EL Escudo troubleshooting

Hey, so I am in the process of developing a EL wiring costume design and i have run into a snag.

These are the components i am using:

  • [3 v Inverter
  • [/list]
  • [EL Escudo Shield
  • [/list]
  • [Orange EL Wire
  • [/list]
  • [Arduino Uno SMD
  • [/list]
  • and breakaway headers
  • So i Soldered the breakaway headers to the shield and plugged everything in. I uploaded the test program to the uno and nothing happened.

    I wanna know if I can plug the inverter in backwards? (mainly because there is nothing marking raw in and voltage out on the inverter, nor is there any documentation to indicate what the double black wire means vice the red/black wires).

    What are some good troubleshooting techniques to see if i soldered correctly and if the system is running correctly?

    Apologies if this has already been covered in the forum as using the forum search feature has not brought me much luck.](Arduino Uno - R3 SMD - DEV-11224 - SparkFun Electronics)](http://www.robotshop.com/ca/productinfo.aspx?pc=RB-Spa-512&lang=en-US)](http://www.robotshop.com/ca/productinfo.aspx?pc=RB-Spa-259&lang=en-US)](http://www.robotshop.com/ca/productinfo.aspx?pc=RB-Spa-509&lang=en-US)

    update: Problem rectified. the default code “EL_Blink.pde” was the cause of the problem. Through correspondance with sparkfun tech support, they gave me this code that succesfully illuminated the EL Wiring.

    /*

    */

    #include <avr/io.h>

    #include <avr/interrupt.h>

    #include <util/delay.h>

    const int fwdbut=A6;

    const int bkwdbut=A7;

    boolean changed=false;

    int count=0;

    /*

    two switches, A6, A7 pull down resistors,

    one steps fwd on backwards

    */

    // turn a given EL wire segment on or off. ‘num’ is between 0 and 7, corresponding

    // to EL segments ‘A’ through ‘H’. if ‘value’ is true, the segment will be lit.

    // if value is false, the segment will be dark.

    void elSegment(byte num, boolean value) {

    digitalWrite(num + 2, value ? HIGH : LOW);

    }

    void setup() {

    // set up the EL wire segment pins

    byte i;

    for (i = 2; i < 10; i++) {

    pinMode(i, OUTPUT);

    digitalWrite(i, LOW);

    }

    Serial.begin(9600);

    }

    // control how long each segment is turned on by changing the delay

    // delete the code that is not being used EL wire segments

    void loop() {

    elSegment(0, true);

    delay(200);

    elSegment(0, false);

    elSegment(1, true);

    delay(200);

    elSegment(1, false);

    elSegment(2, true);

    delay(200);

    elSegment(2, false);

    elSegment(3, true);

    delay(200);

    elSegment(3, false);

    elSegment(4, true);

    delay(200);

    elSegment(4, false);

    elSegment(5, true);

    delay(200);

    elSegment(5, false);

    elSegment(6, true);

    delay(200);

    elSegment(6, false);

    elSegment(7, true);

    delay(200);

    elSegment(7, false);

    }

    Cheers,