Introduction: Mod a USB to TTL Serial Adapter (CP2102) to Program ESP8266

By April Brother

This USB to TTL Serial board based on the CP2102 chip, it have no enough current (400mA+) to driven ESP8266. So I will fix the issue.

CP2102 Datasheet: https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/IC/cp2102.pdf

UPDATE: I made a new CP2102 USB to TTL converter depend on the board. It's now on tindie.

Step 1: Materials

  • 1 x CP2102 USB adapter, it's easy be found at eBay by keyword cp2102
  • 1 x AMS1117-3.3
  • A knife
  • A soldering iron

Step 2: Cutting Off the Original 3.3V Output

The 3.3V from CP2102 has only 200mA output. It's not enough for esp8266. I cutting off the 3.3V output with an knife.

Step 3: Soldering LDO AMS1117-3.3

Use the pin 5V as input of AMS1117, connect the output to 3.3V

Now the USB adapter can driven esp8266 directly.