Trouble Lighting a NeoPixel Stick Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

[mordecai131]

So I got a couple NeoPixel sticks today in the mail, I soldered them together hooked them up to my breadboard and tried to get them to light. But I'm having problems getting it to work even with the code provided by Adafruit, the strandtest sketch. These images are as small as I could get them, kind of in a rush at the moment.

[EternalCore]

Convo started from here: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=42204#p218094

Thank you for going through all that, unfortunately it's not working for me for some reason. I believe I used the code properly but I have a feeling it may be the type of board I'm using, chipKit uC32. After some experimenting I found that if I run 12 volts through the AC plug on the board and bypass the 5 volt regulator I can get the sticks to flash a pinkish color. But it does not respond to the code, even if I unplug the signal wire, reset the board, and even upload new code to the board which normally resets it as well the sticks continue to blink.

By running 12v through the NeoPixel bar you have killed it as its only rated for 7vDC MAX!... So this is why it's not working for you...

Power the whole thing with 5VDC (4-7V works) and you're ready to rock.
Source: http://www.adafruit.com/products/1426

If I had killed the sticks wouldn't it have stopped lighting all together? They still light, but I hadn't tried the 12 volt trick till after I had tried your updated code. On the regulated 5 volts from the usb when I plug them in they flash for a very brief second and off again.

Not necessarily as they won't work right anymore is all in your case. And a single flash, with 5v, is normal for when you power up the bar without a signal going through it; before you applied the 12v through it.

In order for this script to work the NeoPixel Bar/Strip DIN wire has to be connected to the Digital Pin 6 on your board(Arduino).

In which case before I applied the 12 volts it was wired that way. And it still does the flash without the signal wire even after the 12 volts, I may not have killed it but I'm not 100% sure.

In which case before I applied the 12 volts it was wired that way. And it still does the flash without the signal wire even after the 12 volts, I may not have killed it but I'm not 100% sure.

Run the strandtest and see if it works with your bar; if not then your bar is damaged. Do you have another bar to try that you didn't put 12v through it?

Thank you for going through all that, unfortunately it's not working for me for some reason. I believe I used the code properly but I have a feeling it may be the type of board I'm using, chipKit uC32. After some experimenting I found that if I run 12 volts through the AC plug on the board and bypass the 5 volt regulator I can get the sticks to flash a pinkish color. But it does not respond to the code, even if I unplug the signal wire, reset the board, and even upload new code to the board which normally resets it as well the sticks continue to blink.

.

Also I hope your using DC Current to power your Arduino and not AC Current; Because These electronics are only designed to use DC Current, And using AC Current will damage them and or kill them..

I just tried the stand test and it didn't work. But like I said it didn't work when I first got the sticks. I don't have another I can try unfortunately and I'm using a wall adapter like the one sold on adafruit except it has a switch on the face of the plug that switches from 3-12 volts and a range of settings in between. It's like something you'd charge your phone with but you can buy different tips for different devices.

Can you take a picture of the Pixels inside of them,with lots of light because they look like the chip inside is black and or cracked which if they are damaged they would be; as the normal color is a brownish(Look at the pic below).

[mordecai131]

Here is a picture of the two segments, it's about as best as I can do with a camera phone.

[EternalCore]

Here is a picture of the two segments, it's about as best as I can do with a camera phone.

Yep it looks like your 1st and 2nd, and possibly the 3rd & 4th, pixels on the 1st bar are toast which would render all the rest to not work...

So Un-Solder the 2nd bar and test it using only 5vDC and the Strandtest and report back.

Also here's what dead NeoPixels look like from 12vDC to compare to yours: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=43140&p=214722

[adafruit_support_bill]

I believe I used the code properly but I have a feeling it may be the type of board I'm using, chipKit uC32

The library does not support the ChipKit processors: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neop ... no-library

Because processor-specific assembly language is used, this library does not work on Netduino, ChipKIT or other advanced “Arduino-like” boards.

After some experimenting I found that if I run 12 volts through the AC plug on the board and bypass the 5 volt regulator I can get the sticks to flash a pinkish color.

12v will kill the Neopixel controller chips pretty much instantly. I'm afraid your pixels are dead.

[mordecai131]

Ok, would you have any suggestions on how I would write the code for my board specifically? Or at least a good resource to start? And would you agree with EternalCore that it's just the first two LEDs or is it safe to say all of them are dead?

[adafruit_support_bill]

You can look at the library source-code as an example. The timing it pretty critical, so you will need to understand your processor instruction timing to make it work.

As for the extent of the damage. The power bus is connected to all the leds and I would expect that much overvoltage would take the whole stick out pretty quickly. But it doesn't hurt to try.

[mordecai131]

Alright thank you, I'll see if I can figure it out.

[EternalCore]

Ok, would you have any suggestions on how I would write the code for my board specifically? Or at least a good resource to start? And would you agree with EternalCore that it's just the first two LEDs or is it safe to say all of them are dead?

More then likely the whole bar is gone. but like I said you can test them.

Also I was going to suggest getting the Arduino Uno if you couldn't get anything working(code wise), but I was tired and went to bed. Anyways I Recommend getting the Arduino UNO(Which is the one I have.) and Adafruit has a really good starter kit here: http://www.adafruit.com/products/68

Let me know if you need more help.

[mordecai131]

I just got back from the store with an arduino uno, one of the sticks works partially and the other I'm working on now.

[mordecai131]

So I just tested the other stick and it's completely shot, does anyone think I may be able to get replacements? I know that killing them was my fault so I would not be surprised if I cant but it's worth asking.