SImple (I think) question about an IR receiver

I have a basic IR receiver (it says 1838 on it) - came with a kit. I've been using it with my remote on a circuit with servos and it works great. That was on an Arduino Uno. When I pressed the remote button, a little LED on the receiver would turn on showing it had received the signal. And the action would be completed.

Now I'm trying to use it to turn on a bunch of LEDs. On an Arduino Mega. When I add the IR receiver to the circuit, the little LED on the IR receiver turns on and stays on. And the receiver doesn't pick up anything from the remote (I have a serial monitor open). I have 9 LEDs connected to PINs 4-12 and the receiver is on PIN 2. (I have tried multiple other pins with the same result).

So - after an hour of searching online, my question is - under what circumstances does the little light on the receiver turn on and stay on the moment it's connected to power? (5V on the Mega2560). (And any other thoughts on my predicament?)

Thank you much!

schematic ?

Attached

IMG_0076.JPG

IMG_0077.JPG

post a simple block diagram (if you don't know how to draw a schematic) of the UNO application you said worked fine , along with the UNO code, pasted in the window using the CODE TAGS toolbutton. (</>)

Thank you. Will do shortly. In the meanwhile, is there a simple explanation as to when the little light on the IR receiver stays on constantly?

Thanks again.

"I have a basic IR receiver (it says 1838 on it) - came with a kit."
Can you supply a little more information, such as where you got it from and what, if anything, does the documentation tell you about this "basic IR receiver"?

I can't see any pin numbers on the Mega so those photos are all but useless except for the fact that one of them shows the IR Module. A closeup photo of the module itself and nothing else along with the part number on the pcb and the UNO code is what we need to start. There's no point in discussing the Mega until we have that.

Looks like this:
KEYES VS1838 MODULE

You can see the surface mount led on the module (shown illuminated red in your photo.

I think what you have is a Keyes KY-022 module with an AX1838 sensor (or similar). The on board LED indicates that the output signal line is in the active (high voltage) state.

If the LED is on continuously, the possibilities include at least the following:

  1. It is continuously receiving what it thinks is a valid signal. This is unlikely, but there could be interference from sunlight or some such that is confusing it.

  2. You've wired it wrong and are driving 5 V into the signal output pin. Alternately, the input pin on the Arduino may be configured as an output and is driving the signal line rather than receiving.

  3. It's fried. You could try it in the configuration you had working previously to determine whether it still functions as expected there.

A schematic and the code of the working UNO version would be the most help.
At this point , based on last post, you might want to back up and go back to your working setup to see if it still works.