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Solved Burnt connections for heated bed

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Timk, Dec 15, 2017.

  1. Timk

    Timk New Member

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    I was in the middle of an 8 hour print when my heated bed stopped working so needless to say, my print did not turn out.

    Upon some investigating I found the connectors on the RAMPS for the hot bed were burnt to a crisp, so there must have been a bad connection. I am just glad it didn't catch anything on fire, because it looks like it got quite hot.

    If you are having issues with your bed not heating up, I would check those connections ASAP to prevent anymore damage.
    I tires uploading some pictures but they are too large.
     
    #1 Timk, Dec 15, 2017
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    #2 mark tomlinson, Dec 15, 2017
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Worst case you can replace the entire RAMPS board.
     
    #3 mark tomlinson, Dec 15, 2017
  4. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Every time I've heard of this it's been a ramps board failure, might take care if you just replace the connector
     
    #4 Geof, Dec 15, 2017
  5. Steve0

    Steve0 New Member

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    Generally when you build heat in a connection it is because its loose. I would make this a regular PM (preventive maintenance) item if you have not already. As much as they heat and contract along with the vibrations it would be good idea to check on a regular basis.
     
    #5 Steve0, Dec 16, 2017
  6. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    everytime I've seen this its a ramps board failure. The connection is tight (wires in the connector) but the heat builds up and melts the green connector. You can check in day in and day out but until it happens, it wont. :D I've put thousands of hours on multiple R1+ units and can never catch or prevent the failure prior to it happening. Sometimes a few months, sometimes well over a year.
     
    #6 Geof, Dec 19, 2017
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  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    My gut feeling is that some vendors are using the 10a pluggable connectors rather than the 15a :)
    They look ... much the same.
     
    #7 mark tomlinson, Dec 19, 2017
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  8. Steve0

    Steve0 New Member

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    Well Geof, As an electrician I still stand behind checking connections but I also will not argue over your vast experience with the printer.:D
     
    #8 Steve0, Dec 30, 2017
  9. Steve0

    Steve0 New Member

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    That would suck, guess its SSR time of course that is another can of worms in itself.
     
    #9 Steve0, Dec 30, 2017
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  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    What he means is that replacing the wiring and connectors alone may not fix you.
    I tend to agree... if you catch it early then replacing the wires/connectors can fix things, but normally the heater itself and the RAMPS board are going to be victims as well. Expect that you may have to replace all of them (still not too expensive, parts for this printer are not really expensive at least).

    I totally agree that checking the connection is a great idea since I feel like the wires getting loose is a contributing factor, but it is not the only cause... the heater itself dying is a big one too.
     
    #10 mark tomlinson, Dec 30, 2017
  11. Steve0

    Steve0 New Member

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    Mark, no i knew what he was getting at, i was looking at interjecting the ssr mod for the bed heater to isolate it from the ramps board. As I trust myself to do that much more than I trust myself to replace the ramps board.
    My comment was based me being ill for the last week and a little snarky towards the problem of connectors. Seems pretty petty but that would only be my opinion.
    Thanks Again Mark
     
    #11 Steve0, Dec 31, 2017
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  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Sure, the relay or SSR is a better solution, but replacing the RAMPS is pretty easy (just an Arduino shield after all).
    Ultimately you are the one doing whatever gets done so your printer -- your choice :)

    Frankly I would still consider the relay/SSR even if you replace the RAMPS because if the heater is pulling enough to toast it once... it very well may again.
     
    #12 mark tomlinson, Dec 31, 2017

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