LCD 1447 16x2 Display Does not seem to be working

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bucc5062
 
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Joined: Sat Jul 17, 2021 8:15 pm

LCD 1447 16x2 Display Does not seem to be working

Post by bucc5062 »

As I am putting together a larger project I went and worked on the display portion which uses a LCD 1447 Display (white on blue 16x2) connected to an Arduino Uno. I attached a photo of my breadboard work (I'm still new at this), but bottom line is, nothing displays. I printed out the tutorial for the LCS displays and went step by step:
1 - I got power to the display
2 - I installed the contract pot and I verified, by checking the middle connection it was varying voltage to pin 3 of the LCD.
3 - However, when I turned contrast with pin 3 connected there was no change to the display. I did not see character line.
4 - I did continue and finished the wiring and verified by matching the colors with the pins with the document.
5 - I made the change to the "Hello World" LCD example (it did not quite match what was in the tutorial, but as a programmer I can adapt. (see code below)
6 - Uploaded the program and, well...nothing.

I added Serial.println to monitor and the program was running and I noticed the serial TX light flash so the Arduino was working.

I went through the build twice and was super careful (so I thought) so I don't know what to test for or how to tell if maybe this is just a defective display.

I stopped typing because I had an idea. I removed everything from the breadboard, then starting from scratch I
1 - Wired power from the Arduino to the breadboard and verified 5V
2 - Took a (+) and (-) wires to the contrast pot
3 - Installed a wire on the middle pin of CP then put a tester (grounded to BB) on that wire

I saw volts move from 0 - 5v

4 - I put the middle pin wire onto pin3 of the display
5 - I put wires from the (+)(-) part of BB directly to pin 15 (+) and 16(-) of the LCD and it lit up.

I moved the CP and there was no change to the Display. I did not see any character pixels, nothing. Is it possible this is defective for one other test I did was check that something was coming from the arduino. It was.

Not sure, other than reaching out directly to Adafruit, but this is frustrating.

Code: Select all

/*
  LiquidCrystal Library - Hello World

 Demonstrates the use a 16x2 LCD display.  The LiquidCrystal
 library works with all LCD displays that are compatible with the
 Hitachi HD44780 driver. There are many of them out there, and you
 can usually tell them by the 16-pin interface.

 This sketch prints "Hello World!" to the LCD
 and shows the time.

  The circuit:
 * LCD RS pin to digital pin 12
 * LCD Enable pin to digital pin 11
 * LCD D4 pin to digital pin 5
 * LCD D5 pin to digital pin 4
 * LCD D6 pin to digital pin 3
 * LCD D7 pin to digital pin 2
 * LCD R/W pin to ground
 * LCD VSS pin to ground
 * LCD VCC pin to 5V
 * 10K resistor:
 * ends to +5V and ground
 * wiper to LCD VO pin (pin 3)

 Library originally added 18 Apr 2008
 by David A. Mellis
 library modified 5 Jul 2009
 by Limor Fried (http://www.ladyada.net)
 example added 9 Jul 2009
 by Tom Igoe
 modified 22 Nov 2010
 by Tom Igoe
 modified 7 Nov 2016
 by Arturo Guadalupi

 This example code is in the public domain.

 http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/LiquidCrystalHelloWorld

*/

// include the library code:
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

// initialize the library by associating any needed LCD interface pin
// with the arduino pin number it is connected to
//const int rs = 12, en = 11, d4 = 5, d5 = 4, d6 = 3, d7 = 2;
const int rs = 7, en = 8, d4 = 9, d5 = 10, d6 = 11, d7 = 12;
LiquidCrystal lcd(rs, en, d4, d5, d6, d7);

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
      Serial.println("set up");
  //    LiquidCrystal lcd(7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12);
  // set up the LCD's number of columns and rows:
  lcd.begin(16, 2);
  // Print a message to the LCD.
  lcd.print("hello, world!");
    Serial.println("hello world");
}

void loop() {
  // set the cursor to column 0, line 1
  // (note: line 1 is the second row, since counting begins with 0):
  lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
  // print the number of seconds since reset:
  lcd.print("Hello time: " + (millis() / 1000));
    Serial.println(millis() / 1000);
      delay(3000);
}
Image of wiring I took

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_4WHso ... sp=sharing

User avatar
mikeysklar
 
Posts: 13824
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:10 pm

Re: LCD 1447 16x2 Display Does not seem to be working

Post by mikeysklar »

Are you see the serial console prints go through on the Arduino Serial Monitor?

Do you see any change adjusting the contrast pot?

Your wiring looks reasonable, but due to the long cable lengths is difficult to verify. Do you have solid core wire you can use to shorten and clean up the connections so each wires connecting pins can clearly be seen?

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bucc5062
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jul 17, 2021 8:15 pm

Re: LCD 1447 16x2 Display Does not seem to be working

Post by bucc5062 »

When I set up the POTS I did not see any real change in contrast, no blocks appear when I tuned the knob. I tested the output from the POTS and it was varyi9ng the voltage which tells me it was working.

I've been distracted by an L298N driver issue so I broke down the LCD work for a moment. I will redo it and make shorter connections and return a picture. My gut tells me this display has a problem, but I can't be certain unless I buy another which I'm not ready to do.

User avatar
adafruit_support_bill
 
Posts: 88037
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am

Re: LCD 1447 16x2 Display Does not seem to be working

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

In your photo, I don't see GND and +5v to pins 1 and 2: https://learn.adafruit.com/character-lc ... ep-2973890

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