Overvoltage incident (again)
Another buck converter failed due to an incorrect load. Learned my lesson — properly rated this time.
What happened
I was testing servo movement via the Wemos D1 Mini when the second buck converter went down mid-test. The output voltage wasn’t checked after initial setup — a mistake I’d already made once before.
The converter shipped miscalibrated, sitting above 7V on a line rated for 5V. The moment the servo drew current, it was already too late.
The code at the time
// servo_test.go
func main() {
// sweep servo 0 -> 180 -> 0
for angle := 0; angle <= 180; angle += 10 {
servo.SetAngle(angle)
time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
}
} Lessons learned
Always verify buck output with a multimeter first
Converters ship miscalibrated. Check the output voltage before connecting anything — every single time.
Add an inline fuse on the input side
A fuse would have killed the circuit before the converter took damage. Cheap insurance.
PWM averaging fools multimeters
Use an LED blink test to confirm a pin is actually toggling — a steady voltage reading on PWM doesn't mean the signal is right.