NeoPixel ring (16) does not light up

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samy
 
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Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2013 5:44 pm

NeoPixel ring (16) does not light up

Post by samy »

Hi all!

I purchased the NeoPixel Ring 16 (http://www.adafruit.com/products/1463) in December and opened it up today, however it appeared to be DOA.

Using an Arduino Nano v3 and the `strandtest` demo, I attempted to test the ring but nothing would light up. I then took the same wires (voltage, ground and data) and connected them to a separate ws2812b strand I have and it worked properly. I also tested on a third ws2812b strip as well and again, everything worked. I tested the ring several times to no avail. I confirmed 5v on my live wires and also tested both by powering from the nano and from a separate bench supply.

I confirmed 5v from the Nano going into the "Vcc", ground from nano going into "Gnd" and pin 10 (also set in the sketch) going to "IN" on the NeoPixel ring. When reconnecting to any other ws2812 chip I have (not the neopixel), it worked fine.

Just for kicks, even though two separate ws2812b LED strips I have were working, I also tested it out from a Gemma and no go, however the other two strands did work from the Gemma.

I also used a multimeter to ensure the LEDs were getting proper voltage and got about 4.68v on the LEDs (4.72 before it hits the ring) which is more than enough for a ws2812 (I confirmed pins to check on the datasheet http://www.adafruit.com/datasheets/WS2812.pdf)

I've attached some pictures as well -- in this particular picture, I'm actually driving ws2812s off of an attiny85 chip (powered from the nano which I'm using as an ISP). I also have a working ws2812b chip hooked up simultaneously to the attiny85 which works great, but again, nothing on the ring.

How can I resolve this? Thanks!
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adafruit_support_rick
 
Posts: 35092
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:42 am

Re: NeoPixel ring (16) does not light up

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

I can't really see how you're connecting to the ring. If you're using alligator clips, try different ones. In your third picture, it looks like your jumpers are just inserted through the holes - that is not good enough to guarantee a solid electrical connection, especially for the data line.

samy
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2013 5:44 pm

Re: NeoPixel ring (16) does not light up

Post by samy »

Hi there! I've used alligator clips and hook clips to ensure good connections. I found that one of the LEDs (the one directly to the right of the text "Out") is bad. When I leave voltage going through the holes in the ring but connect the data line directly to Pin 2 on the WS2812 (DIN - middle right pin), nothing happens. However, if I move it to pin 2 on any other LED, that LED and all LEDs counter-clockwise up until the bad LED light up.

I have some spare WS2812 LEDs so I may just try replacing this bad one

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adafruit_support_rick
 
Posts: 35092
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:42 am

Re: NeoPixel ring (16) does not light up

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

We can replace the ring. Email [email protected] with a link to this thread for a replacement.

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