MK3 quit printing
Occasionally, my MK3 would quit printing in the middle of a print, sometimes 3 hours out, sometimes at the beginning. I thought maybe the SSD card was either losing contact inside the electrical socket or had an internal circuit break, so I swapped cards.
I don’t see any electrical problem with the new card as I store or read date.
Today, with the new card, the unit stopped three times in a row. The first time, it printed the first 10 layers, then stopped feeding the filament, went up another 10 layers, and finally stopped and hovered where it was. The LCD display showed the temps and the Z position - apparently normal readings, but not changing.
The second time it printed nothing, rose about 10 layers and stopped.
The last time it did not feed any filament, rose maybe 10 layers and sat oscillating back and forth continually, with no progression. It apparently was repeating one motion over and over. The LCD showed the temps and position.
I didn’t see if it was tracing the empty layers as it rose.
I don’t know how to troubleshoot this further, and would like some help.
RE: MK3 quit printing
For something like this that smells like a hardware issue I'd go to the Prusa shop website and start a chat session with Support, rather than hoping someone here can do remote diagnosis.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE: MK3 quit printing
Occasionally, my MK3 would quit printing in the middle of a print, sometimes 3 hours out, sometimes at the beginning. I thought maybe the SSD card was either losing contact inside the electrical socket or had an internal circuit break, so I swapped cards.
I don’t see any electrical problem with the new card as I store or read date.
Today, with the new card, the unit stopped three times in a row. The first time, it printed the first 10 layers, then stopped feeding the filament, went up another 10 layers, and finally stopped and hovered where it was. The LCD display showed the temps and the Z position - apparently normal readings, but not changing.
The second time it printed nothing, rose about 10 layers and stopped.
The last time it did not feed any filament, rose maybe 10 layers and sat oscillating back and forth continually, with no progression. It apparently was repeating one motion over and over. The LCD showed the temps and position.
I didn’t see if it was tracing the empty layers as it rose.
I don’t know how to troubleshoot this further, and would like some help.
Have you been printing the same file?
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: MK3 quit printing
OK, problem solved (I hope). It was the filament. I am using eSun PLA+, on a brand new spool. It quit feeding. The extruder motor would turn, but no filament. I had a hard time pulling the filament out. Usually, I can do it cold. Nope.
Then I set the Unload Filament temp to PLA. It still wouldn’t come out. Then I set the temp to ABS(?) and I was able to pull the filment out with some effort. The filament showed the chewed out portion where the drive gear spun.
I am still trying to figure out why the filament was stuck so tightly. Debre in the filament? Too low an extrusion temp - I am using 205ºC, which the bottom of the eSun recommendation.
This morning, after the battle to remove the stuck filament, I have been printing the same object, going on an hour, with no problems.
I will go with trash in the filament for now.