My Printer Drilled Itself into the Print Bed after a 1st Layer Calibration... Why??
Yesterday was a rough day for printing...
I've got over 6500 hours and 5500m of filament on #ralphthe3Dprinter , my Mk3, and he's meticulously maintained and serviced. Most recently doing all new fans, rods, bearings, and a titanium heat-brake upgrade a few hundred hours ago.
I wouldn't say the performance has been 'flawless' but pretty darn good. I geek on this stuff, and am a tough critic.
Anyway... I was doing a print for a client (I'm an Industrial Designer) and wasn't perfectly happy with how first layers were going down, so after cleaning the bed I did a few first layer calibration to get things dialed in, and re-started the print.
It went thru the usual Pinda bed-leveling calibration, looked good, and I stepped away to make a tea in the other room, only to hear a raucous of grinding belts and carnage.
Ralph had buried the nozzle into the PEI sheet and dragged it around with such force that it gouged the living shit outa' the PEI, and bent the snot outa my new Titanium Heat-brake.
What the heck coulda' happened? I haven't pulled it apart yet, but since this is my work printer this is an expensive hardware/software failure that shouldn't have, and has never happened before.
Would love some insights, if anyone had some to share.
Currently running firmware version 3.9.9-3556
RE: My Printer Drilled Itself into the Print Bed after a 1st Layer Calibration... Why??
I idea. Hard to guess without having seen the carnage. Did you reset your z offset to zero before starting the print?
I can only guess but I would think it would have to have something to do with your printer thinking the sheet was lower than it was.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: My Printer Drilled Itself into the Print Bed after a 1st Layer Calibration... Why??
@cwbullet
Nope, didn't change a thing. I was only having minor adhesion issues with the first layer, and only adjusted the Z by a few hundredths from where it was at.
I've peeled off the ruined PEI surface/adhesive, since it was so badly marred that I have no doubt it would affect prints on the opposite side of the sheet, and I'm digging through my spares now to see if I can put together a functioning hot-end to get me through this job.
Really odd... First major fail I've seen outa the printer like this.
RE: My Printer Drilled Itself into the Print Bed after a 1st Layer Calibration... Why??
So bizarre...
I was able replace my roached heat break with a spare from an old hot-end, and it also necessitated installing a new heater-block as well. It slammed and dragged so hard that the heat-brake wallowed out the threads into the top of the block. Crazy.
Also stripped the print-sheet of it's damaged PEI/Adhesive so it would lay flat.
After a full XYZ Calibration it's back to printing and doing fine... But still has me baffled as to what on earth would have caused it to nose-dive so hard into the bed. From here on out I guess 'set and forget' for Ralph is out the window till I can regain some trust...
RE: My Printer Drilled Itself into the Print Bed after a 1st Layer Calibration... Why??
Are you using different type of steel sheet. If you place a standard Steel sheet and select the z height of the powder coated you might end up in this situation. I have 5 different steel plates (Prusa steel sheet, Prusa powder coated, lockbuild, china powder coated, buildtak nylon) and I have made the mistake couple of time.
RE: My Printer Drilled Itself into the Print Bed after a 1st Layer Calibration... Why??
@jeff-juarez-design
My guess would be your PINDA has given up the ghost. Either an electronic failure- or - the cable has finally stress fractured and gone intermittent. The theory is the Z is being moved down until the Z-stop occurs, which on a Mk3 variant is when the PINDA senses the sheet metal. No PINDA, no stopping.
With 6000 hours, your machine is probably due. Get out a screw driver and verify the LED toggles - if it does, then check the sensor readout in the menus. Does the PINDA goe 1 - 0 - 1 0 with the screwdriver? And finally, while watching the LED, wiggle the extruder harness somewhat roughly ... does the PINDA LED drop out or the 1-0 change states while wiggling?
RE: My Printer Drilled Itself into the Print Bed after a 1st Layer Calibration... Why??
@jeff-juarez-design
My guess would be your PINDA has given up the ghost. Either an electronic failure- or - the cable has finally stress fractured and gone intermittent. The theory is the Z is being moved down until the Z-stop occurs, which on a Mk3 variant is when the PINDA senses the sheet metal. No PINDA, no stopping.
With 6000 hours, your machine is probably due. Get out a screw driver and verify the LED toggles - if it does, then check the sensor readout in the menus. Does the PINDA goe 1 - 0 - 1 0 with the screwdriver? And finally, while watching the LED, wiggle the extruder harness somewhat roughly ... does the PINDA LED drop out or the 1-0 change states while wiggling?
Great suggestion, I'll give your troubleshooting suggestions a shot.
It is the original Pinda probe, and have fatigued 3 print-fan cables in the printer's life already.
I'm on it's 5th print of the day so far after replacing everything without issues, so if this is the error I've lucked out.
I'll report back how it goes, Thanks!!