Ice Clock - flashes every 2 sec

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jmcclock
 
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Ice Clock - flashes every 2 sec

Post by jmcclock »

So me and my son built an ice-clock
We plugged it in and it almost worked, but.......
The top line of digits was missing
The display flashed every 2 second

By browsing this excellent forum we fixed the top line of digits issue. We had managed to cut the copper track on the vertical bracket from the connector to the tube pins when removing a bit of excess solder with a file. We fixed this by adding a bit of solder to the copper track.

I also thought we had fixed the flashing display problem. When you turn the clock on, the entire display flashes every 2 seconds. We managed to stop this by clicking the menu button and scrolling through the options. Hence I initially thought that this was a powering up issue and that the display flashed until you had set the time etc..

However it was not fixed. Last night I went to bed without the display flashing but when I woke up it was flashing.

Any suggestions as to how to fix this would be most appreciated.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Ice Clock - flashes every 2 sec

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Last night I went to bed without the display flashing but when I woke up it was flashing.
Are you sure you didn't have a brief power outage overnight? The flashing behavior is normal on a power cycle. The battery-backup lets it keep time through an outage, but even a brief outage will put it into the the flashing power-up mode.

jmcclock
 
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Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 6:46 am

Re: Ice Clock - flashes every 2 sec

Post by jmcclock »

Power outages are very rare in the UK and there was nothing to indicate we had one.
I will try again tonight and also double check that the power jack is firmly seated.

Please can you advise what is normal behaviour? How long should the clock flash for after being powered up.

Thanks

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Ice Clock - flashes every 2 sec

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

How long should the clock flash for after being powered up.
It will flash until you go into the menu settings. The intent was to provide an indication that there was a power loss. Some find this annoying and there are several user-written firmware hacks available that implement this differently.

jmcclock
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 6:46 am

Re: Ice Clock - flashes every 2 sec

Post by jmcclock »

This seems to be fixed now - it has been plugged in without flashing for 5 days.
Thanks

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