I power mine off micro USB. If you want it does have an option to use a DC to DC converter if you want to run off 12 volts. It also has power headers for any 5V power supply if you don’t want to use USB and don’t want to use the voltage regulator. I can add power requirements in the readme on GitHub.
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You’d mount this DC - DC converter like this UNDER the esp8266 so that the back can stay flat. But only if you want 12v. If your doing 5V the 2 holes on that USB micro section are labeled on the back for power.
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I assume that said module has to be adjusted to 5V before the ESP board gets soldered in, right?
Yes! An order of operations is very important if you use the DC-DC board.
Now how do we waterproof it? I have a smart lock on my front door that does not use RFID but I can control it with Home Assistant. I could use one of these readers to have Home Assistant toggle the lock but I would need to install the reader outside. It might be possible to cover it with epoxy, silicone, acrylic, urethane, etc according to an article I found. Fortunately I have some silicone mix laying around from a mechanical keyboard mod so I might try that. What do you all think?
Plastic waterproof electrical boxes are a thing. They’re a bit large but this would solve your problem
That extra layer of plastic with another box might interfere with reading my NExT
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Conformal coating is a good idea, you could also just use silicone caulk and call it a day. Just fill up one of those 3D printed housings your already have, smash it all in there. The hard part is going to be how you power it I think.
I bought some Silicone Conformal Coating to try because I am a little worried about filling the case. I don’t want to decrease the range since I already need to press my hand against the reader to read my x-series
good ideas below, but I’m late to the party.
This is what I would have suggested, maybe now just to to compliment your current plan.
NZ$ 10.42 8%OFF | Plastic Waterproof Rain Cover for Access Control Keypad Controller Rainproof Protection Shell
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Got my boards today! Thanks so much man! They look awesome!
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Most electrical supplies stores will have some sort of sealing gel product like this,
The nice thing is that this can be removed/peeled off.
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Let me know how it goes! I always love pictures 
You’re welcome
Is the D1 mini in the correct position? The other picture shows it rotated 180°
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Ahhh crap. I even looked at the antenna label. My head is not in the game today. Luckily I got a bunch of them.
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Haha yeah flip it 180, you might be able to get the current one off and flip it if you have a solder sucker and patients. At least it’s the right side down! Have a look at my old picture for reference.
I used the provided brush to coat the soldered parts with Silicone Conformal Coating. I then cured it for 30 mins with a blacklight. Without a UV light it will take roughly 48 hours.
I attached it to the wall next to my doorbell so I can use the reader to toggle the lock on my front gate and open/close the garage door. I’ll need to secure the cable and paint it to match the wall.
Unfortunately the coating decreases the range so I was unable to scan one of my NExT’s that is slightly deeper than my other one. It will read the other one but only in one specific spot so that kinda sucks. It reads my flex no problem. I might try to remove some of the coating on the antenna so I can scan all 3 instead of 1 and kinda 1 more. Even with the issues, it all works so I’ll take it as a win
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