ESP32‑C6 Zero deep sleep current draw (~667 µA)

[rabistel]

Hi,

I'm testing an ESP32‑C6 Zero (Waveshare) and trying to keep the device in sleep mode most of the time to save battery power.

In my code I set all supported power domains to ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF before calling esp_deep_sleep_start(). The minimum current I measure is about 667 µA, powering the module directly at 3.3 V (without LDO).

Is this current draw expected for the ESP32‑C6 Zero module design? Or should it be possible to reach the datasheet values in the tens of µA range (like the bare ESP32‑C6 chip)?

Any feedback or experiences with this module would be very helpful.

Thanks!

Code: Select all

#include "esp_sleep.h"

void setup() {
  esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_RTC_PERIPH, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF);
  //esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_RTC_SLOW_MEM, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF); //not supported
  //esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_RTC_FAST_MEM, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF); //not supported
  esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_XTAL, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF);
  esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_XTAL32K, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF);
  esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_RC32K, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF);
  esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_RC_FAST, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF);
  esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_CPU, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF);
  esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_VDDSDIO, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF);
  esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_MODEM, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF);
  esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_TOP, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF);
  //esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_CNNT, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF); //not supported
  esp_sleep_pd_config(ESP_PD_DOMAIN_MAX, ESP_PD_OPTION_OFF);

  delay(10000);
  esp_deep_sleep_start();
}

void loop() {}

[JoeSensoric]

It's always the board!

Is it this board?
https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/ESP32-C6-Zero
The RGB-LED WS2812B alone has a current around 450 µA when switched off and powered with 3.3V.

[rabistel]

Hi @JoeSensoric,

Yes, it’s that board. I’ve already disabled all unused GPIOs and physically removed the RGB LED.
Now the measured deep-sleep current is around 114 µA, so the board itself was indeed the main issue.

Thanks a lot for pointing that out!

[burkat]

Depends how you are powering it. If it's 5V then it's going through the linear requlator that is on the zero board.
If you directly power it with 3.3V you have to really remove the regulator as it will still leak current backward.
And yes, also remove the rgb led.

When you do that the system uses 8.7 uA in deep sleep and 460 uA in light sleep

Cheers

[lichurbagan]

Use the ESP32-C6 Zero only for development. Use a bare ESP32-C6 module with minimal BOM or design your own PCB following Espressif’s low-power reference designs.