Need help solving this issue
Hi everyone,
I havent been using my printer (MK2) in a while because it tends to stop printing midprint.
Points that I have noticed:
The printer does not shut off, it just stops moving
The LCD is still bright (no flickering at the moment it stops so I doubt its a power issue)
The bed and extruder stop heating
The fans keep spinning even after the temperatures are below the fan-temperature limit
It will stay like this until I shut it down.
Another clue to my misfortune is that this had been an issue a while back and then it stopped being an issue, now it has come back and it wont go away
On average my prints do barely reach past z=10mm (on small objects) very rarely more
Ok so I looked online and it could be that I need 'Ferrite beads/cores' on the power cable and maybe LCD cables - as suggested in the comments of this video
Also because my heatbed cable was shorting-out the adapter connecting to the rambo (a long time ago) I decided to solder it to the back of the rambo (Im no electrician so maybe I messed something up) I doubt this is the cause because it does not match the timing of my issues
Really looking forward to any advice, links to threads and questions which you may have to help me solve my issue.
Thanks all!
PS: just saw the topic tags, what is the difference between fail at height e and fail at height ex?
RE: Need help solving this issue
What's the ambient temperature in the room now; what was it the last time you printed successfully? The RAMBO boards are somewhat sensitive to ambient, and the problem might be related to the room being too warm and the printer electronics are shutting down.
And the comments about noisy power and adding ferrite beads to the power and data lines? I'd expect to see something else if the data lines were being hammered with noise, but if people have discussed it as an issue, maybe. Is your printer close to any major equipment? Drills, lathes, mills? Even large refrigerators? Anything with large motors? Air conditioner now being used?
RE: Need help solving this issue
Hi Tim, thanks for the reply,
I haven't printed in a while but this was happening in the UK with average autumn to winter temperatures so I would say below 20 *C in the living room. I tried again in March but still no luck in Luxembourg. I don't think any large motors were around either times, would this be the cause for a solution based around ferrite? If so I don't think this is my issue.
AS you might have guessed I move around a fair amount, could I have damaged the rambo or power unit? I usually pack the printer in two parts and place it in either sides of a suit case.
I've been wanting to upgrade to the MK3 for a bit of silence (though not using the printer is equally as quiet) but I want to salvage my current MK2 by trying to fix it, I just don't know if I should buy a quick fix (like ferrite which probably wont work), get a new rambo (this was my uneducated instinct, as I've mistreated it a good amount, soldering, broken pin (that is not used but still)), or new power unit.
To be honest I haven't seen any clear cut solution to my issue or even any clear explanation allowing me to diagnose and compare to
RE: Need help solving this issue
Loosely put: ferrite helps by adding inductance in the cables so high frequency electromagnetic noise isn't as easily conducted to the electronics. Large motor controllers and armatures are one large source of this type of noise.
If your problem persists in multiple locations, it probably isn't external noise and I'd wonder if placing beads on everything would be helpful. But I haven't read "why" others have found that solution to work. So anyone's guess.
With the moving, temperatures also don't sound like a cause. And I don't think soldering the wires is the issue, either. Does your printer have a filament sensor? Didn't catch if you have a 2 or 2S. The filament sensor has been known to cause some odd "no move" conditions. Disabling it usually helps.
One other thing to consider, wear and tear and all, the SD card slot has been known to become intermittent. Not sure it'd cause this symptom, but you might try wiggling the SD card next time it happens. If the disk read stops, the firmware may just halt there, too.
And as a "just in case" since Prusa has been playing with motor drive currents (to help with EINSY overheating) in the past few firmware revs, you might try a cooling fan blowing at the Rambo.
RE: Need help solving this issue
Ok so I'm ruling out electromagnetic noise and temperature, the MK2 doesn't have a filament sensor so it cant be this either.
When you mentioned the SD card reader it does sound like it could be the source of the issue as I have had SD card issues in the past where the printer does not register the SD being plugged in as well as the SD being corrupted (usually a PC scan and fix works but I have replaced it too to check if this was the issue to the problem currently at hand). I will have to try printing straight from pronterface to see if the printer decides to work (I never do this so it should be interesting)
I will update this thread this weekend when I have time to set up the printer, hope this is the solution as it would be a relatively inexpensive fix.
Will update the thread with more news when I have some.
Thanks for the help Tim, I really appreciate it!
Of course if anyone else has any input it is also welcome.