well i doubt its been drained from battery life and i just got it fresh like two days ago..and have barely used it on a couple other projects that i did..small kits that i had to solder together..

and when i connected it to this project..it didnt bring up anything at all..not even a blink or anything..and no i made sure they werent shorting...pin 15 was connected to the 1K resistor connected to VDD so yea to the +9V...and then 14 is connected straight to the second resetB in pin 6 and that connected straight to QC pin 3

these are some pics of what i have so far...

 

i guess the only way to really test it is when im at school tomorrow with the function generator right...then i can probably add more voltage and just change the resistors on it..

at least thats my guess of what is currently wrong because ive checked and double cheked my wiring and everything seems right and connected to their right pins and everything...ohhh and as you may see in the pics..for the first row i put some green leds and at the very end i put red leds..would that make a difference..i know they might take up a bit more or a bit less voltage than the white leds but wasnt sure if it made a differnce if i needed to use different resistors or higher resistors because of that...

could that be the problem???
should i just change them all to white LEDS???

 

I always laugh at the messy tangle of many wires that guys make on a breadboard.
I plan my stripboard circuits and solder everything neatly. No wires cross over another wire. The parts and strips of copper are the wiring and are easy to see which connects to what.

 

The LED portion looks OK, but the counter area is a real rat's nest. You're going to have to learn how to make the wiring neater on a breadboard, or you're going to make things really hard on yourself.

You need to calculate the current limiting resistors for the different LEDs, as their Vf is different. Red is usually around 2v, green around 3v.

I'm wondering if you might've "zapped" the 4015 or the CMOS 555 when you were handling them.

If you still have some time, and a couple of 74195's (or one 195 and a dual D F/F), you could re-do it using your TTL parts. They are not nearly as static-sensitive. You would need to re-create the logic I implemented in the original schematic with the new parts. The logic doesn't really change; but the pin numbers do.

TTL has to be powered from voltage in a range of 4.5 to 5.5v. CMOS has a much wider range, but far less drive current.

Since you have a reasonable stock of TTL IC's, you really should be using those.

 

Maybe the LEDs are connected with backwards polarity.

 

That could be, too. The shorter LED lead (cathode) needs to be towards the ULN2004A.
If both leads are the same length, the flat on the bottom rim of the LED indicates the cathode.
If it doesn't have a flat on the rim, the cathode lead is attached to the reflector "bowl".
If you can't see the internal structure of the LED, then use a multimeter/DMM on set to diode test; one polarity or the other should light it up.
If you don't have a multimeter/DMM with a diode test function, you can use a 9v transistor battery and a 360 Ohm to 750 Ohm resistor in series with the LED to figure out which is cathode/anode.

 

lol...yea i know it does look a bit messy...but its the best i can really do in such a short time....and was trying to figure out how to make it neater but didnt quite figure it out...

cuz of the so many wires goin to the 4015 and 2004...

would there be a way to make them neater??
if so how???

well the zapping could be a possibilty but not sure if it was that cuz i was wearing that anti static strap they showed us how to use...but just in case it was that should i bought extra 2004 and 4015 just in case..should i try to exchange them first and see if that helps???

no it cant be the LED cuz i double checked that already because im aware they have a shorter lead that is the cathode and the longer one is anode..and from the schematics the big arrow is anode and the line in front of it is cathode..
and just in case i did turn them all around but still didnt work...

what else could i try???

 

See if you are getting anything out of the 555 timer pin 3.

If you don't have a meter, use an LED and resistor (750 to 1k Ohms) to Vcc/Vdd or ground. You should see the LED flashing on and off quickly.

 

ok....so if it doesnt flash on and off would that mean that its something wrong w/ da 555..cuz i do see da light now...i connected a jumper from pin 3..and faced the cathode away from pin 3 and w/ a 1k resistor and it turns on but i dont see it blinking...

 

Which 555 did you get? An NE555, or a TLC555?

The CMOS 555's have low source current, but can sink a pretty good amount of current.

If you have the cathode away from pin 3, then you must have the anode grounded (through a resistor).
That means the output is staying high all the time, which means that capacitor C3 is not charging via R2/R3.

Make sure you have the capacitor installed with the negative lead to ground. If it's backwards, it won't work.

Check your wiring from pin 3 through R2/R3 and C3. Also check to make sure that pins 2 and 6 are connected, and also connected to the top of C3.

Pin 4 should be connected to +V/Vcc/Vdd.

Basically, check ALL of the wiring to the 555.

 

well i did check the wiring and everythin seems just fine..and the capacitor was put right..the positive side connected to pin 2 and pin 2 to pin 6 and the negative side grounded..
and pin 4 does have Vcc...

i think i found the problem..it seems that i used for r3 a 10K and for the R2 a 10k as well...would that be a good problem..imma try changin them right now to see the difference and use the 100K for R3

 

ok yea that was 1 issue..now i do see the blinking..but the other lights still dont turn on and off...what else can i try

 

is there any way that you recommend that i can make my breadboard neater???

 

Neat comes with practice.

Are you getting the clock to the input of the 4015? Sure it's on the right pin?

Is the reset pin of the 4015 low?

 

there are 2 in series and 6 rows in parallel..

 

Did you ground the ULN2004A correctly (pin 8 to Vss/GND)? Do any LEDs go on when you use the press-to-test function? Temporarily grounding pin 9 of the ULN2004A should turn all of the LEDs on.

 

ok..i rearranged some stuff to make it neater and made sure that everything should be in the right place..still kinda messy but a lot neater than before..does this look better to you...

ill upload some pics right now

 

yea i grounded pin 8 and pin 9 goes the to switch and then grounded as well...

 

Neat comes with practice.

Are you getting the clock to the input of the 4015? Sure it's on the right pin?

Is the reset pin of the 4015 low?

well the clock is on pin 1 and connected to the second clock on pin 9 and connected to the out of the 555 timer...so im guessin its right...

and im guessing its on low..how would i be able to check that??

heres a pic of the changes..kinda same but to me its kinda better..

 

would da chips make any difference if they have letters before it or after it..

if i used a 4015A or B

or if the 2004 has a 2004C...or are all of them mostly the same???