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Troubleshooting

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 8:05 pm
by Tony
IMPORTANT: IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS PLEASE CONTACT ME DIRECTLY BY EMAIL.

Help and advice to get it running.

PCB track layouts TOP:

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PCB track layouts BOTTOM:

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v1,11a PCB track layouts TOP:

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v1.11a PCB track layouts BOTTOM:

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Re: Troubleshooting

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:55 pm
by sonicwarhawk
Ok so heres the deal. my thermo is all together but..... no data is displayed. i can switch modes and the nixies will display k/f/c/%h. but the others nothing, no led. but if i put it in scramble i belive it to be the mode, it will scroll back and forth across the other 3 nixies. no data mind you but lust light up the led and almost like it lights up the cathode in them very quickly? what did i do wrong?

Re: Troubleshooting

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:22 pm
by sonicwarhawk
Also it will not power on without something between r28. no mention of a resistor in the instructions.

Re: Troubleshooting

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:50 pm
by Tony
No data is exactly what the problem is, it's not reading anything from the sensors. Check the surface mounted IC is the right way round and there are no bridges, then the data lines from there to the PIC, watch for a bridge at the top end of R11 and R12 and between the centre pins of the DHT11 sensor.

I've added the bit about R28 to the instructions, not sure how I missed that.

Re: Troubleshooting

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 10:47 pm
by sonicwarhawk
Tony, i double checked and triple checked. installed the r28.No bridging. still no data. could i have a bad sensor?

Re: Troubleshooting

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 11:24 pm
by Tony
As it uses data from both sensors an internal short in one could prevent the other from working. Remove the SM IC, if it still won't display anything check with a meter for a short between the middle pins of the DHT11 and from those to 5V/ground. If that's OK you probably do have a dead DHT11.

Re: Troubleshooting

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:57 am
by sonicwarhawk
Tony. looks like a dead dht11. bummer

Re: Troubleshooting

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 2:30 am
by Tony
The fastest way to replace it will probably be to buy one on ebay from a US seller and I'll refund the cost, it should only be a couple of $.

Re: Troubleshooting

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 3:29 am
by sonicwarhawk
No worries Tony, i got one coming from amazon. be here tuesday. thanks for your help!

Re: Troubleshooting

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 5:32 am
by adminbear
Is there a schematic of the Nixie thermometer avalable??