12/30/2025 - started the schematic

I started making the schematic of my esp 32 board since i want to use WLED i had to go with a ESP 32 and since i know fur sure a C3 works with WLED and has everything i need i went with that i added power via usb c but i want to be able to use a seperate power supply which is going to be 24volt but im still looking into which buck converter to use for this since im going to have to step it down to 3.3v and problay 12 volt for the LED strip

1/2/2026 11 AM - added a buck converter to 3V3

I added a buck converter where i can input 3.5V~28V and get 3V3 out to power the esp32, since i had never worked with a buck converter before it took quit some time to get it to work and i als had to think about backfeeding into the usb port which could break everything so i added a jumper there.

1/2/2026 2 PM - remade the schematic

Since this is my first time making a MCU i asked for a review of my schematic on reddit and i got some good recommondations. Because of these recommondations i decided to change out the buck converter for a other one and removed the LDO completly and added the 5v from the usb to the new buck converter using a 3 pin jumper.

1/3/2026 1 PM - added all the footprints and started with the layout

i added all the footprints which im going to use in and looked if these where available for pcba on jlcpcb.com
i also started laying out the layout for the actual pcb there i also figured out i didnt choose a correct switch since it isnt rated for more than 0.3A and im going to use more than 3A so im going to look for a other switch

1/3/2026 8 PM - routed the pcb

i routed the pcb, since this was my second time making a pcb a lot of time went into it since i had to research a lot of thinks to make the PCB correct. this was the first time using a ground plane and i didnt consider this corretly when laying out the pcb so i had to move some things to make it work correctly.
Complet picture:

side 1:

side 2:

i still have to work out some errors and triple check everything but if come quit a way today

1/3/2026 10 PM - finished the PCB

I finished the PCB i removed all the errors most of which where because of a wrong setting in the groundplane i also made the trace width of the Vin ledstrips and added a extra zone to thiken it up even more so it should be able to handle some amps

1/4/2026 4:20 PM - added levelshifter

i forgot to add a levelshifter to the gpio pins for the ledstrips, i did this now which was quit a bit of work since i had to change how i got power from the Vin since i also need 5v now but i figured it out and it is correct now.

1/4/2026 4:29 PM - sourced all the parts

I added all the parts i need to my shopping cart in JLCPCB, which was quit some work since i dont know the componenst and had to research everything, i also looked at ledstrips i want to have the ledstrip around two skadis boards above my desk the boards together are 112 by 56 cm so 336 cm circumference so i need a led strip of 4 meterand i would like it to have a difuser since i sit real close to it. i also switched from a 12v power supply to a 24v power supply since i can get this easyer the only change for this is luckily the ledstrip.

1/4/2026 7 PM - made the BOM and place file

i finished the BOM for JLCPCB and got the placement file from kicad i did something wrong with the placement file since a lot of the components arent posistioned correctly and the price of the PCBA is quit high so i have to change out components or i have to buy the components and solder them by hand im first going to look at replacing the components but if i cant do that i will handsolder some thinks which im going to do for some components anyway.
Placement:

Price:

1/5/2026 - fixed the placement and replaced components

The placement was wrong so i first tryed to fix it by hand but i found out that there is a plugin for kiCAD that fixes the placement on its own it wasnt complety correct with the rotation butt this is a eay fix. i also replaced components which were extended but could be basic i also tryed to see if it was cheaper to handsolder some components like the terminal blocks but even though it says extended it only charges for the component.

new price:

with shipping:

1/11/2026 - found a cheaper option for the led strip

I found a kit with ledstrips and a powersupply in one and because of that its way cheaper to buy this then what i first found unfortunately it doesnt have a diffuser but i think its good enough for what i want to do.

1/27/2026 - Screenshot of shipping cost

I had a hard time getting this screenshot since JLCPCB didnt want to upload my gerber so i had to contact support who were luckely very quick in responding and giving me a solution, i had to ut the demensions in on my own and then it worked.