pop in under a second which those solder joints will easily handle without damage. And unless you’re putting 13 incandescent 100w bulbs on this relay or more than a 1 HP motor you’ll be just fine too.

[@Beansswtf]

I feel like the whole amps/circuit breaker explanation was pretty terrible, and clearly a lot of people misunderstood it too. If your circuit breaker is rated to trip at 15 amps, and this device can only handle 10 amps before it starts melting, then the circuit breaker will never trip if the sonoff device sees more than 10 amps, because it is still under 15 amps. The circuit breaker will allow the sonoff to keep pulling past 10 amps, up to 15(until the circuit breakers limit) and the sonoff device will blow itself up. If the sonoff device had a fuse built in to pop if its load draws more than 10 amps, then it would be better/safer etc. UK plugs have fuses built in, so if you had a 10 amp fuse in the plug which this device is connected to, then you're fine.

[@digiblurDIY]

Keep the breaker the weakest link a bad explanation? KISS as this wasn't an electrical advice video and all in theory in the matrix video. I have learned it doesn't matter though from these comments. (except in my installs) 🤣

[@christopherf8160]

10 amps will be great the new 10 amp lighting circuits in new usa nec.

[@digiblurDIY]

Yeah eventually when it becomes mainstream.

[@composer47]

I mean, as a mouse trap, it might actually fry the mouse a lot easier than the Shelly. So there's that...

[@digiblurDIY]

Especially if that's the one making the short!

[@kdelios]

There is a fusable resistor there, just like Shelly's have.

[@digiblurDIY]

Which component? It is probably just on the power supply side feeding the ESP though as usually the load isn't fused.

[@kdelios]

@@digiblurDIY it's the vertical black component next to the blue varistor behind the yellow component.

[@digiblurDIY]

Gotcha. Yes, so just on the power supply itself and not the actual load. Thanks for the confirmation.

[@kawsarhussain7942]

Does that mean we don’t need our own fuse

[@mfowuki]

Hi. I tried to flash the device this way, but when I turn it on with the button pressed, I get a cyclic reboot ESP-ROM:esp32c3-api1-20210207 Build:Feb 7 2021 rst:0x3 (RTC_SW_SYS_RST),boot:0x7 (DOWNLOAD(USB/UART0/1)) Saved PC:0x40048b82 Download boot modes disabled ESP-ROM:esp32c3-api1-20210207 Build:Feb 7 2021 e.t.c.

[@digiblurDIY]

what did you flash it with and how?

[@mfowuki]

@@digiblurDIY Device is sonoff minir4m (green). I used FTDI ft232 usb-uart which I have successfully flashed many other devices before. I also tried my own usb-uart which automatically enters programming mode when using esptool with EN and GPIO0. I often deal with esp32 and usually have no difficulties with its programming. As I understand, the programming mode is disabled in the factory firmware. In the previous message I posted the console log connected to the device. I'll try to buy and resolder esp32-c3.

[@digiblurDIY]

@mfowuki what firmware file and what app was used?

[@mfowuki]

@@digiblurDIY At first I used tasmota web flashing and the corresponding image for esp32-c3. But it didn't get to programming, after some time a message about a connection error appeared. When it gave an error I tried to use esptool, but I couldn't even read the mac-address. The device doesn't enter the programming mode in principle, which is visible in the console log. In the programming mode, there should be no cyclic reboot.

[@JonatanCastro-secondary]

I guess it all dpends on how much they will ask for it... if it's too close to shelly then it won't make too much sense IMHO

[@digiblurDIY]

Yep. That's my thought as well. Needs to be much cheaper for most people.

[@utubeanesh]

OMG, this is the first time I see Sonoff using Capacitive Drop Powersupply instead of standard SMPS. Capacitive power supplies are cheaper requires less components. But they can be easily blown when Input AC voltage exceeds. In order words their head room is lesser. So these devices when used in developing countries like India where 230V AC mains are not very stable, these devices can not survive reliably. Also they used additional PCB to mount the relay which unnecessarily increase the trace resistance and cause temperature raise of PCB tracks. It downgrades mechanical reliability too. I did not expect this shit from Sonoff.

[@dream4magi]

The yellow part is not a fuse. It's a capacitor.

[@digiblurDIY]

Ahh... I've seen those fail in some dimmer refurbs before, but that must have been fuses as they had an amperage label on top of them. Once we replaced them the unit started working again. Thanks for the clarification on the no fuse thing.

[@jabolko1k]

in europe lights have 10A fuses and other things 16A.. so for EU its perfect for lighting solutions

[@digiblurDIY]

Yeah, 10A breakers it is ready to go! Although I will have to say I like Shelly's additional headroom, nothing wrong with overkill.

[@jensschroder8214]

The Shelly Generation 1 has an ESP8266 in it. outdated ! The Shelly Generation 2 and 3 has an ESP32-C3 variant with 1 core. The Sonoff MiniR4 has an ESP32-DOWD-V3 with 2 cores. And the Sonoff MiniR4m also has an ESP32-C3 with 1 core. This means the Sonoff MiniR4 has the most powerful CPU on the board.

[@Tntdruid]

Looks like pink bubelgum? 😄

[@digiblurDIY]

Just said that in one of my comments lol trying to see the relay ratings.

[@Leonvolt28]

I wouldn't taste it😂

[@digiblurDIY]

It might be some new hidden flavor.

[@MaxGoddur]

Don't you have to be careful with the passwords for OTA upload thinking you could lock your self out of the device and need to local install the yaml again.

[@digiblurDIY]

I don't use them.

[@mdani76]

Just my 2cents: I would never charge 10 or 15 amps in these devices... shelly, sonoff, blabla... I don't care. They are really useful and I have many but... if I need to switch some "real" power I use them with a power contactor that can drive SAFELY a lot of amps. No way. Of course power contactors are quite expensive (here in Italy, decent models start from 30$) but i do not want to see my house on fire caused by a f... 10$ chinese switch. :) With all respect for chinese people... :D

[@digiblurDIY]

Indeed! I try to run that 60% max rule myself on things as I don't trust them much.

[@HermieDaddy]

240v at 10a is 120v at 20a.......:)

[@digiblurDIY]

All about them amps...

[@vk3fbab]

For the load it's the same power but for the switch and wiring it requires twice the cross sectional area to carry double the current. Which makes 110v more expensive to deliver the same amount of power.

[@PunaJussi]

It's called Joules law when you talk about electricity and heat. The heating power is I^2*R, so yeah you get less power with 120 V, but the current generates the heat that breaks things (if the voltage stays nominal) so devices are rated based on current.

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

"Extreme" 🤔🤔🤣🤣🤣🤣🎇🎇

[@digiblurDIY]

Extremely small ✌️😎

[@GoatZilla]

10 minute rule.

[@digiblurDIY]

Is that like the 5 second rule?

[@GoatZilla]

@@digiblurDIY Yes!

[@PunaJussi]

That mains to switch thing sucks ass, wth?

[@digiblurDIY]

At least in the US market. I can't speak about others as I don't know their code.

[@bussi7859]

Come over nerd

[@digiblurDIY]

Sure!