The board that I built is a test circuit that I can run through all of my inputs and out puts with out having to install them into my controllers. It even has a MP3 player to test triggered audio files along with jumper setting to make the pins an input or output for testing. After checking code and both the board I made for program/testing and the final circuit board, I tried a second chip just for the heck of it and it did the same thing....tried a third chip and it works fine. Looks like I had a couple of bad pieces. Never had a bad chip before but a guess anything can possible....
If you bought them from RevEd (and can prove it) they'll replace 'em I'm sure.
If you were able to program all three chips in the board you made for testing then that indicates to me that there is nothing wrong with any of the three chips and the reason that two of your chips don't behave as you expect when you plug them into the target board is likely something other than than a "bad" chip and so something that could do with some more investigation.
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If you can program the part they are not supplied faulty, as they would simply not program at all if there was an issue with the internal PICAXE firmware. In this situation (some chips run, some don't) it is 99.9% likely to be a error on the final board itself - lack of 100nF decoupling capacitor, incorrect resistor layout (10k wrong side of 22k is common), marginal power supply voltage etc.
Are you allowed to say what commercial product PICAXE is being used in, out of interest?I did have part of a batch of about 20 off 08M2 chips bought directly from Rev Ed that wouldn't program about 3 or 4 years ago - they were changed by Rev Ed without issue, although IIRC they couldn't suggest how/what caused the problem.
Maybe they escaped the firmware programming process/machine...but I've bought around 1200 of them so far with no other issues. (and will still want a lot more over time - so my response to the "Is Picaxe Dead?" thread is "Hope not"
I'd rather not, directly - but it's a PCB with 12 LEDs, 3xAA battery powered, with brightness controlled by a potentiometer and used in a portable device. The batteries are permanently connected and when the pot is at its minimum the PICAXE goes to sleep and wakes up every few seconds to quickly check the pot position. If it's still minimum it goes to sleep again. if not it lights and controls the ongoing LED brightnesses via pot position. The sleep allows the batteries to remain in the device for many months meaning the device doesn't need an on/off switch
