Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

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jarchie
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by jarchie »

No worries. There are a few things to check with the tube inserted and the clock fully powered.

Do you hear a beep when the clock starts? Does the fuse get hot?

What is the voltage at all three pins of Q3? What is the voltage at the striped end of D5?

ToySldr
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by ToySldr »

There is a beep when I plug the clock in. I will check the voltage on the pins when I get home, not sure about the fuse. Thanks for getting back to me, I will post an answer this evening.

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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by ToySldr »

Here is what I got: Pin 1(D) has 4.774V Pin 2(G) has 0V Pin 3(S) has 4.777V The fuse does not get hot. Voltage at the striped end of D5 is 11.92 - 11.96.

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jarchie
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by jarchie »

That seems pretty typical of a clock without the tube and side board installed. Was the tube installed when you took those measurements? If not, I'd be curious what the Q3 measurements are with the tube and side board installed; there should be a significant voltage drop across Q3.

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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by ToySldr »

Those measurements were with the tube installed.

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jarchie
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by jarchie »

That narrows things down. The fact that there isn't more voltage drop across Q3 means that the load is very small. So either the tube filament is bad or power isn't getting to the filament. I would suggest checking the voltages between Q3 and the tube filament. If all the measurements are close to 5v, that would suggest that your tube is bad.
main-voltage.jpg
main-voltage.jpg (151.87 KiB) Viewed 701 times
side-voltage.jpg
side-voltage.jpg (105.95 KiB) Viewed 701 times

ToySldr
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by ToySldr »

Should I check all the pins of Q3 against the single pin on the tube? I noticed there are a few arrows on the pictures.

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phild13
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by phild13 »

@John I don't have time right now, but maybe you can post the part of the schematic pertaining to Q3 , R3.

@ToySldr
you can pick up voltage measurements from either side of R3 and to the ground tab of IC3. Left side of R3 (when tube socket is on your right) will be same as the top (board edge side of Q3) and will be a higher voltage than the right side of R3.
I believe John has marked the point (top point) on the tube board you should measure to ground. This should be about the same voltage as measuring the right side of R3 to ground. Then also measure from upper arrow to lower arrow that Johan has marked in the photo.This voltage should be same as the right side of R3 to ground.

Post the voltages at those locations.

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jarchie
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by jarchie »

Attached is the schematic.

Apologies for my lack of clarity. I was suggesting that you connect the ground of the volt meter to the ground of the clock; then measure the voltage on each of the arrows. The arrows point to the parts of the circuit between Q3 and the VFD filament.
Attachments
Q3-schematic.jpg
Q3-schematic.jpg (127.31 KiB) Viewed 692 times

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phild13
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by phild13 »

Thanks John,
BTW, you realize the board photo you used to show test points (which are correct) was the one with the connector soldered to the wrong side.... Anyway, having installed the connector on backwards shouldn't hurt anything in the tube. I don't know about IC2 trying to source current into the filament when the connector was backwards, I tested by purposely plugging in the connector to the header improperly. Clock does not respond or even beep when plugged in, but it returns to normal operation when the connector is correct and plugged back in. I did this to see if IC2 would be damaged if the header is installed wrong, and it does not appear to be.

I have blown the processor IC1 by probing with standard size meter probes and accidentally discharging C6 into the center pin of Q3. The processor clock still worked but some of the outputs no longer did.

Go back and check the points John pointed out to ground and see if the voltage matches what is present at Q3.

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jarchie
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by jarchie »

PhilD13 wrote:BTW, you realize the board photo you used to show test points (which are correct) was the one with the connector soldered to the wrong side....
Oh no! Although I did realize that the connector was backwards, I used the connector as a point of reference when marking the side board test point. My apologies! A corrected version is attached. The test points should be: both sides of R3 (main board), the VBIAS pin (pin 1) of the female header (main board), the VBIAS pin (pin 2) of the male header (side board), and the VBIAS pin (pin 13) of the IV-18 (side board). The idea is to make sure that voltage is being supplied to the IV-18 filament.
side-voltage-corrected.jpg
side-voltage-corrected.jpg (167.16 KiB) Viewed 646 times
For reference, this post has links to the Ice Tube Clock board layout and schematic.

Unfortunately, I do not have access to an Adafruit clock at the moment, so I am going from memory. :-( So thank you, Phil, for looking over my shoulder.

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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by ToySldr »

Voltage measurements between Q3 and R3 are 4.76V I need to read the other test points a few more times to try and understand where to measure....

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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by ToySldr »

I checked from the top marked filament that John marked to the ground of IC3 and got some weird readings.... 6.2V would flash then 0V then 5.4V then 0V all those were while having the multi meter solidly attached.
PhilD13 wrote:@John I don't have time right now, but maybe you can post the part of the schematic pertaining to Q3 , R3.

@ToySldr
you can pick up voltage measurements from either side of R3 and to the ground tab of IC3. Left side of R3 (when tube socket is on your right) will be same as the top (board edge side of Q3) and will be a higher voltage than the right side of R3.
I believe John has marked the point (top point) on the tube board you should measure to ground. This should be about the same voltage as measuring the right side of R3 to ground. Then also measure from upper arrow to lower arrow that Johan has marked in the photo.This voltage should be same as the right side of R3 to ground.

Post the voltages at those locations.

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jarchie
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by jarchie »

That does seem odd. Is the voltage measurement still constant coming from R3 (the side closer to the VFD board)?

If you haven't already, it might be worth cleaning away all excess rosin. Personally, I use 100% grain alcohol and a stiff toothbrush.

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phild13
 
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Re: Another Ice Tube kit not working =(

Post by phild13 »

Is the right side of the processor really hot when the voltages are fluctuating or after you loose the voltage? I have accidentally discharged C6 into pin 5 of the processor while testing Q3 blew part of the processor.

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