Problems with big files/long prints

[jamo 2]

Hey guys,

We have an Ultimaker 2 in our institute at the university and lately it runs really incredibly good!

But 2 days ago I ran into a problem. I was printing a "large" file which took about 32 hours or so to print. The file itself is roughly 90 MB. I started the print and everything runs fine for quite some hours. When I came back the next day for a check, the nozzle just stopped while the build plate was still up. So it just stopped printing.

I had no idea why but also didn't look into this deeper.

Today the same thing happened with a different print. Again a long print for like 22.5 hours. The file size now was around 46 MB. Starting the print was fine and printing for several hours was alos fine. When I checked in the morning, it was the same situation again. The movement has just stopped, the nozzle and build plate are cold but still are in the last position of a print.

I have no idea whats happeing here. We are checking our Ultimaker also online with OctoPrint and there I saw in the status area where it says "printed" it was something like "16 of 46 MB", and this didnt change. Maybe that was the point where it stopped?

Is there a possibilty that the RAM is overloading or so and the Ultimaker cannot handle such "big" files?

Hope you guys have some ideas.

Thanks,

Jamo

Edited November 13, 2015 by Guest

[pm_dude 27]

Hi jamo,

Are you printing from USB or from the sd card. I cannot speak for the USB prints but It is unlikely to be related to the file size when printing from the sdcard because it doesnt load more than a small number of instructions at the time. I recently did a 80 hours print and the file size must have been really big since the amount of details were super high.

If you cut the power and turn it back on you will get the same effect on your print. Is it possible that a power cut or a power fluctuation occur at a certain time (during the night possibly). I used to work at a place that every night the ventilation system would stop around 8pm and when it would start back you could see some power fluctuations (just an example).

It could be that the power supply is starting to malfunction after a long time printing. I know @gr5 mentionned that he had a few cases like this.

[jamo 2]

Hey dude,

Thanks for your reply!

I'm printing from the SD Card. I don't fully get what you mean. You say it might be related to the file size, but you had no troubles with an 80h print and a huge file? That correct?

The hint with the power fluctuation is a good one! I will check on that but I actually think that's not the case for me. I am working in a physics department and the printer is located in one of our laboratories. If there would be power fluctuations, we should notice that in all our measurement devices etc. But I will definately try to check that again, good point.

Anyone got other ideas though? Can the file size really be the problem? Or that I create it from an *.stl file?

Best,

Jamo

[jamo 2]

Nobody else got an idea? :(

Best,

Jamo

[SandervG 1,521]

During one of the occasions, did you check what the display was saying?

If a temperature error is triggered, it will also stop printing.

Also, if there was a power drop.

I don't think it has anything to do with the size of the file.

I think 90% of the things people print are based on an STL file, so that shouldn't be a problem either.

[jamo 2]

Hey Sander,

The display always looked the same like when a print was finished normally ...

Best,

Jamo

[gr5 2,172]

I recommend you download tinker version of Marlin which lets you continue a print even the next day. I don't know what is causing your problem but I don't think it's file size as the printer only reads in a tiny piece of the file at a time. You could check the file on the SD card as sometimes people remove the card before the file is done writing. Use a diff program to make sure it matches what is on your computer.

Anyway get tinker Marlin here:

https://github.com/TinkerGnome/Ultimaker2Marlin/releases

tinkerGnome marlin discussion

https://ultimaker.com/en/community/view/7436-more-information-during-print

[jamo 2]

Hey gr5,

Thanks for your reply. I already read about the tinker version of Marlin, but didn't fully get it. My plan was for tomorrow to get the recent versions of Cura and the Ultimaker firmware and try again. What exactly is Marlin? A different firmware for the Ultimaker? Continuing a print and having more infors in the display sounds pretty amazing to me.

Best,

Jamo

[gr5 2,172]

Marlin is an open source firmware for 3d printers in general and runs on Arduino computers. The UMO uses the standard Marlin, identical to Marlin for dozens of other companies 3d printers. The main author of Marlin used to be Erik Zalm but now he works for Ultimaker. Go figure.

The UM2 uses a special fork of marlin edited by "Daid" because the display on the UM2 is non-standard. The "tinker" version of Marlin is for UM2 products only and is edited by "tinkerGnome". If the official UM2 Marlin gets an update, tinkerGnome does a "git pull" which pulls in all the latest features and bugfixes automatically so the tinkerGnome version is usually at the latest version (or even sometimes has unreleased fixes as Daid is slow to send out new versions of UM2 Marlin embedded in Cura (Cura comes with some recent version of Marlin but usually it's an old version - sometimes a year old). Marlin is pretty stable and lately it's been rare that Daid makes an edit - maybe 5 per year? That's VERY rough. The official Marlin which works on dozens of printers including UMO gets edits almost every week. Tinker Marlin gets updates almost every week. Tinker Marlin is superior in every way and even has a "classic" mode so you don't have to learn the new menus.

[jamo 2]

Hey!

Thanks for your detailed reply! Sounds like I really should get it. I gues I have to get this file then? "TinkerGnome-MarlinUltimaker2-15.10.2.hex"

I just have to find out how to bring it onto my UM2 :-D

[DidierKlein 729]

Download it here:

https://github.com/TinkerGnome/Ultimaker2Marlin/releases

Then in Cura, in the Machine file (i think) go to install custom firmware and choose the hex file you just downloaded.

You have to plugin the printer to your computer with the USB cable in order to do this.

It will upload the firmware (don't be afraid the printer will shut down the leds while doing it).

[jamo 2]

You guys are great. Gonna try that now thanks!

[jamo 2]

Hey all,

I just wanted to let you know that everything worked out. I installed tinkerMarlin and it's great . Had some troubles with the Arduino drivers though but in the end I got it all to run thanks to gr5's great support also in other threads here in this board. Awesome work dude, thanks!

My long print now worked out perfectly. I also generated the gcode with the recent version of Cura now etc, maybe this also helped, who knows

Thank you guys!

Jamo