Proffie v3 with a neopixel blade that won't light up

Proffieboards
82

Then it should just be a matter of cutting the part that sticks out shorter.
For through-hole connections, push the insulation all the way up to the board and solder on the other side. No goose necks.

83

I HAVE DONE IT!!! I know what the problem was! It was the blade pcb the whole time! I rigged up my saber and some alligator clips o have to the long neopixel strip I have. Clipped positive, negative and data to the right places and Walla! The strip light up no problem!! So it looks I need a different blade pcb from a different company. The ones I have are from the custom saber shop and now I know they donā€™t work with this kind of saber. So does anyone have any suggestions for blade pcbs? But thank you all so much for all the help and support! I wouldnā€™t not have come to this conclusion if I didnā€™t know what I was looking for! Thank you again and maybe not get blade pcbs from the custom saber shop :joy:

84

Or maybe, get hilt side pcb and blade side pcb from the same shop & same manufacturer & make sure the versions are compatible?

I am happy for you that you figured it out. If any more problems (hopefully not) or questions, please come back anytime. We will be happy to assist.

1 Like
85

The KR hilt side and TCSS blade side PCB are compatible. I think what you discovered is that you got a short in the blade, which didnā€™t happen in the clip test. Clean up that PCB and you might be fine. Regardless, itā€™s a win :slight_smile:

86

I would agree yes! Okay I will definitely get it more cleaned than before. I was also wondering about the pcb, I know I donā€™t need a resistor, but would I need to bridge the resistor pads on the pcb?

87

Yes. You can do it with just solder, or use an LED leg or resistor leg you clip. Without it thereā€™s no data flow to the strips.

Shown here (2:09):

88

The Custom Saber Shop is a well-known, long-time-running, and reputable store.

Whatever issues you had, were they actually due to the hardware you purchased, if you reached out Iā€™m sure they would rectify it.

Respectfully: Making backhand comments about such a company when there was no attempt at resolution with them and clearly a lot of user error is in poor taste.

2 Likes
89

I have done it!! It works!!! And @ryryog25 yes I agree, it was all user error. Custom saber shops pcb had nothing to do with it. Was just me forgetting a step as I usually do. But the blade is working!! I finally got it to light up and it is awesome!! It looks like I was missing the bridged resistor pads the whole time, I feel like an idiot but itā€™s fixed! I do have a small question thou. I did notice when I ignite my blade, it lights at the top first and then the bottom comes to meet it. Do I need to check my blade wiring or check the configuration? But thank you all so much for all the help! Iā€™m very grateful for all of it!

1 Like
90

Time to post you config again please :slight_smile:

like this
91

@LyleStyle, you got it. Its just the simple one from earlier.

#ifdef CONFIG_TOP
#include "proffieboard_v3_config.h"
#define NUM_BLADES 2
#define NUM_BUTTONS 1
#define VOLUME 1000
const unsigned int maxLedsPerStrip = 144;
#define CLASH_THRESHOLD_G 1.0
#define ENABLE_AUDIO
#define ENABLE_MOTION
#define ENABLE_WS2811
#define ENABLE_SD
#endif
#ifdef CONFIG_PROP
#include "../props/saber_sa22c_buttons.h"
#endif

#ifdef CONFIG_PRESETS
Preset presets[] = {
   { "TeensySF", "tracks/venus.wav", 
    StyleNormalPtr<CYAN, WHITE, 300, 800>(), 
    StyleNormalPtr<CYAN, WHITE, 300, 800>(), "cyan"},
 };
  BladeConfig blades[] = {
  { 0,
    SubBlade(30, 141, WS281XBladePtr<142, bladePin, Color8::GRB, PowerPINS<bladePowerPin2, bladePowerPin3>>()), 
    SubBlade(0, 29, NULL),
    CONFIGARRAY(presets),
  }
};

#endif

#ifdef CONFIG_BUTTONS
Button PowerButton(BUTTON_POWER, powerButtonPin, "pow");
#endif
92

Well, thereā€™s nothing in there that is telling the LEDs to do that that I can see. The problem IMO is still mechanical. Maybe a bad LED from the old wiring.

Iā€™d test another blade, but since it seems you only have this one you could do a test on another strip, or finish the full blade and test that.

93

I actually did finish the full blade and itā€™s behaving like that. I will have to check the wiring then, the strip works fine, I tested it before putting it in the blade with my arduino and a simple test sketch for it. So, I will go over everything in the blade and see if I can find the issue.

1 Like
94

Quick update, the blade still works! and I was able to fix my previous problem with the top of the blade lighting first. It was the actual code! I checked the wiring and everything was fine. So here is the original code that had that was making it do that.

BladeConfig blades[] = {
  { 0,
    SubBlade(30, 141, WS281XBladePtr<142, bladePin, Color8::GRB, PowerPINS<bladePowerPin2, bladePowerPin3>>()), 
    SubBlade(0, 29, NULL),
    CONFIGARRAY(presets),

so here is the code that I replaced it with, this is the code that I got from the proffie with a bit modifications.

  BladeConfig blades[] = {
 { 0, WS281XBladePtr<144, bladePin, Color8::GRB, PowerPINS<bladePowerPin2, bladePowerPin3> >(),
    SubBlade(0, 15, WS281XBladePtr<16, bladePin, Color8::GRB, PowerPINS<bladePowerPin2, bladePowerPin3> >()),
    SubBlade(1, 15, NULL),
    CONFIGARRAY(presets),

it works, but it has a bit of a glitch, when it ignites, itā€™s as if it has two ignitions, one at the base and then the rest of the blade. all the other effects just fine but that. I wonder if it has something to do with the number of blades. I was able to edit the blade length with edit mode thanks to the fett263 upgrade. But not the base where it was is now a bit dimmer than the rest of the blade. So, I am unsure how to edit the config so it all acts as one smooth blade. If anyone has any tips or tricks or even a config that I can just plug in let me know! thank you guys again!

95

You have two WS281XBladePtr<> that use the same pin.
That does not actually work, and is probably what is causing your glitches.