Why does my sketch only work when Serial command is active?

Projects Programming
1

I have a very odd problem.
I am running some neopixels using the FastLED library and adjusting them using the PPMrcIn library
My sketch works perfectly when I debug. There is a Serial.begin(9600); line in Setup() and a Serial.print("Hello"); line in the main program.

When I remove only the Serial.Begin(9600) line the program still works.
When I remove only the Serial.print("Hello"); line the program still works.
If I remove both, the leds dont light up at all.

I thought maybe I could add a delay(10) t take the place of the Serial lag but that didnt help.

Any one else run into this before???

There are no other serial commands in my sketch so I am really confused....

Its a really big sketch with 12 channels being read and 3 simultaneous led sequences across 150 some pixels so the code is long but I can post it if it would help...

2

Ok found error but not why it malfunctioned..
It turns out it had nothing to do with the serial lines or libraries. Had the line

 if (turbinePos>=2 || turbinePos<8) { //handle all normal spin positions

should have been:

 if (turbinePos>=2 && turbinePos<8) { //handle all normal spin positions

I still dont understand how that error worked when the serial was active and failed when serial was removed...
I would love to know the answer....

Below is the routine for one of 3 animations happening simultaneously. all other functions worked perfectly alone or in conjunction with each other with and without serial....this is the only part of my sketch that failed when serial was turned off...
All variables are comming from RC inputs and the main loop only reads those variable values and does a show() function to light the leds per the array data calculated here.

void turbineEffect(){
  if (millis()-timerTurbine > turbDelay){ // create delay
    //Loop lights around
    if (turbinePos==0 ){ //handle trail when its split between start and end of strip
      stripValues[turbinePos].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+6].setRGB(0,0,0);
      stripValues[turbinePos+6].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+7].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+7].fadeLightBy(210-turbDim); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+8].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+8].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+14].setRGB(0,0,0);
      stripValues[turbinePos+14].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+15].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+15].fadeLightBy(210-turbDim); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+16].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+16].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+22].setRGB(0,0,0);
      stripValues[turbinePos+22].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+23].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+23].fadeLightBy(210-turbDim);
      
    }
    if (turbinePos==1 ){//handle trail when its split between start and end of strip
      stripValues[turbinePos-1].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos-1].fadeLightBy(210-turbDim);
      stripValues[turbinePos].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+6].setRGB(0,0,0);
      stripValues[turbinePos+6].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+7].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+7].fadeLightBy(210-turbDim); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+8].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+8].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+14].setRGB(0,0,0);
      stripValues[turbinePos+14].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+15].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+15].fadeLightBy(210-turbDim); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+16].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+16].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+22].setRGB(0,0,0);
      stripValues[turbinePos+22].fadeLightBy(0);
    }
    if (turbinePos>=2 && turbinePos<8){ //handle all normal spin positions
      stripValues[turbinePos-2].setRGB(0,0,0);
      stripValues[turbinePos-2].fadeLightBy(0);
      stripValues[turbinePos-1].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos-1].fadeLightBy(210-turbDim);
      stripValues[turbinePos].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+6].setRGB(0,0,0);
      stripValues[turbinePos+6].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+7].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
    stripValues[turbinePos+7].fadeLightBy(210-turbDim); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+8].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+8].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+14].setRGB(0,0,0);
      stripValues[turbinePos+14].fadeLightBy(0); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+15].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+15].fadeLightBy(210-turbDim); 
      stripValues[turbinePos+16].setRGB(inputR,inputG,inputB);
      stripValues[turbinePos+16].fadeLightBy(0); 
    }
    timerTurbine=millis(); //reset clock
    turbinePos++; //move to next led position
    if (turbinePos>=8) turbinePos=0; //check to see that we are not going to far
  }
}