PLease help new Ultimaker original , screen flashing when connected to power , video included , cant get it to work.

[Ca3PO4 2]

Hi , Iv just put together the original DIY kit , was hoping to print something but im having trouble getting it to work . Its brand new and haven't used it even once yet. So after getting it all together I installed drivers onto PC , downloaded CURA and connected the ultimaker to PC via USB. I let it install firmware Merlin 250000 , alright so I did that. It allowed me to pass all the checks like heating and temp sensor , and the z stage moved up and down ok that all works but something is screwed up , because while its plugged into the PC VIA USB only it works fine as in the screen on the ulticontroller doesn't blink , but as soon as I turn on the power the ulticontroller screen flashes and the z stage motor and feeder motor make weird intermittent sounds its like the tempo of the intermittent noise is synced with the flashing on the screen and also even the blue led on the print head also flashes and on the motherboard the led numbered 06 flashes also synced to the tempo of the flashing of the ulticontroller and blue led on printhead. Now the strange thing is as soon as I remove the power and leave just the USB plugged in it appears normal, no flashing of leds and no sounds, but as soon as I turn on the power again it starts making noise and flashes. Now also If I just leave the power on without the USB plugged in all the info on the ulticontroller disappears and the screen just flashes and motors make sounds.

I have included a video of the problem and hope someone out there can help me use my new ultimaker , I checked everything many times to make sure I didn't make a mistake and im sure iv got it all hooked up correctly so please help me if you can.

Link to video showing the problem :

http://www.mediafire.com/watch/0x52x92pupg17c5/20151225_235006.mp4

[anon4321 16]

Does it print when both USB and power are plugged in and turned on?

You appear to have a V1,5 board. On that board there is a 12V regulator which powers the mega board. That regulator has thermal protection which may cause it to shutdown or it could be marginal and just shutting down or not regulating well

If it's printing when both are plugged in and on, that regulator is most likely the problem. When the USB is plugged in it is actually plugged into the mega and directly provides 5V to it.

Or there is a problem where that power flows from the regulator to the mega board so check that there are no bent pins and that the jumper that controls if 12V is provided to the maga is well seated. I can 't find the jumper in the pics so it might not be on the later revision. I believe it was labelled ARD_PWR.

Anyway, the IC1 IC is what supplies the 12V to the arduino when running stand alone without the USB plugged in. It's in the lower right in the picture below.

http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/thumb/7/79/UltimakerPCB1.5.4-prototype.JPG/800px-UltimakerPCB1.5.4-prototype.JPG

Check to see if it is hot.

[anon4321 16]

Errr carefully check to see if it is hot. Also note that it is cooled by the airflow along with the drivers.

[Ca3PO4 2]

Hey thank for the reply , ya I haven't yet even attempted to print anything yet as I am worried to do that before I fugure out what is causing this issue. I have checked the area you indicated in the lower right hand side, when I touch the heatsink it gets hot when the machine is plugged into power, I can just barely touch it, also the one next to where the feeder motor plugs into gets hot aswell . Since those two guys the motors are making the noise and along with that the screen blinks on off, but it only happends when going stand alone without the USB connected.

[Ca3PO4 2]

So your suggesting I give it a shot and see is I can run a print then ? I am sur ethe heater works it passed the diagnostic test in CURA. But didn't actually attempt any prints yet.

[Ca3PO4 2]

Heres a pic of the PCB

http://www.mediafire.com/view/z5cb9or3z1ju993/pcb.jpg#

[Ca3PO4 2]

AHA bingo

I think iv just solved the issue , it appears that the IC circuits were improperly placed by ultimaker, as I had received it this way from them . Look at my pictures and you will see what I mean. After I looked at a similar board online and noticed that the trim pot should face down on all three except for the one on the left.

Ok So I have solved the issue of the strange noises which were a result of improperly placed IC's from the factory. But the blinking of the screen I still get that and the frequency of the blinking increases as the voltage regulator on the pcb gets hotter . I have noticed it gets incredibly hot after just 10 seconds of switching on power, So hot its almost untouchable.

Would this mean my voltage regulator is shot?

Edited December 26, 2015 by Guest

[anon4321 16]

No I would contact UM about the driver and the problem in general. One unfortunate design issue with the shield is that the drivers ARE flipped as you have discovered. And unfortunately, inserting the drivers the wrong way destroys them when the power is applied.

So the overheating of the regulator could be due to the feeder motor driver being damaged.

You can do two things to see if the feeder driver is destroyed:

Without any filament in, does the feeder still feed?

If you remove the feeder driver (the one you flipped around), does the display and other three axes work?

Alternatively, the drivers are relatively cheap, it might be quicker to source them from some place like amazon or ebay. Just search for

a4983 driver

stepstick driver

Just make sure that if you get a replacement from some other place than UM that:

the driver has the header pins soldered on unless you can solder them and

that the little heatsink is supplied and is attached unless you can get thermal adhesive and can attach them yourself.

[Ca3PO4 2]

I will get in touch with ultimaker asap on Monday, it was actually the X, Y and Z drivers that were incorrectly seated and I got it that way new in the kit. No I cannot seem to be able to move any of the axis at all not from the ulticontroller or CURA. I will ask for a new board , there could be all sorts of things wrong with it so I rather not mess with it just will ask for a new board now that I know that those drivers and possible the voltage reg is messed up.