LED won't blink

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

Hi, complete beginner here. I received the Arduino Uno starter kit from Vilros as a gift and I think I generally get it, except that I can't get the very first exercise to work. I know this area of the forum isn't for project advice but I see this as a matter of confirming that my hardware works.

I can use the program (either the Vilros one or the analogous one that came with the Arduino software) to light the LED associated with pin 13 on the Arduino Uno board, but the LED on the breadboard will not light. I know the program and the communication between my laptop and the Arduino is working because I can control the rate at which the Arduino LED is blinking. I'm guessing, though I don't know, that this means that my driver is properly installed and that the problem is at the hardware end.

After reading the troubleshooting and scouring the forum, I have tried

  • swapping out the LED
  • swapping out the resistor
  • turning the LED 180 degrees to reverse the polarity
  • turning the resistor (though I don't think resistors have polarity; this is what it has come to)
  • swapping out the wires
  • moving the whole thing to different rows on the breadboard
  • hitting the reset button before uploading
  • changing both the code and the circuit to use pin 12 instead of 13
  • reinstalling the driver

I'm attaching a photo of my circuit, in case someone sees something blindingly obvious that I'm missing. (In the photo it's not plugged in but when I'm attempting it it's plugged into the USB port.)

  • The red wire is plugged into 5V and the + column.
  • The black wire is plugged into the GND and the - column.
  • The green wire is plugged into pin 13 and 14e
  • The LED is in 14c and 15c
  • The resistor is in 15a and the - column.

Does anyone have anything else I should try?

If it matters I'm running Windows 7.

Thanks
Jeff

photo(1).JPG
photo(1).JPG480×640 136 KB

2

What value is that resistor?- I can't make out the colours....

If you have a multimeter, check that when the pin is high, you actually get 5V across the pin (or the end of the wire jammed into the pin) and ground.

Eliminate the wires and breadboard: Stick one end of the resistor into pin 13. Stick the cathode of the LED into the ground next door. Twist or just touch the resistor to the anode of the LED with the pin high.

3

Hi, JimboZA. Thanks for your response. The resistor is 330 ohms. I will try your suggestions when the kids go to bed.

Jeff

4

Is the on-board LED blinking when your external LED is attached?

What happens if you move your wire from pin 13 to 5V? If that doesn't work (reverse the LED to make sure) the LED is dead.