Has my AXE033 Died ?

[donrecardo]

Hi
My AXE033 with DS1307 fitted always worked fine.
I left it unused for a year or so and just tried connecting it up again.

As soon as I connected the 5v and 0v the top row of the display showed
16 black boxes and the Led that normally pulses once a second was off.

I read through the data sheet where it said I need to program in the time
to see the led flash. I programmed it in and sure enough it now flashes every
second. The fact that it programmed the time ok sugests to me that I must
have connected the in/out lines between picaxe and clock correctly, yet
nothing I try is making any characters appear on the lcd I just get the same
row of 16 black boxes on the top line and nothing on the second line.
So, is it dead or am I doing something silly?

Don

 

[westaust55]

Have you tried adjusting the AXE033 contrast pot?

How are you controlling the AXE033.
Did you adjust the DS1307 clock via i2c or serial?

Are you using serial to communicate with the AXE033 LCD?

What PICAXE board are you using? Are you using a new board and going via a ULN2803 Darlington transistor pack or direct form a PICAXE pin?

More information about the connections would be helpful to track down the problem.

Maybe even upload your program code for review.

 

[donrecardo]

Have you tried adjusting the AXE033 contrast pot?

How are you controlling the AXE033.
Did you adjust the DS1307 clock via i2c or serial?

Are you using serial to communicate with the AXE033 LCD?

What PICAXE board are you using? Are you using a new board and going via a ULN2803 Darlington transistor pack or direct form a PICAXE pin?

More information about the connections would be helpful to track down the problem.

Maybe even upload your program code for review.

Hi West
I tried adjusting contrast , at one end I get the black blocks, backing off a little they quickly get paler and for about 3/4 of the travel its so pale you see nothing.
I adjusted the clock using serial control , I have never used i2C on it The picaxe chip is an 18X1 mounted on the AXE091 developement board . I dont have a ULN2803 on it so its wired direct from the picaxe pins. I used pin 13 ( out 7 ) to send from the picaxe to the lcd input and use pin 17 ( in 0) to receive from the lcd
The code is that given in the data sheet for the AXE033

init: pause 500 ‘ wait for display to initialise
main: serout 7,N2400,(254,128) ‘ move to start of first line
serout 7,N2400,(“Hello!123”) ‘ output text
end

As I said before It always worked fine until I put it away some time ago . On trying it today the pulse LED would not flash until I programmed in the time and then it flashed away happily. Thats why I assume my connections must be correct or it shouldnt have programmed the time succesfully.
The black blocks appeared across row one of the display as soon as I connected up power ( which I got from the axe091 ) I hadnt even connected
the serial leads up at this time , just 5v and 0v and right away the black blocks appeared.
I'm not sure if the firmware chip on the axe033 is the same as the frm010 chip but as I had a couple of frm010 I tried one in the axe033 board but got the same row of black boxes
Whether or not its signicant I dont know but I noticed that once I got
the pulse LED to flash that the black blocks on the lCD went paler in time
with the flashing of the LED

Don

 

[Technical]

Black squares at full contrast means the LCD is powered but not initialised. If working in the past then this could be a damaged connection soemwhere or damaged firmware chip.

The chip is not an FRM010, which will not work on AXE033. Search in the TechSupplies.co.uk store on 'AXE033' if you want the correct firmware chip replacement (part AXE033IC).

 

[donrecardo]

Thanks for that technical

Don

 

[KTarke]

I maybe wrong, but the "fainting boxes when led blinks" made me think about voltage source... As I recall, there was a jumper, for choosing 4,5V (battery) or "full" 5V.
Did You last time use different Voltage than now?

 

[Andrew Cowan]

I've found that the axe033 needs an absolute 5v supply to work - dodgy batteries and it won't play ball.

A

 

[donrecardo]

Hi Andrew and KTarke

I dont think its the voltage . I have it conected to my Axe091 development
board which takes a 9v input and regulates it down to 5v

I also tried it on the same 5v supply that it was on when it worked before but still no joy

Don

 

[eclectic]

Hi Andrew and KTarke

I dont think its the voltage . I have it conected to my Axe091 development
board which takes a 9v input and regulates it down to 5v

I also tried it on the same 5v supply that it was on when it worked before but still no joy

Don

Don.
Not a clue what the answer is,
but,

1. Can you post a Hi-Res photo. of the circuit?

2. Take it all apart and then re-assemble.

e

 

[KTarke]

If it is not the Voltage... more thoughts.

I understood, that Yöu have the rtc-chip ,and battery in place.
My suggestion is, remove rtc and the battery (and check the battery voltage)

Don't have a faintest idea, how the rtc-chip could affect the serial chip, BUT I resell a product, where there is a PIC-processor on the same card with lcd ,and in it, black squares on the lcd means, that the processor is been set in the re-programming state
Brings to my mind, that if the battery is gone dead during storage, it might have "locked" the rtc-chip, which affects the lcd-driver...

Worth to try anyway!

 

[westaust55]

I've found that the axe033 needs an absolute 5v supply to work - dodgy batteries and it won't play ball.

A

There is a link on the rear of the AXE033 that bypasses a diode and allows good operation at 4.5V /


@donrecardo
I would suggest to try a longer pause and give the LCD more time toinitialise.

Initialisation problems can arise form such things as adding more capacitance to the power supply so it takes a little longer for the voltage to come up. In which case a longer delays and then a clear/reset may solve the problem

 

[hippy]

On the AXE033 ( and FRM010 ) the controller chip is responsible for initialising the LCD and, as Technical earlier noted, black blobs usually indicate a powered but uninitialised LCD. This would point me towards some fault or issue on the AXE033 combo rather than a problem with baud rates or voltages.

First thing I'd do is remove the controller chip and re-insert it as it may have become unseated or isn't making good contact with the socket.

With the controller chip re-fitted you can also disconnect the AXE033 from the PICAXE, remove the DS1307 and battery and see what affect just applying power alone has. It may be a good idea to do a continuity check from the LCD board to the AXE033 main board to make sure the pins are all connected and no dry joints have materialised.

 

[donrecardo]

First thing I'd do is remove the controller chip and re-insert it as it may have become unseated or isn't making good contact with the socket.

With the controller chip re-fitted you can also disconnect the AXE033 from the PICAXE, remove the DS1307 and battery and see what affect just applying power alone has. It may be a good idea to do a continuity check from the LCD board to the AXE033 main board to make sure the pins are all connected and no dry joints have materialised.

Removed and reinserted the controller chip
Removed DS1307 and Battery
Checked continuity between LCD and main board ( all ok )

Powered up Axe033 with 5v ( no conection to Picaxe chip ) Still black boxes
The only difference is without the DS1307 the pulse led no longer flashes
which is what we would expect

I guess its Dead

My next plan is to order a new Backlit AXE033 ( I fancy a back lit one)
I thought then I could put the old controller chip in the new board to
tell me if it was the controller chip or the LCD display that had died.

Thanks every one for the help

 

[westaust55]

where you have the code:

init: pause 500 ‘ wait for display to initialise
main: serout 7,N2400,(254,128) ‘ move to start of first line
serout 7,N2400,(“Hello!123”) ‘ output text
end

I still suggest you try:

init: pause [COLOR="Red"]1000[/COLOR] ‘ wait for display to initialise
      [COLOR="Red"]serout 7,N2400,(254,1)[/COLOR] ' Clear the display
      [COLOR="Red"]pause 50[/COLOR]

main: serout 7,N2400,(254,128, “Hello!123”) ‘ move to start of first line and output text
end

 

[donrecardo]

Hi Westaust
Thanks for your continued interest. I tried altering the code as
you suggest but still no change . The blocks continue to remain black

Don

 

[leds4u]

I have exactly the same problem, I am using a new FRM010 in an old AXE033 which got a load of 12v awhile back and now has a new LCD and FRM010.

donrecardo, did you ever sort out yours?

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[westaust55]

The FRM010 chip from rev Ed and the controller chip on the AXE033 have completely different firmware.

Using the FRM010 on the AXE033 will not work.

EDIT: see post 4 in this very thread

 

[donrecardo]

I have exactly the same problem, I am using a new FRM010 in an old AXE033 which got a load of 12v awhile back and now has a new LCD and FRM010.

donrecardo, did you ever sort out yours?

Any ideas?

Thanks

Yes I removed the firmware chip and put it into another axe033 and it worked fine proving the firmware chip was ok, I removed the lcd and tried it in another circuit and no go. I deduced from this the lcd had died a premature death.

Don

 

[leds4u]

Thanks for that, can't believe I made that mistake when I ordered it! I didn't notice that part on post 4, I Kinda skipped over it.