Ice Tube Clock Low D5 Voltage

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syntatic42
 
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Ice Tube Clock Low D5 Voltage

Post by syntatic42 »

I've assembled and gone over the circuit for the Ice Tube Clock several times and I think I'm stuck. I can plug in the clock and get a beep indicating power and that the microprocessor works. I checked the D5 voltage without the MAX6921 and get a reading of 58V which appears correct. However, with the chip in the socket, I get only 14V which is not enough to drive the VFD tube. In addition, I tried jumping Q3 as discussed in earlier posts, but that did not get the tube to light up either. Any suggestions on what I should test next?
ice_tube_clk_top.jpg
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ice_tube_clk_bottom.jpg
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Re: Ice Tube Clock Low D5 Voltage

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

[Moved to "Clocks" forum]
I checked the D5 voltage without the MAX6921 and get a reading of 58V which appears correct. However, with the chip in the socket, I get only 14V which is not enough to drive the VFD tube.
14v is within the normal boost voltate range with the VFD chip installed.
http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=27032

Please post a photo of the solder side of the tube board also.

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syntatic42
 
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Re: Ice Tube Clock Low D5 Voltage

Post by syntatic42 »

Here are some pictures of the vfd board. Thanks for the link to the troubleshooting page, I couldn't find it earlier.
2015-01-23 12.20.47.jpg
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2015-01-23 09.47.41.jpg
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Re: Ice Tube Clock Low D5 Voltage

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Nice clear photos, thanks! The solder looks good. I'd double check the tube orientation with respect to the 3 "NC" wires.

Also, at initial power-on, the display defaults to the lowest intensity. In a brightly lit room, it may not appear to be on. Believe it or not, more than one user has prematurely assumed that their clock was not working.

If all that checks out, we can try replacing the tube. Contact [email protected] with a link to this thread and we can send a replacement tube and side-board kit.

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