Troubeshooting a new board
 

I bought and assembled a Spiffie v2.1 MPGuino kit, and it doesn't seem to work. Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated!

1) If I connect to the board with USB, nothing happens until I load the sketch to the board. Then, the display lights up and the program is running.

2) If I connect with external power (either wallwart USB or wallwart RJ11), nothing happens.

3) I poked around with the multimeter, everything seems to be connected/not shorted. However, the output from the voltage regulator seems to be at 4.3-4.5 V. Is that unusually low?

4) Also, the input to the voltage regulator is at only 2.5 V when using USB power. That seems weird.

5) I assume that the program should load and start automatically when power is applied. Is this true? Is there a "start" or "reset" command that needs to be applied?

Thanks!!

Something definitely isn't right. The regulator should put out 5V, and it should be getting 5V from the USB port. Make sure the voltage at the USB port is 5V, maybe even try using a different port.

Make sure the regulator is oriented properly, it's easy to install it backwards. And, make sure the Zener diodes are oriented properly, as well as the capacitors.

Throw that piece of crap in the trash if you can not salvage any parts from it. I have been ^&%% with one too much. Today I cut the lcd off for another project. I had trouble with my kit about 3 miles from the house it started to reboot. It kept rebooting and I kept checking all the wires and the voltages and the signals and lost some hair and others turned gray and my daughter did not like me you get the picture. I bought the assembled unit and I have had just one problem out of it. I do not know why but twice it reset the variables back to default but it has not happened again. It is dead nut on the money with all the displayed info. I just have a note pad with the fuel and VSS figures on it and if it happens again I will just input the numbers and away I go.

I am looking for a good way to mount this thing I have tried several different Ideas but nun look good or something is just not right about it maybe I am to picky. But if anyone has any ideas please pass them on.

I think if you externally power the unit it must see the injection pulse to start. I am not sure but I think it is the interupt that starts the program. It should power up when you plug in the usb cable to it and show the startup display. You may also try adjusting the contrast as it is set low on inital startup. I had to tilt the display to see mine when it started up with the usb cable the first time.

Also, make sure the LCD connections aren't touching anything on the board...if you solder it too close to the board, it can make a connection with something it shouldn't.