ICE tube - only few segments lit

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tobi
 
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ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by tobi »

Hi there,

I ordered and received my ice tube clock kit from ExpTech/Germany.

I tried to assemble it this week and thought I was doing well - until I tested it with the tube in.
All I get to light up is a few bottom segments of the digits.

The facts I collected:

- voltage before 7805: 8,55 V
- voltage after 7805: 4,95 V
- voltage after D3: 15.3 V with driver chip in place, approx. 50V when driver chip is removed
- clock beeps upon power up
- I can go through the setup menu guessing the current item by the bottom segments of digits lighting up, so I guess the clock is running.

After reading the hints in this forum I re-checked solder spots, esp. in the area of the driver chip socket, the connectors near the tube
and the tube leads - I re-soldered many - with no effects.

No I'm running out of ideas. Can you help?
I attached some pictures that may give you a hint.

Regards, Tobias

PS: Another observation: When I pull the power plug and look at the tube closely I can see ALL digits lighting up very briefly. So I guess they are
somehow connected and working??
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tobi
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by tobi »

Two more pics
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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Thanks for the good clear photos :D

You build looks very clean, with no signs of cold joints or other soldering problems. Most 'missing segment' problems are due to soldering problems, but that does not appear to be the case here.

Make sure that both the processor chip and the VFD driver chip are firmly seated in their sockets.

tobi
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by tobi »

Hi - thanks for the quick reply.

I'd think the chips look firmly seated.

Regards, Tobias
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tobi
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by tobi »

Hold it, I think I caught the troublemaker,

when I twist the connector to the tube sideways, the digits will light up eventually - there seem to be bad contacts inside the connector.
Now - I can look at the male connector, but the female side is all closed ...

Regards, Tobias.
Last edited by tobi on Thu Apr 25, 2013 6:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

I'd think the chips look firmly seated.
Yes. Those chips look well seated.
when I twist the connector to the tube sideways, the digits will light up eventually - there seem to be bad contacts inside the connector.
Have not seen that problem before. If you press directly on the female header attached to the main board does it light up? Or only if you twist from the tube board?

tobi
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by tobi »

I have to (quite roughly) twist the side pcb vs. the main one - then eventually all digits will appear.
Not easy to do as your fingers start prickling easily (high voltage). :evil:

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Normally in a case like that I would suspect a soldering problem. But your solder looks quite good. It sounds almost like a defective header on the main board. We will be happy to send you a new one, but they are not easy to remove once soldered and I think we should make sure that is really the problem before going to all that trouble.

Using your multimeter, test continuity between the header pins on the bottom of the main board and the corresponding pins on the side-board.

tobi
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by tobi »

Ok - its not the connector - all 20 connections come out ok with no short (except for the two pins on ground).

Reheated all solder spots again - no change. I'm running out of ideas.
When I get the digits to light up, they don't come on all at once so it should be several bad contacts, right?
Is it possible that something is wrong with the pcb?

Regards Tobias.

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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Ok - its not the connector - all 20 connections come out ok with no short (except for the two pins on ground).
Sorry, I probably wasn't clear enough. We are not looking for shorts. We are looking for bad connections between the main board and the side board. Test for continuity between pin-1 on the main board and pin-1 on the side board. Then do the same for the rest of the pins.

We did have a bad batch of boards several years ago. But the date-code on your side-board is not from the bad batch.

tobi
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by tobi »

No, sorry, I tested both. All 20 "wanted" contacts are good AND there are no shorts.
That's what puzzles me.

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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The good news is, you didn't have to de-solder the 20-pin connector for nothing. :wink: I have never seen a bad header, so I wanted to make sure before we went to the trouble of replacing it.

The other two possibilities I can think of are a problem with the PC board, or a loose connection in the tube. Are you sure that the segments light up due to twisting force on the boards, or could it be from movement of the tube?

tobi
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by tobi »

Hi - I just did something crazy - exchanged the tube.
I happened to have a spare at hand.

The good news is: I managed to do this with the hot air gun without destroying anything.
The bad news is: The clock does exactly the same with the new tube installed.
So its not the tube and really I cannot make the digits light by twisting on the tube.
The only thing that works is twisting the side pcb vs the main pcb as if wanting to screw the side pcb off the other.

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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Alright. That doesn't leave much to suspect other than a problem with the main board itself. If you contact [email protected] with a link to this thread we can send you a new Ice-Tube kit.

tobi
 
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Re: ICE tube - only few segments lit

Post by tobi »

Will do. Thanks for the friendly support.

Tobias.

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