Quote Originally Posted by Tobias View Post
Guys I appreciate the input and I realize that I have the diode drawn backwards in the schematic compared to the board. The PIC doesn't even program if the diode is backwards.

The question I have is what happens when I touch the MCLR line with the scope? When I do that, the PIC starts up. Thats the weird deal. I am back at my office now and am going to swap out diodes. Maybe there is just a problem with the diode.

I will let you know what I find.

Thanks again
Yes, that's weird. Sometimes I forget to remove the programmer from my circuit and when the programmer is off and connected to the circuit my PIC won't work. So, in order to make my PIC work I need to either turn the programmer on or disconnect it from the circuit.

In your case, what voltage are you feeding MCRL with? Are you sure you are getting this voltage at MCRL? Try replacing the 4.7k resistor also. Try connecting an inductor in series with the 4.7k resistor or a 0.1uF capacitor from MCRL to ground close to the MCRL pin to eliminate posible noise.

Robert