Failed PINDA sensor with new kit  

Failed PINDA sensor with new kit

Hello everyone, I am new to 3d printing and just recently put together the MK3S kit. After a bit of trial and error I was finally up and printing but suddenly starting experiencing z calibration issues where it would enforce recalibration. First couple of times this worked but then it stopped. The Z-axis would travel to the top, say it needed to recalibrate the Z, make the clicking noise as it was already at the top, and repeat. I checked the PINDA probe connection on the EINSY board and it was secure. The light on the top of the PINDA probe is always off no matter how far away from metal it is. The sensor output in the support menu is always 1.

I decided to put the printer away and contact support but needed the serial number. I thought it was available in the lcd menus (didnt know it was a sticker) and when I turned the printer on the PINDA probe was working fine. I factor reset and redid the calibration wizard, all the calibration squares, and was back to printing normally. I actually completed a couple prints and then turned the printer off for the night. Next morning when I turned it back on the PINDA probe was again not functioning.

After a bit of searching and googling it seems that maybe the wire has become damaged somewhere so I loosened the zip-ties around the wiring harness where it connects to the extruder and wiggled the wires around a bit which fixed the PINDA probe temporarily. I tried to recalibrate and print thinking I could get away with it but it failed midway through the calibration processes. So now I figure its definitely a break somewhere along the wire. I removed the probe from the printer and exposed the wires underneath the outer black rubber insulation at both ends of the probe and started doing continuity tests for each wire. I found that all wires were intact and were giving good continuity from the plug all the way to where the wires start to enter the probe. So maybe its the probe itself that is bad? Not sure why it suddenly started working again and then stopped. Possibly its the EINSY board that has an issue?

I've odered a couple new PINDA probes off amazon which arrive Thursday and I'm hoping it will be as simple as just installing the new probe. What I am concerned with is how fast the sensor died, I've only had the kit less than a couple weeks and the probe hasn't received any knocks or anything that could damage it. I just want to make sure the next probe doesn't go out again after another week. Is there something I should check that could have caused this damage? I've triple checked my power supply wiring is good and all the other connections to the EINSY board are in their correct sockets and oriented correctly. The wires inside the case are organized and aren't pressed up against the door too tightly when its secured.

If anyone has a datasheet for the PINDA v2 probe I would very much like to do some more testing on the probe to see if its the EINSY board or the probe that is dead. Was hoping to connect it up to an arduino and see if I could get any data from it.

Thanks for any input you can offer.