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Solved Robo3D R1 Plus frozen

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Aaron Lunger, Sep 28, 2017.

  1. Aaron Lunger

    Aaron Lunger New Member

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    I've got a Robo 3D R1 Plus, with the LCD mod.

    The printer has been working for months like this. Zero issues or problems printing.

    Lately now, the printer has been stopping and completely frozen mid-print. Hot end is cold, print bed is cold. The display still indicates the hot end temperature is 215C as expected, however it's dead cold upon checking it. The display, buttons, everything is inoperable. The printer's stepper motors can be freely moved.

    It's not because the temperature dropped too much on the hot end (I wasn't getting the M999 errors in the log file). I don't know why, but it just appears that the printer flat out froze for no apparent reason.

    There are no other appliances on the same circuit as my printer. Just my printer, and my computer, and that's it.

    No errors displayed in the log file, it just appears to have kept printing like nothing was wrong, but clearly the printer wasn't printing anymore.

    Thoughts?
     
  2. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Could be an issue with the RAMPS board, but I have never seen this type of behavior before.
     
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Are you printing via an SD card of via the USB cable?

    Last time I saw something like this it was a communications failure for the arduino and the printing software does a poor job of handling that (at least mattercontrol does a poor job)
     
  4. Aaron Lunger

    Aaron Lunger New Member

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    USB. Have been since I got the printer (ie about 2 years maybe?)

    I really hope not. This has happened about 4 or so times now during my 40 hour prints and it's getting a bit....expensive already. :(
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  6. Aaron Lunger

    Aaron Lunger New Member

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    Is this pretty much same as what's in the Robo already? Just trying to decide if that's the best route to go at this point.

    Could it be the RAMPS board or the Arduino? The fact that I can't talk to the Arduino makes me suspicious that it's the Arduino and not the RAMPS....
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    That is exactly the same hardware that is in your Robo.

    It is hard to say which of the two is the culprit. The USB communications with with the Arduino (RAMPS is just a shield) but if the RAMPS dies it can pull down the power on the Arduino such that it will be come unresponsive.

    If you get that kit I would suggest starting with swapping the Arduino (because that is easier and had less wires directly attached). If it continues then swap the RAMPS.
     
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    You need to reload the firmware after you swap the Arduino, but not after swapping the RAMPS.
     
  9. Aaron Lunger

    Aaron Lunger New Member

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    If it's just the arduino mega, could I use any Arduino Mega 256 (once loaded with the updated firmware of course......)?

    I already have one of those sitting around ATM.....
     
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Sure, any Mega 2560 will work.
     
  11. Aaron Lunger

    Aaron Lunger New Member

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    Well, I can try that tonight and hope that that fixes the problem.
    If not, I guess it's time for a new RAMPS. And a few rolls of filament. Hah!
     
  12. Aaron Lunger

    Aaron Lunger New Member

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    Well, it's been a bit, but I'm back and printing full time again.
    I replaced just the RAMPS board. I had to find this thread : http://community.robo3d.com/index.p...and-rewiring-to-make-generic-ramps-work.8356/

    But I got it all working again. There were some issues (fans not working properly), but it's resolved.

    What I also found out, is that my part cooling fan wiring was bad and had to rewire/replace it.

    All in all though, I got it all figured out and I'm back to printing full time.


    The only issue I've got yet (kinda) is that I notice the LED's to light it up flicker yet. They didn't flicker when I got it, but over time it's changed and they are now flickering. I haven't checked my power supply with a scope to see if it's flicker related to power supply fluctuations, but I'm fairly certain it must be, as it only seems to flicker while it's printing (ie running the heated bed, hot end, and steppers). When it's just sitting there it doesn't flicker at all.

    Maybe it's time to just improvise some lights of my own.....

    (side note : I've already replaced the supply with a higher end one from TDK Lambda and it still does it)
     
  13. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Possibly a slightly loose connection. More than likely just a lot of draw. If the flickering is bothering you you can run the LEDs straight to the power supply, then you will know. You may need to turn up (a very little bit) the powersuplies output with the pot if yours has one. I'm unfamiliar with that brand.
     
  14. Aaron Lunger

    Aaron Lunger New Member

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    Well, they are already directly connected to the power supply.
    Turning up the POT on the supply won't fix the issue if it's drooping. It could actually even be detrimental (since the POT will control voltage and not current or power output.....)

    I might just switch over to 5V LED's and use a LDO to power it all instead. That might make more sense overall.
     
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  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    On a larger multi-rail supply it is not the entire supply that is dropping, but likely only the 12v rail. Switching the LEDs to 5v should help.
     
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