Buildplate Motor Bug?

[MrTechAgent 2]

Hi, I have faced this issue which I'll explain below twice in the 1 month of ownership, it certainly isn't common and I couldn't find people who faced it but I thought I'd let you guys know.

Basically the Z-Axis freaks out and has jerky motions sometimes while starting the print and recently happened to me (10mins ago) was during a 20 hour print, just 19 hours in!!!!!!!! It basically did something to the feeder motor and stopped feeding it, I paused my print to see if it was a blocked nozzle by removing my material and it wasn't that.

I think it's a corresponding bug, once I cancelled my print with no hope the plate while lowering made the same twitching motion until it finally came down to it's original position.  

One thing to keep in mind is while the print was paused, my feeder motion worked with no issues but as soon as I started it didn't and no it wasn't grinding, I'm certain it's just a bug caused by something and could be easily fixed. Hoping more resolution from your team.

Also how do I check my firmware for the Ultimaker 2 and new Firmwares on this site if this in fact has been resolved.

Thanks.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Guest

[gr5 2,173]

There haven't been any firmware bugs like that in the last 3 years so it's not that. Your 2 issues are probably unrelated. The issue about filament not coming out of the nozzle suddenly 19 hours into a 20 hour print - well that's common and can have many causes e.g. grinding due to too many retractions, brittle filament cracking in the bowden and then getting stuck in the head, feeder motor getting to hot and causing filament to get soft and grind flat, filament tangles, and a few others.

The other issue - where the Z stage does "jerky motions" - I don't know what that is. I'm thinking the servo controller for the Z motor is getting to hot. This has been a recent problem especially people living in warmer climates without air conditioning. Several people fixed it by lowering their Z current (not x,y, or E) to 1000ma. You can do this from the front panel on the latest firmware - I think the latest release is in cura 15.04.

Or it could be bearing issues. With power off move the bed up and down repeatedly feeling for stuck spots. going down is easy - to lift the bed use both hands near the back of the bed and lift hard enough to lift the printer off the table.

[MrTechAgent 2]

There haven't been any firmware bugs like that in the last 3 years so it's not that.  Your 2 issues are probably unrelated.  The issue about filament not coming out of the nozzle suddenly 19 hours into a 20 hour print - well that's common and can have many causes e.g. grinding due to too many retractions, brittle filament cracking in the bowden and then getting stuck in the head, feeder motor getting to hot and causing filament to get soft and grind flat, filament tangles, and a few others.

The other issue - where the Z stage does "jerky motions" - I don't know what that is.  I'm thinking the servo controller for the Z motor is getting to hot.  This has been a recent problem especially people living in warmer climates without air conditioning.  Several people fixed it by lowering their Z current (not x,y, or E) to 1000ma.  You can do this from the front panel on the latest firmware - I think the latest release is in cura 15.04.

Or it could be bearing issues.  With power off move the bed up and down repeatedly feeling for stuck spots.  going down is easy - to lift the bed use both hands near the back of the bed and lift hard enough to lift the printer off the table.

 

Hi,

You made some solid points that make sense in my case, I do live in India and it's quite toasty here although I did have my AC on while printing.

Your point about lowering the Current could be the answer as I had fixed "Shifted Layers" issue by dialing down to 1200mA from 1300mA.

I'll try lowering Z Current as you mentioned and give it a shot.

As I said there was no grinding or a clogged nozzle, I could feel at the back of the feeder that the motor wasn't moving at all, it wasn't clicking it was just stationary. Almost as if the Z error switched it off but...while paused, I changed my material, my material oozed with no issues as soon as I hit start, it would stop the feeder motion and nothing would feed, I hope I'm doing a decent enough job to explain you the situation if not, the next time it happens I'll film it.

Thanks, will let you know how the current change helps!

[gr5 2,173]

I could feel at the back of the feeder that the motor wasn't moving at all, it wasn't clicking it was just stationary.

Interesting - I would remove the bottom cover permanently and when printing tip the machine a bit with a book or something and use a desk or window fan to cool the board underneath the printer. This could make a huge difference for you. I tiny bit of airflow makes a huge difference in cooling.

[MrTechAgent 2]

 

I could feel at the back of the feeder that the motor wasn't moving at all, it wasn't clicking it was just stationary.

Interesting - I would remove the bottom cover permanently and when printing tip the machine a bit with a book or something and use a desk or window fan to cool the board underneath the printer.  This could make a huge difference for you.  I tiny bit of airflow makes a huge difference in cooling.

 

Hi,

The change in current solved the issues, I did another long print and it didn't fail this time. I also stress tested the machine to confirm and I think the current change somehow might have eliminated that issue.

Thanks.