Ice Tube Clock Only Displays Date
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- comradekellie
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2014 4:21 am
Ice Tube Clock Only Displays Date
I recently built the Ice Tube Clock and everything seems to be working fine except the clock will only display the date, not the time. I have gone through the setup guide more than once and cannot get it to display correctly. Anyone else having this issue? Any ideas how to solve it?
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- jarchie
- Posts: 615
- Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:16 pm
Re: Ice Tube Clock Only Displays Date
The symptom you describe is consistent with a faulty oscillator circuit, and from the images you posted, it looks like the oscillator caps are installed in the wrong direction.
https://learn.adafruit.com/ice-tube-clo ... ly#step-29
https://learn.adafruit.com/ice-tube-clo ... ly#step-29
- comradekellie
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2014 4:21 am
Re: Ice Tube Clock Only Displays Date
Thanks for the reply jarchie. Sorry for my ignorance but I am not sure what you are referring to as the "oscillator circuit". The link you provided showed installation of the clock crystal and the capacitors. From the directions, it sounds like they can be installed in either direction (symmetric).
- jarchie
- Posts: 615
- Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:16 pm
Re: Ice Tube Clock Only Displays Date
No need to apologize! The oscillator circuit includes the crystal driver within the microcontroller (IC1), the crystal itself (Q1), and crystal caps (C8 and C9)comradekellie wrote:Thanks for the reply jarchie. Sorry for my ignorance but I am not sure what you are referring to as the "oscillator circuit".
Yes, the crystal capacitors are symmetric. By symmetric, I mean that the direction of the individual capacitors can be reversed. But you've installed each capacitor such that one end is soldered in the space reserved for C8; the other end, the space reserved for C9. Take a closer look at the Adafruit instructions and compare to your board. In the instructions, the caps are installed vertically; in your board, they are installed horizontally.comradekellie wrote:The link you provided showed installation of the clock crystal and the capacitors. From the directions, it sounds like they can be installed in either direction (symmetric).
- comradekellie
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2014 4:21 am
Re: Ice Tube Clock Only Displays Date
Oh, I see now. Thanks so much jarchie! I guess I am off to the electronics shop tomorrow morning to buy some new capacitors. :)
- phild13
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:05 pm
Re: Ice Tube Clock Only Displays Date
You can probably easily desolder the caps, clean the holes of any leftover solder and then reinstall them in the correct orientation.
- comradekellie
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2014 4:21 am
Re: Ice Tube Clock Only Displays Date
I got it fixed and it is working properly. Thanks again for the help jarchie! :)
- Onycophera
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2015 8:51 pm
Re: Ice Tube Clock Only Displays Date
I made the same mistake! I am glad I found this thread and hope it fixes my problem.
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.