It was working but now its not..

[tcharron]

Nothing the only light on is the one on the power supply. What else can i check?
thanks

I think that the default firmware will cause the clock to beep when it powers on, whether there is a tube installed or not. Does this happen when you power up without the tube assembly?

[johnz]

We are having a similar problem. All the voltages check out, plug the clock in and it works fine, set the time, etc.

Then about 3 minutes later the display goes blank. The red led on the wall wart is on. Not sure what to do next...

[adafruit]

go back and redo the tests

[AudiTTchick]

Hello, I noticed something strange with mine. It works fine so far and has for the past few days but when I have the backup battery in it will beep turn on and then fade out. Without the battery it works fine. may be the same issue but not sure..

Erica

[adafruit]

check if you're putting the battery in properly. perhaps its in backwards?

[AudiTTchick]

Yes I made sure the battery is put in correctly and it just does not work with the backup. I have been running the clock without the battery for about a week and it works fine so not sure what else it could be.

[adafruit]

not sure either, if you could post a clear photo of the PCB of the kit we could debug it. perhaps a part is in wrong or is shorting?

[brain_recall]

I hate to dig up a zombie thread, but I wanted to share my findings.

I shelved this project awhile ago and only just recently decided to throw it together and be done with it. I'm using jsgf's latest firmware. I too discovered that my Ice Tube was not running right at all with the backup battery installed. My Ice Tube functioned perfectly without the backup battery. I had the battery installed in the correct orientation, and verified it still held a very good charge (barely used, I removed it before shelving).

At first, with the backup battery installed the display appeared at the lowest brightness. I could go through all the menus and change settings, but there was no buzzer noises and the time never updated. Then, later on, it rarely showed anything on the display.

I poked at it with my oscope with the power removed and the battery still in place, and found the the clock crystal was inactive. The voltage divider was working correctly (~0.75V), and the battery supply was good (~2.85V).

I reapplied power and saw the crystal was still inactive. I shorted the reset on the ISP to ground, and everything came back to life. Display displayed, buzzer buzzed, and time advanced. I pulled the power plug, let it sit for a second, reapplied power, and nothing. Hit the reset, and bam, all good.

Here's the weird part. I left the battery in, kept the power plug in, and turned off the power strip the wall-wart was plugged into. Turned it back on, and everything returned to normal. If I violently toggled the power strip I was able to induce the error sometimes. Every time I unplugged the Ice Tube from the wall-wart I induced the error.

Either we got a bum part someplace (I remember double-checking the parts list before I started so I'm fairly sure everything was correctly shipped), or our 168's are particularly sensitive to supply voltage changes. Any thoughts?

[adafruit]

I'm using jsgf's latest firmware

ok well... did it work before you reprogrammed the clock?

[stinkbutt]

Could this be consistent with the fuse tripping? Current's barely low enough under normal circumstances to avoid phase changing the fuse, and then when it spikes the fuse blows, at which point it stays blown? Leave it alone for a month and it goes back to working again...

You could measure the ohms across the fuse to see if it's tripped:

http://www.littelfuse.com/data/en/Data_Sheets/Littelfuse_60R.pdf

[brain_recall]

I'm using jsgf's latest firmware

ok well... did it work before you reprogrammed the clock?

Ugh, I feel like a fool for not checking the stock firmware. Sure enough, I can't replicate the issue when running the stock firmware. I liked some of jsgf's features, but I just want this thing to work. Thanks ada!

[jetblack]

Hello again,

Sorry for bumping an old thread but I didn't want to start all over again.

I've never gotten around to testing the voltages until today.

Test 1 is perfect, i'm getting about 4.92V

Test 2 doesn't work.

Test 3 9.0VDC.

Thanks

[adafruit_support_bill]

No beep in test 2 indicates that the processor is not running. Since the processor drives the boost converter, the test 3 result is as expected - no boost.

One problem I notice in your photos is that the CR1220 coin cell is installed upside down. The side with the '+' must be facing up.

[jetblack]

Hello

Thanks for the response, unfortunately I removed and disposed the coin battery as per the instructions previously given. Does the processor require the battery to function? Should the clock work without the battery?

Thanks

[adafruit_support_bill]

The processor should function without the battery. Looking at the schematic, the diode D4 should protect the processor from one installed backwards.

Given that it worked for a while, the likely cause is a dodgy connection somewhere. Going back to the solder-side photos, there is a possible solder bridge between pins 14 & 15 of the processor. And one end of D4 looks a bit suspicious. Photos can be deceiving. Joints that look questionable can be fine. And joints that look fine can be bad. Check here for some common soldering problems.http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guide-excellent-soldering/common-problems