Printing stopping after 1 minute and going back to home ?

[ian 32]

i really have to finish a project today and now this morning, when i run a print from my sd card or from my computer, the printer willl start perfect for 1 minute and then just stop and then 1 minute later go back to home......

what could be causing this ?

please help.

Ian

[ian 32]

ok im going to start screaming now....

[owen 19]

Hi Ian

Have you tried printing something else to determine if it is something in that particular model?

[ian 32]

i just ran a model again this time from the computer, PLA 220 temp. speed 60 and BANG

ultimaker just stopped and stayed there, making a nice mountain of BLA in the middle of my half finished print....

what am i doing wrong now ?

all i did this morning, was check for plugs in the print head, nothing, closed up and then put on some new belt tighteners to improve the print quality and now bang....

Ian

[ian 32]

yes 3 different models. all the same problem, ultimaker decided to stop after a few minutes.

some times, ultimaker even goes back to home on its own ? after completing 10 percent of a model.... ??????

[ian 32]

could it be, that my belts are now too tight, putting pressure on the motors and then that is automatically shutting down the prints ??

[ian 32]

or is there some sort of temp switch that cancels prints...

[owen 19]

I can't think how it would Home without getting the GCode to do it, unless the Ulticontroller can get it to Home from the Menu. Does it Home on it's own when printing from the Ulticontroller or the computer?

[owen 19]

could it be, that my belts are now too tight, putting pressure on the motors and then that is automatically shutting down the prints ??

Move the Head by hand to check it moves easily in X and Y (Good idea anyway after you've tightened your belts)

[joergen 2]

or is there some sort of temp switch that cancels prints...

yes, if the stepper drivers overheat, they will shut down... I am just surprised it would happen so fast (they are still between 9 and 10 o'clock?).

the second most common cause is bad AC power, especially here in the US, but I would not expect this in germany. Do you have large suspicious machinery connected to the same circuit? try connecting the UM to a different wall outlet, maybe even a different room. or turn off and don't use anything else on that circuit.

[joergen 2]

or is there some sort of temp switch that cancels prints...

did you monitor your print temp? do you see large fluctuations? if yes, auto-tune your PiD settings, and try again.

[ian 32]

ok the stepper motors are cooking hot after 10 minutes of operation.

I jave just removed all my belt tighteners now, plus loosened thge direct 2 small belts on the stepper motors.

my model should look like a pudding but atleast the steppers just not be over heating.

testing now............

[ian 32]

i have loosened all belts until jelly.

now printing 10 minutes

stepper motors are getting red hot........

dont know how long the print will go on before... BANG..........

ulti controller just says, SLEEP when the stepper motors break down....

God help me.

Ian

[joergen 2]

ok the stepper motors are cooking hot after 10 minutes of operation.

I jave just removed all my belt tighteners now, plus loosened thge direct 2 small belts on the stepper motors.

tight belts is not a problem, i can hardly imagine belts being too tight, but use common sense.

the steppers should only reach body temperature or warm water, maybe 60C... they can take more, but they don't have to. dial the stepper drivers way back (while completely unplugged) and try again

[joergen 2]

i have loosened all belts until jelly., now printing 10 minutes, stepper motors are getting red hot........, dont know how long the print will go on before... BANG.......... ulti controller just says, SLEEP when the stepper motors break down....

did anything what we wrote in the group and in the forum sink in? when ever did anybody say loose belt and hot steppers are a good idea? anyway, you might be on the way killing stepper drivers probably, I hope you have replacements sitting around at home.

 

God help me.

very unlikely in this context

[ian 32]

thanks for your advice.

how can I dial the stepper drivers way back ?

Ian

[ian 32]

And sorry about my attitude earlier,

I was getting hot and bothered... Time pressure and then every thing seemed to screw up.

The steppers are running better now but still a little too warm.

What I don't understand is? I had my belts really super tight today and the quality was brilliant but my steppers over heated and stopped all the fun.

Does that mean that the standard stepper drivers from ultimaker, when using really tight belts, are not up to the job?

I know florian is always telling me tighten my belts....

Can you tell me how to adjust the power to the stepper motors, so they can run well with tight belts?

Many thanks.

Ian :-)

[joergen 2]

And sorry about my attitude earlier,

I was getting hot and bothered... Time pressure and then every thing seemed to screw up.

The steppers are running better now but still a little too warm.

What I don't understand is? I had my belts really super tight today and the quality was brilliant but my steppers over heated and stopped all the fun.

Does that mean that the standard stepper drivers from ultimaker, when using really tight belts, are not up to the job?

I know florian is always telling me tighten my belts....

Can you tell me how to adjust the power to the stepper motors, so they can run well with tight belts?

The steppers the UM is using now (NEMA17, 46mm long) for the XY are insanely strong for this purpose. the stepper driver is merely controlling the current going into each stepper. less current, cooler stepper. if the current is too low, the stepper would loose steps, not and be able to move properly. missed steps are easy to see, since you object would have layer shifts. if it doesn't, you don't have missed steps, and the stepper is getting enough/too much current.

but seriously look at the wiki, how to adjust the http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Electronics_build_guide#Tuning_the_stepper_motor_drivers

[Daid 306]

Before doing all kinds of crazy unneeded things with your steppers, make sure you are not getting a MINTEMP or MAXTEMP error. This error is not properly reported to the UltiController. So it might be a bit harder to see.

Overheated steppers would not cause a full stop, but layer shifts.

You could also have problems with your SD card, maybe it's corrupted. Also make sure you are not using an SDHC card, as this could also show these kinds of problems.

[ian 32]

hi guys.

sorry about the late reply.

im just back from holidays. 2 weeks in italy, switzerland and france :-)

Ok, so i did try before i went on holiday.

I recreated my gcode fresh with cura, then put it on my sd card, with the belt tighteners on my new ultimaker, 1 month old, it printed for 15 minutes perfect, then just chocked and did nothing.

tried again and restarted every thing, the same thing happened, but this time the printer chocked and then moved back to home without me clicking a button ??

finally i removed the normal ultimaker sd card, plugged in my usb cable and printed direct from cura printrun, 10 minutes later, bang, again choke ?

yesterday when i was home from switzerland, i received my new hotend v2, beautiful black PLA :-) and a replacement for my disaster of a tractor cooling fan for the board.....

built the new v2 hotend, added the replacement cooling fan and of course put in the new black PLA to test...

printed two little cute thingiverse owls, zero problem.... 30 minutes each print...

then printed a replacement part for my car in the night.... 3 hours printing, also no problem--

so thank god, the steppers seem to be all perfect and the ultimaker is printing really well.

BUT.

mmmm, i have still all the belt tighteners removed and you can push the belts up and down like a woft blanker....

im almost scared to put back on the belt tighteners,.... i really dont want to burn out my steppers......

so what do you think guys ?

thanks.

Ian

[owen 19]

Hi Ian

Just put on your tighteners and make them tight but test if you can still move the head easily by hand and you should be right.

[ian 32]

when im home in a few hours, ill do that and let you know how i get on.

thanks.

Ian