Neopixels no longer work...

[poconosjon@aol.com]

This is my first build and I thought I had it all done, but now I have an issue. I have a CFX board, 144x2 neopixels with the Panasonic 7.4v lithium-ion battery sold here on TCSS. Everything was working fine until I edited the Config file to put a value on the qon and qoff parameters to try to increase the speed that my blade lit and powered off as it was slow. The config file that was sent with the board did not have these values so I added them. After that about 10 of the leds on 1 side of the board lit. I tried removing the settings, restoring from a backup and even downloading a whole new set, formatting the card and copying back the whole set of fonts putting only the 144 on the ledstrip parameter and now I get absolutely no lights. I have tried a firmware update as well in hopes that it might help. I checked the voltage on both sides and at the bottom and top of the strip I get 7.4v on both sides so it does not appear to be a connection problem. I am at a loss as to what to look for next... Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

The CFX is normally set to run with a 3.7V battery. If you used any of the 7.4V from the store, they don’t put out anywhere near enough amperage to run 2 Neopixel strips.

[poconosjon@aol.com]

Then why did they work I initially for a couple of days? If they never worked, I could accept that answer... But the fact that they worked tells me otherwise...

[null]

hey poconosjon@aol.com have you RTFM for the CFX? The board is not necessarily limited to the 3.7v; p.g. 22 of the CFX manual says the max voltage the board will accept is 9v so the board should be fine.

This is the pack you used correct https://www.thecustomsabershop.com/P...ack-P1171.aspx? CFX manual p.g. 121 (talking about battery requirements) suggest a fully driven RGB draws at least 5000mAh; and 10,000mAh with White flash on clash. These batteries are only 3400mAh.

I'm no CFX expert; just trying to help with pertinent info from the manual.

Stupid question (but I have to ask) have you tried re-charging the battery pack?

- Steve

[poconosjon@aol.com]

Yes that is the battery I am using... I did read the manual, lol sounded like my electronics teacher from DeVry years ago...�� I understand that the battery seems underpowered, just still confused as to why it worked the first 20 times I turned it off and back on.. It was only when I changed the qon/qoff setting that it went sideways. I am charging it now and I have resoldered anything that seemed sketchy to make sure. Even replaced the wires on the neopixel strips and resoldered the pcb... I'll keep you posted...

[poconosjon@aol.com]

Ok so after charging for a while, same result. Let's go with the theory of an underpowered battery, which one would you suggest? I am trying to find out the specs of this battery but I am having no luck. Is there any other way I can test the LEDs to make sure they still work?

[Strydur]

hey poconosjon@aol.com have you RTFM for the CFX? The board is not necessarily limited to the 3.7v; p.g. 22 of the CFX manual says the max voltage the board will accept is 9v so the board should be fine.

This is the pack you used correct https://www.thecustomsabershop.com/P...ack-P1171.aspx? CFX manual p.g. 121 (talking about battery requirements) suggest a fully driven RGB draws at least 5000mAh; and 10,000mAh with White flash on clash. These batteries are only 3400mAh.

I'm no CFX expert; just trying to help with pertinent info from the manual.

Stupid question (but I have to ask) have you tried re-charging the battery pack?

- Steve

Just wanted to chime in here to correct this statement. Batteries have ratings for how long they will last (mAh) and max output amperage. What the CFX manual is stating is not how much mAh you need but how much amperage the battery must be able to put out. Most batteries have a max amperage draw of around 4A which is not enough for NP which can draw up to 10A which is why we sell the 15A batteries.

[poconosjon@aol.com]

Just wanted to chime in here to correct this statement. Batteries have ratings for how long they will last (mAh) and max output amperage. What the CFX manual is stating is not how much mAh you need but how much amperage the battery must be able to put out. Most batteries have a max amperage draw of around 4A which is not enough for NP which can draw up to 10A which is why we sell the 15A batteries.

Tim,
Thanks for the response, I just wish the 7.4 I bought had the specs on the page. No big deal, I take it as lesson learned As soon as you get the batteries in stock, as well as a couple other things I will place my order...

Thanks,
Jon