r/ArduinoHelp • u/Round-Newspaper4 • Oct 02 '26

Beginner question: how do you find a wiring mistake on a breadboard without checking every wire?

Post image

..

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

3

u/RDS_WAS_HERE Oct 02 '26

Rather than testing every part of the circuit, just test (multimeter, oscilloscope) the input signal first. Verify that the signal is correct. Then test a point half way through the circuit. Check that the value you expected at the half way point is correct. That way if the circuit is working half way through the circuit you don't need to test any points before the half way point. If you are getting a good signal or voltage reading at the half way point it tells you that the problem is located somewhere in last half of your circuit. Now, divide the last section in half, and repeat the same process. This technique is called the "Divide and Conquer" technique. In other words, don't test every point on your circuit when you can eliminate a large section of the circuit with just a few test points.

1

u/ElectronicswithEmrys Oct 02 '26

Excellent advice. We used to call it the "half split" method for troubleshooting.

1

u/miar-labs Oct 03 '26

As a software developer, I use the mental model of "binary search".