The XL-10AH is a small breakout board with a highly power-efficient bistable switch at a quiescent current of just 1.3µA (vendor measurement at 12 V) that can switch up to 10 A and supports a rated voltage range of 4.5-26 V.
Because of this wide voltage range, it uses an on-board voltage regulator (unlike its “smaller sibling” XL-10AL).
The board is designed for manual operation via a push button. You can also control it from a microcontroller by pulsing the push button LOW.
The primary difference between this XL-10AH and the XL-10AL is the voltage that can be switched. If you want to switch 3.3 V circuitry, i.e. to add a way for a microcontroller to turn itself off, use XL-10AL. That said, this XL-10AH has also worked well for switching 3.3 V circuitry, however its On-Resistance may be higher at this voltage.
Overview
The board comes with four solder pads: Vin and GND are connected to the power supply (i.e. a battery), and Vout and GND are connected to the device you want to control. The voltage you feed in is the voltage you get out.
A push button can be used to manually toggle the switch.
When the built-in push button is pressed, it essentially pulls a pin in the circuitry to low. That’s why you can toggle the switch via a GPIO or an external push button just as easily:
- Programmatically: pull down either one of the two marked solder pads for a short period of time with a microcontroller GPIO, simulating a button press.
- External Button: connect an external momentary push button (normally open) to GND and one of the two solder pads marked GPIO low.
EC8D-01B
The EC8D-01B used on this board is an ultra-low-power electronic toggle-switch controller that changes its output state each time a momentary pushbutton is pressed.
It operates at 2–5 V, consumes at most 2 µA at 3 V without load for the controller IC itself (not the entire module), and provides an active-low output (LOW when ON, high-impedance when OFF) suitable for controlling external switching circuitry.
State Control
The board is a simple toggle switch so each new pulse to GND toggles its state. There is no dedicated status output pad, but you can determine the latched state by tapping into the switch controller’s output.
If you use this board with microcontrollers, i.e. to let a microcontroller turn itself off programmatically, knowing the actual switch state can be particularly useful.
To do so, you can read pin 4 (OUT) of the EC8D-01B. Unlike the XL-10AL, this pin does not drive the power MOSFET gate directly: it feeds an inverter and NPN transistor driver. Its 5.1 kΩ pull-up resistor (R1) connects to the on-board HT7536 regulator’s nominal 3.6 V output, not to VIN.
| Latched state | EC8D-01B pin 4 (OUT) |
Voltage at the board’s OUT node (VIN present) |
|---|---|---|
| OFF | High impedance | Approximately 3.6 V, via R1 |
| ON | Pulled LOW | Approximately 0 V |
You can solder to pin 4 or the connected R1/inverter-input node shown in the schematic. This senses the commanded latch state, rather than independently confirming that VOUT is delivering power.
Reading OUT With a 3.3 V Microcontroller
A nominal 3.6 V is at the ESP32 GPIO HIGH input limit of VDD + 0.3 V when the ESP32 runs at 3.3 V. A direct connection often works in practice while the ESP32 is powered, but there is no tolerance margin and the regulator can output slightly more than 3.6 V. It is therefore worth measuring the voltage instead of assuming that every board outputs exactly 3.6 V. See the HT7536 regulator specifications.
For additional margin, use the same 1N4148 diode circuit described for the XL-10AL: anode to the ESP32 input with its own 3.3 V pull-up, cathode (striped end) to OUT. The GPIO reads LOW when ON and HIGH when OFF.
The XL-10AH needs VIN and a common GND for this measurement. If the module is unpowered, an ESP32 input with a pull-up also reads HIGH: that alone cannot distinguish an OFF latch from missing VIN. Also consider an unpowered ESP32 when making a direct GPIO connection, since the module can then feed current into its input-protection circuitry.
Voltage and Current
The vendor markets this bistable switch for loads of up to 10A. Unlike the XL-10AL, the XL-10AH includes a regulator and a separate MOSFET gate driver to support higher input voltages. Its published specifications are:
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Current | up to 10A (vendor test at 12V for 30 minutes) |
| Voltage | 4.5-26V (vendor rating) |
| Voltage Drop | 120mV (measured at 12V, 10A) |
| Quiescent Current | 1.3µA (OFF state, measured at 12V) |
The vendor does not recommend continuous 10A use below 7V, because of overheating. Even at higher voltages, the 10A figure is based on a 30-minute test, not a verified continuous-duty thermal rating. Check the actual MOSFET temperature and voltage drop under your operating conditions.
[!NOTE]
The reverse-engineered XL-10AH schematic shown above is labeled VIN 4.5–20V, whereas the vendor specification states 4.5–26V. This discrepancy has not been resolved by independent testing; take particular care near the advertised upper voltage limit.
Microcontroller Use-Case
With low currents (around 200mA, as is common in microcontroller projects), the voltage drop should be far smaller than the vendor’s 120mV at 10A figure. It is not literally zero, however, and no specific low-current voltage-drop measurement is available here.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Example Load Current | 200mA (not a maximum) |
| Rated Input Voltage | 4.5-26V |
| Voltage Drop | Load-dependent; not separately measured at 200mA |
| Quiescent Current | About 1.3µA at 12V in the OFF state; varies with VIN |
The XL-10AH has reportedly also worked at 3.3V, but that is outside its rated input range, and the regulator and gate-drive circuitry may behave differently there. For reliable low-voltage operation, the XL-10AL is the better choice.
High Currents
This board can switch surprisingly high currents of up to 10A under the vendor’s test conditions. At lower voltages the P-channel MOSFET may not be driven as effectively, so its ON-resistance and heating can increase. For sustained 10A operation, follow the vendor’s warning about supply voltages below 7V, and verify thermal performance in the actual installation.
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(content created Oct 26, 2026)