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So I've been having issues when printing via the LCD smart controller, the printer just randomly stops, twice I went back to the machine to find it had stopped printing with the hot end and bed still heated and the nozzle just sitting there on the part, one of the times the display was showing the exact same info as it does while printing, the other time it displayed a stepper motor disabled message, also one time while heating up before printing it just randomly reset the targets back to zero and started cooling down, does anyone know what could be causing this?

What slicer are you using? What firmware is on the controller?

g.

I'm use Slic3r within Repetier-host and I have the Repetier 091 firmware. Thus far I haven't had this issue using Slic3r and printing thru my laptop, though I've only done 2 prints with the laptop.

The "disabled" message is something that shows up when the printer has been idle longer than the motor timeout and it automatically turns off the motors to save power.

Try this - load the gcode file from the SD card into Rephost and try printing it. See if it dies the same way.

g.

Ok I'll try that when I get home.

Oh, and just for reference, one of the parts I re-printed, no changes at all, I just selected the same gcode from the SD card and the 2nd time it completed with no problem, so I would assume that that would mean the gcode itself is fine since it didn't fail the same spot the 2nd time.

That's really odd. Do you happen to have a UPS? If you do, try printing from the SD card with your machine plugged into that.

Chrissi - if you happen to read this thread, you might want to try a UPS as well. You guys might be getting caught by power sags.

g.

Unfortunately I don't, well, I do, but not exactly available to use for the printer since my girlfriend's PC is using it and it's in a different room.

I suppose I could probably borrow it temporarily though for a day or two to test it out, and if that's the solution buy a new one for the printer.

Shizuma wrote:Unfortunately I don't, well, I do, but not exactly available to use for the printer since my girlfriend's PC is using it and it's in a different room.

I suppose I could probably borrow it temporarily though for a day or two to test it out, and if that's the solution buy a new one for the printer.

Adding a flat ferrite core to the ends of the LCD cables can also solve a myriad of noise related problems see this topic:
http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php ... it=ferrite
The ferrite can be found here: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e ... ND/2465452

I wasn't even thinking it could noise, I'm going to try dressing those ribbon cables to not be near any other cables for now to see if that help the problem since I know right now they are very close/touching other cables including the stepper motor cables , and order those ferrite cores.

it's happen to me few times too, all the problem was the sllic3r.... just slice with cura or KISSlicer and it will be ll good....

I just borrowed a set of flat ribbon cables ferrite cores from one of the electrical engineers at my work, so I'll try that out tonight to see if it fixed the problem and order a set of my own if so.

Orenfor wrote:it's happen to me few times too, all the problem was the sllic3r.... just slice with cura or KISSlicer and it will be ll good....

I would agree with you except that Shizuma tried the same gcode again and it completed successfully. Some machines, for what ever reason, just
seem to need those ferrite cores. If you have noise on your lcd or reading SD cards those cores make a world of difference.

I had this issue about every 3rd time. It would happen when printing via USB as well. No pattern to identify at all.

I changed the wiring on my machine (ran more conductors up the aluminum TSlots for powered endstops, top mounted extruder, more lights and fans, etc) and didn't have the problem again. I don't know what the smoking gun was, but it's better now. I've since added the ferrite cores for peace of mind.

If the problem persists, cleaning up your wiring might help things, there's a lot of unshielded wire in close proximity to moving motors and everything else on these machines. Every little bit helps.

FWIW, I had a lot of trouble early-on with my SD slot (2 months ago).

it would randomly crash or quit mid-print.

I've flat-out refused to leave a computer hooked to it, and have printed via SD card from day1.

I figured out that the pins in the SD slot reader were quite weak, not completely connecting, and so I did a small amount of adjusting the pins, to ensure good connectivity. This fixed the issue for me.

Another thing I found out (shout-out to John at http://3dsupplyworld.com who gave me this tidbit) - - I started running ALL my .stl files thru http://netfabb.com/ - - their upload & free cleanup made a world of difference on STLs which weren't 'happy' previously...... Now I run all .STL files thru that (prior to putting them in Slic3r to crunch my gcode)..

0rionN00b wrote:FWIW, I had a lot of trouble early-on with my SD slot (2 months ago).

it would randomly crash or quit mid-print.

I've flat-out refused to leave a computer hooked to it, and have printed via SD card from day1.

I figured out that the pins in the SD slot reader were quite weak, not completely connecting, and so I did a small amount of adjusting the pins, to ensure good connectivity. This fixed the issue for me.

Another thing I found out (shout-out to John at http://3dsupplyworld.com who gave me this tidbit) - - I started running ALL my .stl files thru http://netfabb.com/ - - their upload & free cleanup made a world of difference on STLs which weren't 'happy' previously...... Now I run all .STL files thru that (prior to putting them in Slic3r to crunch my gcode)..

A couple of good tips. I wish everyone would use the netfabb cloud service.
Thanks for the tips.

I didn't get much time to test things last night, but I did snap the ferrite cores on the ribbon cables, that didn't solve the problem. I'll do some more testing tonight and clean up the cable routing around the RAMBo and LCD controller to see if that helps.

Shizuma wrote:I didn't get much time to test things last night, but I did snap the ferrite cores on the ribbon cables, that didn't solve the problem. I'll do some more testing tonight and clean up the cable routing around the RAMBo and LCD controller to see if that helps.

See the thread above yours from 0rionN00b about adjusting the pins on the SD reader part.

Yup, gonna take a look at the sd pins too, and also try out the ups on it.

So I went to work on the printer last night and the problem is getting worse and worse, now repetier-host can't communicate with the printer, it connects, but it displays no temps and can't send any commands to the printer, also when I check printer information it just says unknown printer with every other field blank, I double checked all the printer settings, everything is what it should be, com port matches what the device manager says, etc, I also tried reinstalling the drivers for printer. The printer itself still works though, I can print job via the LCD controller, turn on and off the bed and hot end, home the machine, etc, just not via USB using repetier-host.

Damn, well was just looking on the seemecnc page and saw the news about the static discharge issue with the V1.2 RAMBo's, the symptoms are exactly what mine are, so it sounds like it got hosed by static discharge and needs to be replaced.

Shizuma wrote:Damn, well was just looking on the seemecnc page and saw the news about the static discharge issue with the V1.2 RAMBo's, the symptoms are exactly what mine are, so it sounds like it got hosed by static discharge and needs to be replaced.

wow... what a bummer... But very good that they're going to replace it for you.

Another good reason to go to SD card only!

Yeah, fortunately, and hopefully the new one they send will have the static discharge patch installed, honestly I'm surprised mine didn't since it was shipped after the news post about the problem with the board and that they had a fix for it.

Well with all the problems I've been having with printing via the SD card I'm not entirely sold on it, the new board may happen to fix those problems I've been having too, but honestly I think I'm just going to stick to USB printing, I have and old UMPC that I don't use anymore since I've replaced it with a tablet, however I think it would be a perfect computer to load repetier-host onto and make a permanent mount for it on my Rostock since it's a self contained windows 7 pc, and it's small enough that I could mount it directly to the rostock.

Make sure you set up the PC to never go to sleep or you're going to have another source of ruined prints.

g.

No worries there, that's the first thing I do after install windows on a computer, disable sleep and screen dimming since both those features annoy me

I guess on the plus side, since I'm going to have downtime on the printer while I wait for the new RAMBo I can use the opportunity to make a few mods, particularly upgrading the PSU to a better quality one that won't strain to the point of voltage drop like the one included with the kit, and upgrade the wires on the ONYX to something larger, like 10AWG, to see if that helps with the slow heat up times.

Shizuma wrote:No worries there, that's the first thing I do after install windows on a computer, disable sleep and screen dimming since both those features annoy me

I guess on the plus side, since I'm going to have downtime on the printer while I wait for the new RAMBo I can use the opportunity to make a few mods, particularly upgrading the PSU to a better quality one that won't strain to the point of voltage drop like the one included with the kit, and upgrade the wires on the ONYX to something larger, like 10AWG, to see if that helps with the slow heat up times.

Before trying to solder 10AWG wire to the Onyx, make sure that the wire will fit into the Rambo.
Some have setup the Onyx to run on 24V through an SSR which works well to decrease heat up times.