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Thread: Neopixel stopped working

  1. #1

    Default Neopixel stopped working

    I finished my first neopixel blade last night. Everything was working perfectly. Played around with it for a while, let it charge, played around some more on R.I.C.E and then let it charge over night with the smart charger. This morning I gave the blade a light sanding, put the blade in the saber, and there was no illumination. Hilt side was fine, all the right sounds and no distortions, just no light in the blade. I’m using a 15a battery, so I know it’s not the battery. I quadruple checked all my wiring before locking everything down. It worked perfectly yesterday and now there’s nothing. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated

  2. #2

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    Hey Ezra_Knight

    Just to clarify; are you using the 7pin/11pin pcb boards like the store sells or is it a “Hardwired” blade?

    When you say you checked your wiring; did that included that tiny little on-board resistor for the blade-side pcb?

    I’m sure FJK, Tom Tilmon, or jbkuma will chime in; they are the neopixel triumvirate around here IMHO

    - Steve

  3. #3

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    I’d redownload and reinstallation the stock configurations (pre - “playing around with it”), to make sure you didn’t do something in RICE, which it sounds like you might have.
    TCSS MODERATOR
    All n00bs READ these first (PLEASE)!!!:
    1. Forum Guidelines
    2. FJK’s “Down and Dirty” guide to Ohm’s Law

    "Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before... you want blindingly bright, super loud, running 1138 blinkies off of the cheapest sound card you can find AND you want all of it to run on a battery the size of a dime, and run for a very, VERY long time. That one cracks me up every time..."
    My email: fjk_tcss@yahoo.com

  4. #4

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by null View Post
    Hey Ezra_Knight

    Just to clarify; are you using the 7pin/11pin pcb boards like the store sells or is it a “Hardwired” blade?

    When you say you checked your wiring; did that included that tiny little on-board resistor for the blade-side pcb?

    I’m sure FJK, Tom Tilmon, or jbkuma will chime in; they are the neopixel triumvirate around here IMHO

    - Steve
    I used an 11 pin pcb and I included the onboard resistor when I was doing all the wiring checks.

  5. #5

    Default

    Well, that would make sense, but it continued to work even after R.I.C.E. I forgot to mention that I played with it for about 10-15 mins after I unhooked it from R.I.C.E. Everything was still perfect until I tried turning it on this morning

  6. #6

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    This may be a dumb suggestion, but on my saber, where I drilled my blade retention screw, i didn't sand the inside of the blade holder enough and although it felt like I had the blade pushed in, it actually wasn't all the way pressed against the pins.

  7. #7

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    Hey Ezra_Knight. Any luck getting it back up and running?

    Have you tried FJK & Light Bringer’s suggestions?

    I’m using a 15a battery, so I know it’s not the battery
    While you may be correct; it is starting to sound more & more like a battery issue. The fact that it was working and then mysteriously doesn’t work after sitting overnight.

    Maybe something mis-wired associated with the kill key that isn’t cutting the power completely when its inserted?

    What are the specs on your battery and charger? (If its an el-cheapo / aliexpress battery it may not be up to snuff regardless of how it is labelled.)

    - Steve
    Last edited by null; 07-20-2020 at 03:45 AM.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Light Bringer View Post
    This may be a dumb suggestion, but on my saber, where I drilled my blade retention screw, i didn't sand the inside of the blade holder enough and although it felt like I had the blade pushed in, it actually wasn't all the way pressed against the pins.
    The Neopixel Pin connectors weren’t in there when this all happened, were they?
    TCSS MODERATOR
    All n00bs READ these first (PLEASE)!!!:
    1. Forum Guidelines
    2. FJK’s “Down and Dirty” guide to Ohm’s Law

    "Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before... you want blindingly bright, super loud, running 1138 blinkies off of the cheapest sound card you can find AND you want all of it to run on a battery the size of a dime, and run for a very, VERY long time. That one cracks me up every time..."
    My email: fjk_tcss@yahoo.com

  9. #9

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    To the OP:

    First suggestion is to triple check all the config settings on CFX.

    Second suggestion is to make sure the blade is fully seated on the pins with the saber ignited, insert the blade and apply gentle pressure.

    Third: check the center most pin on your hilt side connector, does it still spring in and out?

    Fourth: Check voltage between positive and negative pins on the hilt connector. Do you have full voltage there?

    Fifth: Check continuity between center pin and data line before resistor (if you have a resistor in your hilt).

    Sixth: crack open the blade and check connections, including the onboard 0603 resistor if you used it bladeside.

    In other words, rule out any other possibility prior to disassembling your blade. But, typically a wire could have come off, or the 0603 resistor lost contact. Usually I have found data wire to be the culprit on a non-working blade.

    Tom

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  10. #10

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    I was still not able to get it working. I’ve tried all of the suggestions here. I think it might be my hilt side pcb adapter/holder. I didn’t get the right one and just had to kind of rig it up with some set screws. Either that, or maybe my strips are bad? I ordered some new stuff from tcss and am just gonna try to make a blade with new strips and connectors as well as a new adapter and pray that it works

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