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[on:]

Hello, i have an el escudo, i've soldered the necessary headers, downloaded and tried the library and examples and i'm getting nothing.  the "on" light on the arduino is lit but nothing else and not the status light on the escudo.
i've checked all the pins and there are no pin to pin shorts. 
i'm and experienced circuit builder but have only just jumped into micro controllers.

the inverter i'm using is powered seperatly, not using the "raw voltage" on the escudo other than that everything is exactly as it's meant to be as far as i can tell.

any ideas?

[Reply #1 on:]

What is "El Escudo"? Can you post a link?

[Reply #2 on:]

Link: EL Escudo

I seem to recall in a similar configuration as you describe a ground connection needed to be made.

Have you read the comments on the product page? A number of people described what worked for them.

--Philip;

[Reply #3 on:]

It's a divice that plugs into the arduino to allow it to control 8 strips of electroluminecent wire,  www.sparkfun.com

i thought it seemed like a pretty simple device but the output voltage of the inverter is 175v and the voltage at the boards 8 output headers is 40v, not enough to light the wires.
i've put the scope on the outputs and get 3khz, could the frequency be too high for the triacs?

here's the sketch:

#include <EL_Escudo.h>


void setup()                   
{
  EL.all_off();
}

void loop()                   
{

  EL.on(A);
  delay(1000);
  EL.off(A);


  EL.on(B);
  delay(1000);
  EL.off(B);
 
  EL.on(C);
  delay(1000);
  EL.off(C); 
 

  EL.on(D);
  delay(1000);
  EL.off(D); 
 

  EL.on(E);
  delay(1000);
  EL.off(E);

  EL.on(F);
  delay(1000);
  EL.off(F);   
 

  EL.on(G);
  delay(1000);
  EL.off(G);
 
  EL.on(H);
  delay(1000);
  EL.off(H);
 
  EL.all_on();
  delay(1000);
  EL.all_off();   
}

[Reply #4 on:]

Thank you, i'll try shorting a triac in the morning, insulated long nose pliers will do!

having looked through a couple of data sheets i think that the problem is frequency.  i tried a different inverter which gave 6khz and the voltage at the outputs was down to 30v.
w04 0103mn is the triac. the closest datasheet i found was for a z0103mn, didn't mention the frequency range but seems to assume mains frequecies. on the sparkfun website they talk about 425hz, perhapse the board is designed for that, i've got 3 inverters, the lowest being 3khz.

anyone got a schematic for a 125v 425hz inverter that runs from 5 - 12vdc?

it's odd that the "status" light doesn't come on.

i'll try some shorting.

[Reply #5 on:]

The wires work very well plugged directly into the inverters, i appreciate the help but didn't want to say that step 1 was a bit obviouse, i've had el wire a lot longer than i've had an arduino!

Steps 2 and 3 will be tried in the morning, thank you again for your time.

I've also found out that the inverter supplied by sparkfun runs at up to 3.5khz so the frequency might not be a problem.

[Reply #6 on:]

1) the el wires and the inverter work,
2) shorting the triac works,
3) giving the gates +5vdc works.
i now have the inverter connected to the "raw voltage" output on the escudo.
The arduino does apear to do anything and the status light still hasn't come on.

[Reply #7 on:]

Well what a to-do, it works.
pocking around with a jumper (150vac gives no more than a slight tingle at such a low current), shorting and energising triacs seems to have started it working. i have no idea why.
I unplugged the Arduino, left it for long enough for any residual current to go and plugged it back into its power supply and it worked.

The status light still doesn’t come on.

stupid thing.