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printer looses communication

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by John Rygg, Feb 17, 2014.

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  1. John Rygg

    John Rygg Active Member

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    I have been printing successfully for a couple of months now. every once in a while the print will stop or I cannot connect. but now It is constant. I can get it to connect sometimes for a minute or two then it will loose the connection.

    I have not made any changes to my environment , I am printing from a laptop through a powered USB hub to the printer.

    here are the logs below I keep getting this error before I lose connection
    echo:Unknown command: ""

    I have reinstalled the USB driver and have rebooted several times.
    it almost seems like something is wrong with the printer circuit board.

    thanks for any help
    John

    20:32:26.102 : echo: External Reset
    20:32:26.102 : Marlin 1.0.0
    20:32:26.102 : echo: Last Updated: Jul 22 2013 15:56:56 | Author: (none, default config)
    20:32:26.102 : Compiled: Jul 22 2013
    20:32:26.102 : echo: Free Memory: 5522 PlannerBufferBytes: 1232
    20:32:26.367 : Error:0
    20:32:26.367 : : Extruder switched off. MINTEMP triggered !
    20:32:26.367 : Error:printer stopped due to errors. Fix the error and use M999 to restart. (Temperature is reset. Set it after restarting)
    20:32:26.601 : echo:Unknown command: ""
    20:32:27.319 : FIRMWARE_NAME:Marlin V1; Sprinter/grbl mashup for gen6 FIRMWARE_URL:http://www.mendel-parts.com PROTOCOL_VERSION:1.0 MACHINE_TYPE:Mendel EXTRUDER_COUNT:1
    20:32:30.018 : FIRMWARE_NAME:Marlin V1; Sprinter/grbl mashup for gen6 FIRMWARE_URL:http://www.mendel-parts.com PROTOCOL_VERSION:1.0 MACHINE_TYPE:Mendel EXTRUDER_COUNT:1
    20:32:31.188 : Printer stopped due to errors. Fix the error and use M999 to restart. (Temperature is reset. Set it after restarting)
     
    #1 John Rygg, Feb 17, 2014
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Or the thermistor.

    >20:32:26.367 : : Extruder switched off. MINTEMP triggered !<

    It will not allow extrusion if the extruder is too cold (or if it thinks it is).
     
    #2 mark tomlinson, Feb 18, 2014
  3. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    Try not using the powered hub.

    If your extruder temp is reading 0 you have a open circuit somewhere.
     
    #3 Mike Kelly, Feb 18, 2014
  4. John Rygg

    John Rygg Active Member

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    It starts off with a temp and then when it looses connection the temp is reset to 0 degrees.
    then it will not reconnect. i can send the M999 command and it will raise the extruder .But I cannot manually move the extruder up/down left right etc.
    I would think that the system would still allow you to move the extruder even if the heater is off.
    when it was showing a temp I moved the wires around quite a bite and I could not make it short.

    I have to reboot the PC and the printer several times to get it back. i am going to try another PC next.
     
    #4 John Rygg, Feb 18, 2014
  5. John Rygg

    John Rygg Active Member

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    Just tried a different PC and USB cable. same result.
    must be something on the Robo. I cannot get the Robo to respond except for the M999 command.
    the temp says 0 degrees.

    any ideas ? bad circuit board?
    open circuit ?

    any ways to test ???
     
    #5 John Rygg, Feb 18, 2014
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If it is the USB connection itself then the Arduino board is the first suspect (assuming you ruled out a bad cable).
    It could potentially be the power as well, make sure the connectors on the boards are firmly in-place.

    The computer talks to the Arduino board which then uses the RAMPS board to control the printer. Obviously flakey power or other lose connections in there would be bad.
     
    #6 mark tomlinson, Feb 18, 2014
  7. John Rygg

    John Rygg Active Member

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    I would think if there is a problem with the power to the Arduino board then the M999 commands send from the PC would not affect the Robo. but those commands cause the Extruder to raise and I can stop the raising by hitting the emergency stop button on the PC.

    seems like the Arduino board has gone flakey.

    Thanks for everyone's help here
    john
     
    #7 John Rygg, Feb 18, 2014
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Good point, likely not the power supply.
    Contact robo support and/or order a replacement from somewhere (there are decent ones on Amazon).
    They (robo) should replace it under warranty.
     
    #8 mark tomlinson, Feb 19, 2014
  9. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    You have open circuit on your thermistor line. Follow the thermistor from your hot end back to the ramps board, preferably measuring the resistance.

    There may be 3-4 connections on the line to the thermistor, so be sure you check them all.

    It's probably not the Arduino TBH
     
    #9 Mike Kelly, Feb 19, 2014
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