Ice Tube Clock not Beeping

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IandaFox32
 
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Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:20 pm

Ice Tube Clock not Beeping

Post by IandaFox32 »

Hello,

I recently purchased and began constructing the Ice Tube clock kit, however, I found that the circuit failed to produce the beeping tone at the second test, after carefully going over my soldering several times, I did not find any problems. I thought perhaps that the problem lay with the piezo electric speaker, and continued to build the rest of the kit, thinking that I could go back to that problem later. however, later on in the construction I found that the high voltage that was supposed to be observed in the third test was very low, about 9 volts. Based off this observation, and the fact that the speaker was not making the beeping tone, I believe that the problem lies in the ATMEGA 168V-10PU chip, and I think it may need to be replaced.

I thank you in advance for what ever advice or solutions you can provide for me!

I apologize in advance for the photo quality, my camera is terrible with close ups like this...
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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Ice Tube Clock not Beeping

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

See if you can get some clearer shots. Better light usually helps. Next to a window during the day - or even outside should give you better results.

IandaFox32
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:20 pm

Re: Ice Tube Clock not Beeping

Post by IandaFox32 »

sorry about that, at the time those pictures were taken it was dark outside...
here is a fresh set:
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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Ice Tube Clock not Beeping

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Thanks. That's much easier to see! :)

It looks like a few of your solder joints are balled up around the pin. This can mean that the solder has not flowed well onto the pad to make solid electrical contact. Retouch those joints. Try to get them to look like the diagram below:
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IandaFox32
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:20 pm

Re: Ice Tube Clock not Beeping

Post by IandaFox32 »

alright, so, after carefully going over the numerous iffy looking soldering joints, and making sure the solder flowed correctly, I tested it, and still no beep, and what should be the higher voltage (the voltage that is supposed to be around 60 volts), was instead measuring the medium voltage of 8.9 volts, which is still similar to that of the lower pin of the 5v power regulator (IC3), which is 9.0 volts, with a lower voltage across the upper pin of 4.9 volts... I do not believe the problem lies in the soldering... I'll admit that there was definitely some faults with some of the soldering joints, but now that they have been tended to, and the problem still persists, I believe that the problem lies in the ATMega due to the failure of two tests that are dependent on it... if it is a faulty chip, or a faulty instillation on my part I cannot tell... but at any rate the soldering does appear fine...

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Ice Tube Clock not Beeping

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

OK. It is best to make sure that the soldering is good before proceeding. Soldering problems are much harder to diagnose as you get to the later stages of this project.
Clearly your processor is not running. Let's try replacing it. Contact [email protected] with a link to this thread.

IandaFox32
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:20 pm

Re: Ice Tube Clock not Beeping

Post by IandaFox32 »

Alright then, I will do that, thanks for the help! and yes, you're absolutely right about the soldering getting more complex later on... but thats why I bought the kit; its a challenge :)

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