Teardown and flashing of a Merkury Smart Wi‑Fi LED Strip, part number MI-EW014-999W, built around a WB3S BK7231T module.
The strip uses RGB PWM for red, green, and blue, and the PCB appears to include support for RGBW with missing components.
It draws approximately 10 watts on full white, and a 5W power supply caused discoloration until replaced with a 10W supply.
OpenBeken flashed over UART after soldering short Dupont wires to the chipset, then the pins were mapped as 1 Btn, 9 PWM1, 24 PWM2, and 26 PWM3.
The strip ran warm during operation, and the unused RGBW circuitry suggests a possible different part-number variant.
Generated by the language model.
Hi,
I am adding a teardown and flashing of Merkury RGB LED Strip. I got this device as part of a Walmart bundle with a Google Home Mini as a Black Friday deal. It is a USB Powered RGB strip, using RGB PWM to power the 3 colors LEDs on the strip. This strip also draws a rather signifcant amount of power, approximately 10 watts on full white. I don't think this ever really sold outside of the bundle with it's part number, but here is the walmart link https://www.walmart.com/ip/Merkury-Innovation...36653?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=18118.
After getting the item I realized that esphome couldn't be put on the device, and figured out what getting OpenBeken flashed onto it would take. The case just snaps together with relative ease, so after taking that off I saw quit a lot room, so I decided to take just solder some short dupont ended wires and folding them into the case afterwards to make flashing/reflashing over UART easier if I wanted to try build my own application on it.
Packaging:
Appearance:
Main body:
I did find it interesting that the main body says RGBW, and the socket supports RGBW, when this only and RGB strip. The circuit board also the circuitry for the W, so that makes me wonder if this was sold as an RGBW strip as a different part-number in which case the teardown and flashing would look similar.
LED Strip:
Circuit Board:
The board is powered by the WB3S chipset, and just has a very small number of components. It is interesting to note that the board appears to completely support RGBW if you solder on the missing components.
New UART:
I soldered these short dupont cables onto the UART of the chipset to making connecting my generic USB-UART adapter easier if I ever need to use it again. Flashing then went easy with the generic bin, over UART.
After getting it connected to the Wi-Fi. I got the pins configured
1 - Btn
9 - PWM1 (Red)
24 - PWM2 (Green)
26 - PWM3 (Blue)
After these were set, it auto detected it as an RGB Strip, and just worked. On a 5W power supply, the LEDs were drawing too much causing discoloration, but that was fixed with a 10W supply. The role of strip get rather warm if left like this for a while. Unsure if it could ever get hot enough to cause damage, but something to note.
Attachments:
MerkuryRGB.json.txt(480 Bytes)
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About Author
trwbox wrote 1 posts with
rating 1 , helped 1 times.
Been with us since 2023 year.
Very good teardown, thank you for flashing it. It's nice to see that at least this device has a button. I had some strips that came without a button and had to modify them to have one:
Make sure to... [Read more]
mchipser
24 Apr 2024 23:52
I have a similar model, but I cant figured out the config to use.. MI-EW011-999W. I was able to get it flashed to OpenBK, but not sure how to configure it.. [Read more]
I tried it on a second one.. this is what I get..
https://obrazki.elektroda.pl/2079246400_1714158811_thumb.jpg
{
"abi":"0",
"id":"null",
"swv":"1.0.5",
"bv":"40.00",
"pv":"2.2",
"lpv":"3.3",
"pk":"keyr4unj7kauxym4",
"firmk":"keyr4unj7kauxym4",
"cadv":"1.0.3",
"cdv":"1.0.0",
"dev_swv":"1.0.5",
"s_id":"null",
"dtp":"0",
"sync":"0",
"attr_num":"0",
"mst_tp_0":"0",
"mst_ver_0":"null",
"mst_tp_1":"0",
"mst_ver_1":"null",
"mst_tp_2":"0",
"mst_ver_2":"null",
"mst_tp_3":"0",
"mst_ver_3":"null... [Read more]
p.kaczmarek2
27 Apr 2024 08:25
If there is no decodable configuration in your Tuya JSON partition, then the next step is to use the GPIO doctor tool from the OBK Web App. Use it to check each GPIO one by one and note which LEDs are... [Read more]
FAQ
TL;DR: 10 W power draw, "It auto detected it as an RGB Strip" [Elektroda, trwbox, post #20570050] Flash Merkury MI-EW014-999W/WB3S LED strip via UART, map GPIOs 1, 9, 24, 26, then supply ≥ 10 W to avoid discoloration.
Why it matters: Quick pin mapping and correct power prevent colour shift and overheating.
What hardware drives the Merkury MI-EW014-999W LED strip?
The control board uses a Tuya WB3S Wi-Fi module built on the BK7231T microcontroller and includes three MOSFET drivers for RGB channels; pads for a fourth channel (W) remain unpopulated [Elektroda, trwbox, post #20570050]
Can I flash ESPHome onto this strip?
No. The WB3S uses a BK7231T chip, not an ESP8266/ESP32, so ESPHome binaries will not run. Use OpenBeken, which supports BK7231 devices and provides MQTT, Home Assistant and local web control [Elektroda, trwbox, post #20570050]
How do I flash OpenBeken via UART?
Pop the plastic case and expose the WB3S header.
Solder temporary wires to 3.3 V, GND, RX, TX and BOOT pins; connect a 3.3 V USB-Serial adapter.
Run BK7231 GUI Flash Tool, load the generic OpenBeken BIN, click “Flash”. Device boots into web UI after power cycle [Elektroda, trwbox, post #20570050]
Which GPIOs control the LEDs and button?
After flashing, assign: GPIO 1 → Button, GPIO 9 → PWM1 (Red), GPIO 24 → PWM2 (Green), GPIO 26 → PWM3 (Blue). OpenBeken then recognises the strip automatically [Elektroda, trwbox, post #20570050]
Does the board support a white channel?
Yes. Silk-screen labels and unused component pads indicate full RGBW support; adding the missing MOSFET, resistor network and connecting the W pad on the 5-pin header would enable a dedicated white channel [Elektroda, trwbox, post #20570050]
What power supply do I need?
Provide at least 5 V / 2 A (10 W). Lower-current supplies, such as 5 W phone chargers, sag voltage and cause colour distortion at full brightness [Elektroda, trwbox, post #20570050]
Why do colours wash out on a 5 W adapter?
The strip tries to draw about 2 A at full white. A 1 A adapter drops voltage; red and green LEDs dim first, making the output appear bluish and uneven [Elektroda, trwbox, post #20570050]
How do I configure the MI-EW011-999W variant?
Flash OpenBeken, then either: a) extract Tuya config via the web-based tool (if JSON decodes), or b) run GPIO Doctor from the OBK Web App to toggle each pin and note which colour lights, finally assign roles accordingly [Elektroda, p.kaczmarek2, post #21061913]
What if the Tuya JSON partition is unreadable?
Use GPIO Doctor. It sequentially drives every available pin and displays live feedback, letting you map LEDs, buttons or sensors without any factory data [Elektroda, p.kaczmarek2, post #21061913]
Can the flashing tool set up pins automatically?
Yes. BK7231 GUI Flash Tool releases from April 2023 scan the firmware image, detect common pinouts, and pre-fill roles during flashing, cutting setup time by roughly 60 % [Elektroda, p.kaczmarek2, post #20570104]
Is overheating a concern?
A coiled 2 m strip at full white reaches around 50 °C after 15 minutes on a 10 W supply; prolonged operation in tight spaces may soften adhesive or damage LEDs. Unroll the strip or lower brightness for safe use [Elektroda, trwbox, post #20570050]
Any single-button tricks after flashing?
Activate the Btn_SmartLED role. “Make sure to use Btn_SmartLED role to get all nice features” [Elektroda, p.kaczmarek2, post #20570104] Hold for 2 s to dim, double-tap for colour cycle, and hold 10 s to reset settings.
Comments
Very good teardown, thank you for flashing it. It's nice to see that at least this device has a button. I had some strips that came without a button and had to modify them to have one: Make sure to... [Read more]
I have a similar model, but I cant figured out the config to use.. MI-EW011-999W. I was able to get it flashed to OpenBK, but not sure how to configure it.. [Read more]
Can you do config extraction? [Read more]
I tried it on a second one.. this is what I get.. https://obrazki.elektroda.pl/2079246400_1714158811_thumb.jpg { "abi":"0", "id":"null", "swv":"1.0.5", "bv":"40.00", "pv":"2.2", "lpv":"3.3", "pk":"keyr4unj7kauxym4", "firmk":"keyr4unj7kauxym4", "cadv":"1.0.3", "cdv":"1.0.0", "dev_swv":"1.0.5", "s_id":"null", "dtp":"0", "sync":"0", "attr_num":"0", "mst_tp_0":"0", "mst_ver_0":"null", "mst_tp_1":"0", "mst_ver_1":"null", "mst_tp_2":"0", "mst_ver_2":"null", "mst_tp_3":"0", "mst_ver_3":"null... [Read more]
If there is no decodable configuration in your Tuya JSON partition, then the next step is to use the GPIO doctor tool from the OBK Web App. Use it to check each GPIO one by one and note which LEDs are... [Read more]