1. Got a question or need help troubleshooting? Post to the troubleshooting forum or Search the forums!

Head crashing with Probe Failure error, fixed I think

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Jeff Lastofka, Mar 20, 2018.

  1. Jeff Lastofka

    Jeff Lastofka Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2016
    Messages:
    62
    Likes Received:
    26
    I got one of these one day where the bed drives up into the head, deflects the springs and buzzes the stepper, system halts with Probe Failure error message and Reset button on the LCD dialog. The printer worked after that. The next day I got a couple of these failures and couldn't print. Not finding anything on the forums or web I put in a tech support ticket and was told they'd email me in TWO DAYS. Not happy about that with a dead printer sitting here.

    I decided to look for loose wires or dirt or ?

    I didn't find anything but I did brush off the sensors under the head with a soft paint brush I use to tidy the Buildtak. That seems to have fixed the problem. I'll report back if that's not the case. Now I'll be giving the sensors a quick swipe with the brush on a regular basis, just in case.
     
    Geof and mark tomlinson like this.
  2. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2015
    Messages:
    6,757
    Likes Received:
    2,339
    yep an dust or "grime" gets on the diodes in the IR and its game over. good call wiping them down. Sorry to hear about the lackluster support. Most find it better to call them when possible.
     
  3. KenO

    KenO New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2015
    Messages:
    25
    Likes Received:
    12
    In my case the LED turns itself off at the center location during the auto leveling process prior to doing a print and or running "Fine Tune Offset". The led lights up when I move a dark piece of paper under the sensor so it must not be dirt. It is more like a loose connection, but after doing the re-connect which leaves the print head in the center position, the LED will re-light with the paper. This all started after installing the latest upgrade to the 2.0 firmware. See my post below, Ken Olsen

    I am on my 2nd print and the printer is working flawlessly. Ken
     
    #3 KenO, Mar 26, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2018
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    @AllenMcAfee
    @Jerry RoBo 3D

    Not seeing it since I can't use that version yet (they broke dual-extrusion) however let's see if someone can comment.
     
  5. Jeff Lastofka

    Jeff Lastofka Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2016
    Messages:
    62
    Likes Received:
    26
    I did the software update as soon as they announced it a few days ago. My printer works every time if I dust off the sensors first. Without that it usually errors out but that seems to happen (I think) on points one or seven of the nine point process. Not real sure about that last part. It’s been 100% reliable with the dusting though.
     
  6. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    It seems that the OP has a few points that measure correctly and the some that don't, dusting off the sensor should not affect that and is likely purely a coincidental observation. It 7 points are perfectly measured but two in the middle are not it can't be an issue of dust on the sensor. That conclusion makes no sense and is based on anecdotal evidence which is not always reliable.
     
    mark tomlinson likes this.
  7. Jeff Lastofka

    Jeff Lastofka Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2016
    Messages:
    62
    Likes Received:
    26
    Didn’t mean to imply my solution was for the original problem. I was drawn to this thread by the crashing and thought others would too and might benefit from my results. Mine went from unusable to fully reliable for a dozen prints now. And it was mentioned that the new software might be suspect so I thought I’d point out it’s working for me. Just trying to add info to the troubleshooting process.
     
    mark tomlinson likes this.
  8. KenO

    KenO New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2015
    Messages:
    25
    Likes Received:
    12
    I found the problem of why the nozzle was diving into the bed. When I received my replacement bed, I had a problem as the Z offset was too close to it and it caused several gouges. It worked fine for several prints, but all at once, the problem popped up. So I replaced it with a new sheet of BuildTak and I am back in business!

    I want to thank David Manley in Robo Support for his attempt to figure out what was the cause. We even flashed the memory card and updated the firmware and that did not fix the problem.
     
  9. Jeff Lastofka

    Jeff Lastofka Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2016
    Messages:
    62
    Likes Received:
    26
    Glad to hear it turned out to be an easy fix in the end. In hindsight that seems like one of the first things to check:) Since the sensors work by bouncing light off the Buildtak, defects in the surface could give wonky results, either consistent or intermittent depending on the details. I used 2000 grit sandpaper on mine once to even out the matte texture over the surface. I wasn’t having trouble at the time but it just looked like a good idea. I saw a note about the 2000 grit paper on either Robo’s site or Buildtak’s, I forget which.
     
  10. KenO

    KenO New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2015
    Messages:
    25
    Likes Received:
    12
    Jeff: I have used sandpaper on the BuildTak as well. When I first put it to use, there was no clue as to what the Z offset should be, so the result was a lot of groves in the bed. However, I had replacements, but before I replaced the original BuildTak, I wanted to make sure that I had the Z offset figured out. Also I had printed several prints without a problem with the build plate in this condition, so it was a surprise to me that replacing the BuildTak fixed the problem. What was occurring was the LED would not light in the middle position resulting in the build plate raising up striking the nozzle. So we re-flashed the memory chip thinking that the 2.0 firmware upgrade that I had received was the problem. However, that did not fix the problem. But thinking back on it, the nozzle had created quite a deep dent in the BuildTak, so maybe even with a fixed firmware it appeared the problem was not fixed. However, replacing with a new BuildTak in my case got me back up and running. It has been printing all day today without a hitch.
     
  11. Jeff Lastofka

    Jeff Lastofka Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2016
    Messages:
    62
    Likes Received:
    26
    If you think about how software is written, they almost surely call the same function (object, subroutine, whatever the software people are calling it this week...) at each point, so having it fail repeatedly at some middle point seems pretty unlikely. A Buildtak dent sure sounds more likely. Or a combination of a surface defect and a dirty/misaligned/whatever sensor. In a case where it's two things adding up, improving either one could be enough to make it work. That could be what's happened to me, for instance. Whatever, the machines are working and we're narrowing down the troubleshooting steps as we go:)
     
  12. Jutte

    Jutte Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2016
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    19
    This problem cropped up for me after two instances of aborting a print (filament wasn't feeding). I tried restarting the printer several times and performing z gap wizard but no luck. I finally turned it off and came back to it later to get a video for tech support. The first time I had my phone camera set for too high a resolution (couldn't email it) so I had to adjust that and try again. Magically it stopped happening. I managed a successful print. Today I canceled a print and the problem resurfaced. I have turned it off and left it to think on the error of its ways and will see if it works later.
     
    mark tomlinson likes this.
  13. Jutte

    Jutte Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2016
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    19
    Well, it was crashing on the seventh point, now it's the first one.
     
  14. nytcrawlr

    nytcrawlr New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2016
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    8
    I had a similar issue with mine shortly after Robo OS 2.0 was released (not that it's related, just to give an idea of the timeframe). Ultimately, I had to get a replacement sensor from Robo and all was right as rain. Second level support didn't beat around the bush, just sent me a new one free of charge even though my warranty was up a while ago.
     
    mark tomlinson likes this.
  15. Roberto Torres

    Roberto Torres New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2018
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    1
    My printer is next to a window, and I had just found that if the curtain is open, it is almos sure the head will crash into the bed.
    So it seems to me the IR (infrared) noise from external sources does interfere with the leveling.
    Any way I had disabled G36 on the start GCODE, it had really damaged my print surface.
     
  16. Jutte

    Jutte Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2016
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    19
    I was sent a new IR sensor which fixed the problem. They also sent me a couple of Buildtak plates to replace the one that got pitted by the nozzle. Support was responsive and quick. I just completed a three day print with the new sensor without any problems.
     
    WheresWaldo, mark tomlinson and Geof like this.
  17. KRGraphicsCG

    KRGraphicsCG Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2017
    Messages:
    46
    Likes Received:
    14
    I've been dealing with this bs for the last several weeks with my C2 and while I mostly get successful prints with blue painters tape, I sometimes get crashing into the build plate. And it pissed me off so much I just disabled G36 in Octoprint and now I am smooth sailing.
     
    mark tomlinson likes this.
  18. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    It is a small bed and not too much work to manually level. Since it is small it pretty much stays that way. I actually used painters tape where the magnets attached the plate to level it and then labeled the "front" of each one. That way I can pick one up, stick it on and all is good. Once in a while a minor tweak is needed to a plate, but not often.
     
    KRGraphicsCG likes this.
  19. KRGraphicsCG

    KRGraphicsCG Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2017
    Messages:
    46
    Likes Received:
    14
    Very true. I've been printing with PETG on the C2 (this printer still operates well, even 7 years later) and it's an absolute beauty. On occasion, I can use the motor controls and raise the bed to a desired offset and set it manually in octoprint.
     

Share This Page