Ultimaker stops printing after 5 hours and is dead

[designhub 0]

Hello,

I started a print job with CPE and PVA which should last about 10 hours.

After 5 hours succesful printing a storm came up and I suppose this had an impact on the circuit of my house. At least a short image interference on the TV was noticeable.

My iPhone Ultimaker 3 app lost connection to the printer so I looked after the UM3 and it was dead whereat

the printhead and the build plate were at the last printing position.

I activated the power switch at the back of the Ultimaker and the power was there again but the printer obviously forgot the last print job. So no chance to continue the print.

Did anyone experience the same situation?

If there was a very short power interrupt why did the UM stay dead?

Is Ultimaker working on that issue to be able to continue a print after power interrupt?

Do you recommend to operate the UM with an uninterruptible power supply?

Thanks for your hints

designhub

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Always use any electronics with a battery backup/uninterruptible power supply. While power surges can be bad, they usually only trip the sensors and do what you describe. although, if it is bad enough, it can fry a circuit or two.

But, the dips in power availability can be just as bad or worse as it will not trip anything, but let the machine run on less than optimal power. The combination of dips and peaks in your power consumption can damage things in the long run.

Something that passes the power through a battery, or 'conditions the power' to a much more constant sine wave and it makes your equipment much more stable and happy.

It does not take much to trip something too. I had a brownout a while back, which forced me to dig out my old APC unit and it was not the brownout that caused it to trip, it was the sudden surge when it kicked back up.

Now, I just hear a beep every now and then on the APC when the power goes wonky, but my printer hums along without a blip. And, it does help prolong the life of electronics and cut down on electrical noise in the environment that can interfere with other aspects of electronics.

Now, this is how it was explained to me in the dark ages of computing when Dino ran on a treadmill to give me power, and I am very open to a more concise or revised explanation/correction, but the short answer is "Yes, absolutely!"

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

It is indeed a bit strange that the UM3 stays dead after a power cut. I could imagine it does this after a voltage spike or rather the PSU does this but then it would come back after a while and certainly cannot be reanimated by using the main switch of the printer. Are you sure no other fuse or similar in your house was involved? The power switch was still on, the PSU had power and the printer did nothing, no fan, no led, no display?

The question about the UPS cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. It strongly depends where you living, i.e. how stable your power grid is. In some locations you might not be able to print even an Ultimaker robot without power cut while here in Switzerland where I live, I think I had only one case of a very short power cut which stopped a printer in four years.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Hmmmm, we have the worst power in the world here in NYC with the aging infrastructure and population/power usage increases. Seasonal issues affect many things here as well as electrical consumption goes up and is actually turned down by the utilities to prevent blackouts, hence a lot of 'brown power' during summers. I have seen the lights in the apartment dim at times when just the refrigerator cycles on. When the winter hits, and most are using some sort of biofuel, the electrical grid is not so spotty.

[designhub 0]

I discovered an automatic mains-field disconnector inside the fuse box monitoring the circuit of the room where the UM is located so I assume the power dip caused by the storm let the disconnector act that's why the UM was completely dead... no led, no fan, no display.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Zowie!! Done in by a protective measure! Whodathunkit?

For non-native English speakers, or those not familiar with the slang, that means "Who would have thought of that?"

Apparently you did!

How is it working now?

[designhub 0]

I started the print at the scratch. The UM did not get damaged by the incident.

[fbrc8-erin 272]

I started the print at the scratch.  The UM did not get damaged by the incident.

Glad the UM3 didn't get damaged. Battery back ups are great for saving prints when there's a short power interruption. A power outage of even a second will turn off the printer long enough to disrupt the print (without any way to restart it). It generally powers back on to the main screen. Because when it loses power it goes back to the main screen, your print bed doesn't stay hot, so the print could come loose from the bed before you find it.

Edit: (Ignore this part, I missed the post about the mains)

It's definitley strange that the printer remained off after the outage; that I haven't seen before; normally it just goes back to the main screen.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Guest

[kmanstudios 1,120]

I started the print at the scratch.  The UM did not get damaged by the incident.

Glad the UM3 didn't get damaged. Battery back ups are great for saving prints when there's a short power interruption. A power outage of even a second will turn off the printer long enough to disrupt the print (without any way to restart it). It generally powers back on to the main screen. Because when it loses power it goes back to the main screen, your print bed doesn't stay hot, so the print could come loose from the bed before you find it.

It's definitey strange that the printer remained off after the outage; that I haven't seen before; normally it just goes back to the main screen.

If you go up a couple of posts, he found that the mains field disconnector created the issue and once reset, it worked again.

[fbrc8-erin 272]

I started the print at the scratch.  The UM did not get damaged by the incident.

Glad the UM3 didn't get damaged. Battery back ups are great for saving prints when there's a short power interruption. A power outage of even a second will turn off the printer long enough to disrupt the print (without any way to restart it). It generally powers back on to the main screen. Because when it loses power it goes back to the main screen, your print bed doesn't stay hot, so the print could come loose from the bed before you find it.

It's definitey strange that the printer remained off after the outage; that I haven't seen before; normally it just goes back to the main screen.

If you go up a couple of posts, he found that the mains field disconnector created the issue and once reset, it worked again.

Ah, missed the post about the mains. That would do it.