[info] Minimal foot print hardware using ESP32-C6 mini

[nickread4nick]

We recently installed three aircon from the 'developer' series sold in NZ: https://www.panasonic.com/nz/hvac/air-conditioning/residential/single-room-air-conditioning/cooling-and-heating-wall-mounted-with-voice-wi-fi-control.html

I guess these are designed to be installed by 'developers' building houses on a budget so they have Wifi as an option via the CZ-TACG1 adaptor. What I didn't appreciate was that the design for these units is to have the CZ-TACG1 mounted outside the unit on the wall - so there is minimal space to mount anything inside the unit. Fortunately I had an ESP32-C6 mini board I had got to play with which is perfect for this application as it is very small: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006935181127.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.51.5a731802eqnaJ5

As noted elsewhere you don't need a 3.3/5v level converter with ESP32, and the mini board takes 5v direct so you just use the 5wire connectors noted elsewhere: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005562174022.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.58.5a731802eqnaJ5

This is pretty much plug and play EXCEPT you need to solder some header pins onto the mini board which can be a bit fiddly at this scale. I suspect there are mini boards pre-soldered with header pins available. Pictures show the board, assembly and placing in the aircon. Note I also used the external patch antennas available for the mini boards, as the inbuilt antenna is only useful in reasonably close proximity to the Wifi AP. The other reason is that I have also configured these boards to act as Bluetooth proxy/BLE presence detectors and you really need the external antenna for good BT reception.

[tech1977]

Hi,
I could try an AZDelivery NodeMCU Amica V2 ESP8266 ESP-12F but can I connect the pins directly? Does it support 5v?

I'm using the ESP32-C3 Super Mini, with this guide and these components:
https://www.ingeniousmakers.com/index.php/2025/03/08/ingenious-makers-esphome-panasonic-climate-interface/

but I have this problem posted as issue #147
Could the problem be the ESP32-C3 Super Mini? I tried two of them, but I always have the same problem

[TallDaikon]

Thanks, I did the same with three CS-Z42XKEW indoor units with CZ-TACG1 connection.
It works fine without level converter. I hope ESPHome will support in the future Zigbee.

[nickread4nick]

To be fair, I think a 3.3/5 level converter would be recommended for any volume produced solution, certainly a commercial solution etc. But for personal use I think its low enough risk to do without one. I might modify mine with a 1k series resistor in the Rx line of the ESP-32 C6 for extra peace of mind - but so far no issues.

[ETE-Design]

@nickread4nick So you connected the ESP32-C6 direct to the connector? If so can you then give the PIN Connection cause would like to try it out. And do I have to do any modification in the code to make it work?

[nickread4nick]

I used the pins down the right hand side (5v at the top) and used two GPIO pins (18 and 20) from that side - so four pins in total (5v, GND, GPIO18, GPIO20). I inserted the row of header pins and just soldered the four I needed:

uart: tx_pin: GPIO18 rx_pin: GPIO20 id: ac_uart baud_rate: 9600 parity: EVEN

Then you just slide the dupont connectors of the aliexpress item referenced in the original post onto those four header pins. Note: RX/TX is from the direction of the ESP, not the AC, so match the RX wire from the AC connector end to the RX pin you define in your YAML (eg GPIO20 in my case).

[ETE-Design]

@TallDaikon Can this be used for a Zigbee Solution?

https://github.com/luar123/zigbee_esphome