Dough Circuits: Debug Your Bug
Troubleshooting your dough circuits.
If your lights don't turn on, don't worry! This is part of the fun of working with circuits. Think of yourself as a "bug detective" and try these steps to debug your bug.
Troubleshooting Common Problems
- Check the battery.
- Is the battery fully charged? Use fresh batteries for best results.
- If you're using a battery lead, are the red and black wires correctly connected to the battery? Sometimes reversing them is all you need to do due to polarity.
- Check the dough.
- Is the dough conductive? Do a simple test with some dough, a single LED and a battery and make sure a circuit works before trying elaborate projects.
- Most play doughs we've tried work but there are doughs that are not made of salts and other conductive material.
- Are all the dough pieces touching each other where they should? The circuit needs a continuous path to work.
- Is the dough conductive? Do a simple test with some dough, a single LED and a battery and make sure a circuit works before trying elaborate projects.
- Check the LEDs.
- Electronics kits often sell LEDs in bulk. Always test your LED before using it in a project to make sure it works first.
- Make sure the short lead is in the piece of dough connected to the black wire (negative side) and the long lead is in the piece of dough connected to the red wire (positive side).
- If the light is still not working, your LED might be broken or "shorted" and you may need to try a fresh one. Using a resistor can help lengthen the lifetime of an LED but expect you may use up one or two per project.
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Don't Forget! Don't forget to clean up your project and put your materials away when you're done. This includes disconnecting your battery from the leads for safety and storing it with your other household batteries!
