No power light

K8200 3D Printer K8200 - Wiring and electronics
1

Hello,

Ive been using the K8200 for almost 10 months now, and have really enjoyed it… but now when i try to connect to the printer repetierHost shows i have commands waiting and the power LED is not lit.

Im using ubuntu (and have for a long time), and up until now its worked beautifully,

Ive exhausted all suggestions from this forum and others to no positive avail.

From what i can tell the controller PCB has an issue, can i send it for testing?

Best regards,
Fred

2

As dead power supplies happen to exist, try measuring the output from the power supply.

3

just measured 15.67 Volts

heatbed thermistor value is 79.8 Ohms

4

Measure is this tension also is available on the board itself. Sometimes bad contact can happen in the screw connectors.

5

15.56 Volts on the solder behind the power connector, and along the other main traces of the PCB from the same connector.

6

Hi Fred_Gofton,

what about the 5 V line? Is that one ok, too?

Cheers,
kuraasu

7

4.99 Volts with usb disconnected and same connected. Looks right to me.

8

Hi Fred_Gofton,

I’d suggest two further tests:

  • measure whether the 5 V also reach the ATmega. This is quite tricky since the QFP pins are very small, so only do this if you know a) where to measure and b) how to do it without risking a short circuit.
  • The second test is a bit easier: pull all four Pololus off the controller board, then re-apply power and observe whether the green LED (LD1) blinks twice. If it does, power down the board, put back one Pololu and recheck. Repeat to “test” all four Pololus like that.

Cheers,
kuraasu

9

[quote=“kuraasu”]Hi Fred_Gofton,

I’d suggest two further tests:

  • measure whether the 5 V also reach the ATmega. This is quite tricky since the QFP pins are very small, so only do this if you know a) where to measure and b) how to do it without risking a short circuit.
  • The second test is a bit easier: pull all four Pololus off the controller board, then re-apply power and observe whether the green LED (LD1) blinks twice. If it does, power down the board, put back one Pololu and recheck. Repeat to “test” all four Pololus like that.

Cheers,
kuraasu[/quote]

Thanks for your reply.
With all 4 Pololus removed the green led does blink twice.
Same result as each one is replaced - double blinks.

My hands are not steady enough to risk measuring the QFP Vcc supply.

10

Hi Fred_Gofton,

[quote=“Fred_Gofton”]With all 4 Pololus removed the green led does blink twice.
Same result as each one is replaced - double blinks.[/quote]
I’m a bit confused - with one Pololus, regardless which one, the board will boot ok, but with four at the same time, it will not (as written in your first post)?

Cheers,
kuraasu

11

It boots OK with or without the Pololus.
I tested the booting adding each one back to the board in turn.
In all cases the green LED blinks twice but the power LED does no remain on.

Additionally Ive been able to reflash the firmware successfully.

As i stated in my first post ive been using the machine for almost 10 months without any major problems, and this is why I think it needs testing by Velleman - ive gone through all the ‘normal’ testing procedures but while it appears to connect ok, i get 0 temps reading on repetierHost and have commands waiting.
Ive also cycled through all the baud rates in case that was the issue.
Also re-installed the FTDI driver for ubuntu (successfully), and reinstalled repetierHost to no avail.

12

[quote=“Fred_Gofton”]In all cases the green LED blinks twice but the power LED does no remain on.
[/quote]
Ah, my bad, I thought you meant LD1 (the green LED blinking twice) in your first post. Which LED is the one that you call “power LED”?

13

Hi there ?driver for Ubuntu?
Every device is recognized in Linux. Firmware is what you need…

Maybe you PS can’t provide the whole power you need . i would connect a 12v bulb let’s say 50 watts of power and measure the voltage, or if you see the bulb flickering than you know something must be wrong with the power supply.
Mine exploded because I’ve putted it into direct sunlight. Also the PCB inside looked very ugly soldered and deformed trough thermal issues.

best regards

14

The firmware was reflashed via Arduino IDE.
I removed and recompiled, and reset the FTDI driver module for my ubuntu kernel, all ok there.

repetierHost connects to the printer, but the temps are stuck at Zero, and no motors will operate, and neither extruder or heatbed will heat.

Has anyone else had this issue?

15

[quote=“venis”]Hi there ?driver for Ubuntu?
Every device is recognized in Linux. Firmware is what you need…

Maybe you PS can’t provide the whole power you need . i would connect a 12v bulb let’s say 50 watts of power and measure the voltage, or if you see the bulb flickering than you know something must be wrong with the power supply.
Mine exploded because I’ve putted it into direct sunlight. Also the PCB inside looked very ugly soldered and deformed trough thermal issues.

best regards[/quote]
The power supply check out fine, as i had stated in the other post in this thread i have tested it.
The driver module was remod and recompiled, and reinstalled as per instructions to isolate the issue - which in not my pc.
The control pcb appears (visually) ok, and has a good quality of soldering.

16

Hi Fred_Gofton,

perhaps you have already checked this - but since the resulting error would exactly fit I’d like to ask anyways: does your Repetier Host use the correct profile for connection? The virtual printer will e.g. show 0 °C, and it will (virtually) heat and move its motors, but since there’s no connection to the K8200 in that case, the real printer won’t do a thing.

Cheers,
kuraasu

17

Ok, after re-starting trouble shooting, i tested the power supply under load (5 Ohm 200 watt resistor) and the output drops to 4.5 volts.

18

[quote=“kuraasu”]Hi Fred_Gofton,

perhaps you have already checked this - but since the resulting error would exactly fit I’d like to ask anyways: does your Repetier Host use the correct profile for connection? The virtual printer will e.g. show 0 °C, and it will (virtually) heat and move its motors, but since there’s no connection to the K8200 in that case, the real printer won’t do a thing.

Cheers,
kuraasu[/quote]

Thanks for the suggestion, but i have the profile set to Serial Connection, not Virtual printer.
The control board is sending back ‘ok’ acknowledgements.

19

Im sending the board to Velleman for testing as all testing, inspection, and other parameters yield no operational outcome.

Velleman Projects Tech. Dept.
Legen Heirweg 33
9890 Gavere
Belgium

20

Hi Fred_Gofton,

sorry for the perhaps late reply, but the this measurement - at least in my opinion - brings the power supply back into troubleshooting focus. If you already sent the controller board, did you include the supply?

Cheers,
kuraasu