Everything Lighting Up

[theoptionexplicit]

I put together my third SpokePOV last night and when I put the batteries on every single LED immediately lit up - not the normal start-up sequence.

I combed the board for bad solder joints and replaced the microcontroller and EEPROM. I'm at the end of my troubleshooting rope. Any ideas?

[adafruit_support_rick]

Post some detailed pictures so we can inspect the assembly.

[theoptionexplicit]

Thanks. Here are some pics. http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelcol ... 252591123/

[theoptionexplicit]

Let me know if you need closer shots and I will oblige

[adafruit_support_rick]

Looks like you've put IC2 (the 8-pin DIP) on the wrong side of the board.

[theoptionexplicit]

Ok I fixed that. Now when I put the batteries in it either gives zero response, or all the LEDs light up except for the first six adjacent to the pushbutton (though they may be faintly lit, I can't tell). Pushing the button gives no effect. I've once again swapped the ATTiny and EEPROM but to no effect.

[theoptionexplicit]

Also FWIW, the LEDs only light when I put the middle battery in last - and sometimes just random LEDs light up.

[adafruit_support_rick]

Hard to say. It's possible that the eeprom chip is damaged. Email support@adafruit.com with a link to this thread, and they'll send out a replacement eeprom chip.

[theoptionexplicit]

Hmm...thanks, but I already replaced the EEPROM from another board that I know is working. Any last ditch ideas before I give up on this one?

[adafruit_support_rick]

Ah - good thinking. I should have thought of that.

You might try swapping the CPU as well.

If that doesn't work, let's try pictures again. The last batch didn't have enough detail to see the solder connections. Try for some closer shots, and try to reduce the light flares on the solder joints. I don't know - maybe there's a short or a cold joint on there someplace. There's a *lot* of soldering on that board. In fact, when I was comparing mine with your photos, I discovered that I forgot to solder one of the battery clips. It was only working because of the spring tension of the clip itself.

[theoptionexplicit]

I tried swapping the CPU too, but with same results.

Here are closer pics, on the same flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelcol ... 252591123/

Thanks for sticking with this. Much appreciated.

[adafruit_support_rick]

You mentioned 3 batteries - I can't quite tell from the pictures, but did you cut the trace under the middle battery? Scrape out a couple of mm to make sure it's really cut.

Other than that...
From what I can see in the pictures, your soldering looks good, but all I can suggest is to go over all the soldering and make sure there are no shorts or cold joints.
I picked out a few things in one picture. Probably just photo artifacts, but have a look anyway…

Let me know.

8283425843_bc34886793_c.jpg (181.08 KiB) Viewed 1849 times

[theoptionexplicit]

Scored that spot deeper. Fixed the possible cold joints. Those potential shorts were not shorts.

Same results.

Le sigh.

[adafruit_support_rick]

Le sigh.

Le ditto. I'm running out of ideas. What you describe sounds a lot like a power problem; i.e., a short or some other sort of drain. You're sure your batteries are fresh?

Are the resistor networks all in the right way? Your caps and chips all look right. There's not much else to go wrong. Are the LEDs all in the right way? Sometimes it's hard to tell just by looking for the flat side on the lens. But you can see the diode carrier inside the lens. Make sure they're all lined up the same way (and the same way as the boards that work).

Dunno. Grabbing at straws.

[theoptionexplicit]

Batteries are fresh, resistor networks are oriented correctly, LEDs are in correctly, no components seem to be heating up with the batteries in, I even went over every joint with the iron and reheated them.

I'm at a loss, especially since I've successfully built three of these kits already. For some reason this one's not working.