second to far right digit does not work.

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bosco-zebra
 
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second to far right digit does not work.

Post by bosco-zebra »

I am having trouble with my second digit in the tube from the right. I used to have all digits missing chunks, I resoldered everything, now I have 1 digit that does not work at all, everything else is cool. Any ideas? It's soldered up awesome like bull, but still no good. thanks.

EDIT:I thought a digit was a segment, found me mistake while looking poop up trying to fix it.
Last edited by bosco-zebra on Mon Feb 01, 2010 4:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

brian4120
 
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Re: second to far right segment does not work.

Post by brian4120 »

Best thing you can do for us is to take some good pictures of your board (top/bottom) and and of the tubes connections.

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bosco-zebra
 
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Re: second to far right segment does not work.

Post by bosco-zebra »

board2.jpg
board2.jpg (816.2 KiB) Viewed 2868 times
tubey2.jpg
tubey2.jpg (957.14 KiB) Viewed 2868 times

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bosco-zebra
 
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Re: second to far right segment does not work.

Post by bosco-zebra »

I know I am replying to myself but, I tried that " jumper the display pin over from one you know that works" thing, as another thread suggested. I can add a blinking 1 to the digit to the left of it, but the second from right digit remains dark even when i jump it from a working digit. sooooooo... that's not very good.i could tack the wire I'm using on with a touch of solder if you guys would like to see it in all its blinking glory (I think it's rad, I feel just like MacGyver)

Thoughts?




-Charlie

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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by adafruit »

did the digit ever work?

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bosco-zebra
 
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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by bosco-zebra »

No, the second from right digit is definitely not working. Using my awesome wire of power I have made ever digit illuminate except for that one (and the clock face dim, which is almost as cool) so I think that it is a bad VFD.
I know you guys test all these before you ship them, and frankly I've been looking inside the VFD for broken looking things and it looks fine.

It's just that I cannot make that digit activate to save my life. So I vote broken.

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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by adafruit »

you should use a multimeter to do a continuity test from that pin on the VFD board back to the VFD driver
that will let you know if theres a problem elsewhere

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bosco-zebra
 
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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by bosco-zebra »

Sweet! ok, how do I do that?

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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by adafruit »

check out our multimeter tutorial
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/multimeter/
turn off the clock, let it sit to drain the big caps
then use continuity mode to verify the connections

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bosco-zebra
 
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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by bosco-zebra »

neato, turns out my volt-o-meter deely-jigger does continuity testing.

I cannot find where all the 2X10 connector ... pins(?)- things on the underside i soldered connect to the square chip. I can only find 10 with obvious connection, should i just touch one and touch ever single solder on the square chip thing until it beeps, and they should all beep at me?

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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by adafruit »

use the schematic to help you trace the pins so you're only testing the correct connections

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bosco-zebra
 
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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by bosco-zebra »

I dont know anything about a diagram, but I tested every single one and they all beep.

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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by adafruit »

so you found that each one had a corresponding pin that connected?

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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by adafruit »

Bosco-Zebra wrote:I dont know anything about a diagram, but I tested every single one and they all beep.
hi bosco, since we specifically test for this for each tube we'd like you to send the tube in - we don't think it's defective, but if it is we'll replace it. if it turns out it's something you did we'll just ask that you pay for a new tube + shipping. does that sound fair?

if so, email [email protected] with a link to this post, or if you'd like to discuss alternatives - also email support.

thanks!

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bosco-zebra
 
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Re: second to far right digit does not work.

Post by bosco-zebra »

Should they not all beep?

Preface: I know jack squat about electronic stuff, so I call things what the look like(ask me about building a car engine and then we can speak with some proper technical terms) I assure you that my inability to effectively communicate what I am doing is as frustrating for me and it probably is for you.

Here's what I did. I took the red stick/probe/thing and touched it to one of the 2X10 socket pins. and used the black probe/stick thing to touch one of the square sock pins, row by row, pin by pin until it beeped. All of them beeped. As in this picture.
broken.jpg
broken.jpg (314.27 KiB) Viewed 2814 times
This seems good to me, to test the VFD tube thing, I put the clock all together and put power on it, I thin used a bit of wire and touched one of these two pins with it.. I forget which one:
broken2.jpg
broken2.jpg (924.72 KiB) Viewed 2814 times
And then touched ever other pin in turn, some of the gaps in the time would get a number put in them, sometimes the clock would dim, but none of them ever illuminated this digit second from the right that does not work.

I'm not sure what else to test or if this was even the proper trouble shooting technique, but I know gaps that normally do not have a number in them got them, except for the digit that should have a number but does not. I am willing to continue messing with this thing, so just tell me what to tinker with and I'll do my best to follow instructions.

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