I’ve been having some very strange issues with my printer recently. There was always the occasional glitch but they seem to have become more common around when I upgraded to 1.4 firmware, however I am not sure that this is the cause. It’s quite hard to describe, but I will try to list all of the odd things I have observed:
[ul]Prints slowing to a crawl occasionally.
Missing out commands causing the print to offset.
Random resetting during printing.
Stepper motors moving continuously in one direction (until manually reset or the head/bed hits something and the printer resets itself.
A single question mark displayed in the top left corner of the LCD.
LCD screen not resetting properly.
Nozzles stuck heating.
Random max temp errors.
Failing to realise an SD card is present.
Failing to initialise an SD card.
Blank LCD screen until twisting or pressing the dial.
Resetting when a computer is attached or disconnected.
Erratic slow movement of axes after reset.
Sometimes the printer stops printing, but the screen is frozen and the hotends are stuck heating.
[/ul]
Today I tried to print something. It was working normally but then all of a sudden it stops printing and the extruder motor randomly changes speed and direction for about ten seconds before continuing to print normally.
Note that none of these things always happen - like I said the behaviour of the printer is very erratic.
I have checked everything I can check:
[ul]Stepper motor controller voltages.
Connections on the mainboard.
Belt tension.
Rod alignment.
Everything is lubricated correctly.
The fans are all working (overheating does not appear to be an issue).
Reflashing the firmware (tried 1.1 and 1.4 to no avail).[/ul]
Is there a more thorough way to do a complete reset of the board on the printer, or could this be a physical issue? If so, how can I show this for an RMA request?
I am now trying to see if my heated bed was causing the issues. I have disconnected it and removed mention of it from the gcode. I’m going to see if this will fix things. Could this be causing it to reset and make the motors move erratically?
Edit: it doesn’t seem like there’s any issues with the heated bed. I have done some electrical tests on the solid state relay I have been using and all appears to be normal. I am growing more concerned that this is not going to be an easy fix.
Sounds like you have been using the printer for awhile?
Did you check the output voltage from the power supply?
Did you check the screws at the power supply and the board to make sure they did not rattle loose?
Just a thought.
Both reset buttons appear to be unobstructed and shouldn’t be resetting the printer. Even if they were I’m not sure they would cause the strange behaviour I have described.
As you can tell I am grasping at straws.
Is it possible that your mains are dipping?
Do you have anyway to monitor them or the 15 volts coming from the power supply?
This may be worth investigating. I’m not particularly proficient with electronics so would you be able to suggest how I might be able to check this using a multimeter? Thanks!
I don’t think you can monitor very short power changes with a multimeter (refresh time is too long). Try plugging your printer in an UPS. It will prevent micro power breaks and stabilize the voltage (also preventing power surges and filtering noise, other possible causes for your issue).
More then likely you have done this but I will throw it out there anyway.
Have you reloaded the firmware?
If you do you need to use the Arduino software 1.0.6 or lower.
Use this link to find it. https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/OldSoftwareReleases#previous
Don’t forget to do this as well.
When you have uploaded the newer version of the firmware you must not forget to reload the EEPROM settings. This will update the stored values on the printer as these are not updated via the Arduino upload process. Go to the SETTINGS menu, then scroll down until you see RESTORE FAILSAFE, access this menu and the firmware will load the new values into the EEPROM, next choose the STORE MEMORY menu (also in the SETTINGS menu) to store the new values. DO NOT FORGET THIS STEP!!
I’m afraid I’ve done all of this correctly: My version of arduino was correct and I followed all the instructions on the build instructions exactly. I’ve done this several times, both with versions 1.1 and 1.4 of the software, but to no avail.
I am really running out of things to check.
Hopefully Raby will come up with something.
I will continue to try to come up with something.
One last thought what happens when you run it from a computer?
If that works you may have a loose connection on the LCD screen.
Checked all the connections on the mainboard, but also on the LCD screen. Printing from the PC doesn’t make any difference. Is there a way to determine whether the mainboard is the issue?
Hi Raby, Not sure exactly what you mean. Are you referring to the ribbon or the connection between the board and the LCD?
In a desperate attempt I unplugged everything, blew on it and plugged it all back it I was actually able to complete a three hour long print, but I’m still a little hesitant to say the problem is fixed. Are there any more checks I can do?
Not the ribbon cable but the two PCBs of the LCD itself. The long pins of the connector are a bit too short and can make bad contact if not correctly plugged in.
Thanks for the clarification. I’ve now checked this and it appears to be making good contact. Hopefully replugging all the cables will have sorted things out, but I’ll have to do a few more prints to be confident.
Here is just a complete different question: Which electronic equipment did you change in the surroundings of your printer? Did you install some power saving lamps nearby?
You already realized these silly effects when connecting and disconnecting the computer.
It was mentioned in some articles in this froum that the USB line may be sensitive to disturbances from the computer supply. For me it was critical even to switch the room light off or on with the USB cable connected. So if you have an electronic or electric equipment near the printer the electromagnetic distortions may generate your problems.
