UM2 Lights flickering

[Nicolinux 288]

During printing the lights (led stripes) flicker slightly. They do not flicker when the UM2 is idle. I have the feeling that it is related to the stepper motors because the light seems to flicker when the head moves. It is not a big deal, just thought that it might be a sign for a bad board connection or electrical interference that can be fixed.

Thanks.

 

[IRobertI 521]

I see it as the printer is heating up, I just figured it was a lack of big enough filter caps to handle the spikes in current draw of the bed/head. No idea if there's any validity to that thought though

 

[woofy 12]

Yep. Mine flicker as well.

 

[ian 32]

i had this problem as well...

problem was... the LED strip was loose behind the front panel and was always pushed around and vibrated by the pullys moving and turning.. the lights at night looked like christmas tree flicker lights..

Ian :-)

 

[Daid 306]

The slight flicker is actually the PWM of the heater. I haven't looked into it yet, but most likely by changing the PWM frequency of the heater a bit this should be invisible.

 

[illuminarti 18]

I had the same thing as Ian at one point - the jumper wires connecting the top and right LED strips were catching on one of the pulleys in the front right corner, and making the lights flicker. Bending the wires out of the way (a bit tricky to do in the tight space) fixed it for me.

[gr5 2,224]

The flickering is subtle and I hate it. It happens when the bed is getting close to the correct temperature (from 4 degrees below goal temp to 1 degree above). When you first start heating it is fine. When you turn off the bed heater it is fine. It flickers at the PWM frequency when you get close to the correct temperature. If I look straight at the printer it bothers me. If I look away it bothers me.

But usually I can just ignore it. Or I can just crank up the temp 5C and then lower it 1C lower than current temp. lol. I have the power!

 

[Nicolinux 288]

The thing is, the flickering occurs all the time while printing. But I guess you are right anyway. The bed constantly adjusts the temperature.

@illuminarti: I checked the jumper wires and they are ok.

 

[Daid 306]

(As quick workaround, you can turn off or lower the brightness of the leds in the settings menu)

 

[Nicolinux 288]

Lowering the brightness has no effect, the flickering continues. I hope you'll look into this issue later. I'll wait until then. thx

 

[gr5 2,224]

This isn't something that can be fixed with software. It's an electronics issue. Coon (sp?) would have to fix this.

 

[Nicolinux 288]

I thought that "changing the PWM frequency of the heater" could be done in software.

 

[Daid 306]

I thought that "changing the PWM frequency of the heater" could be done in software.

 

Yes, can be done, but I'll have to double check that nothing else is attached to that timer.

 

[gr5 2,224]

Humans can see up to 50Hz. In countries that use 50Hz electricity I notice lights flickering sometimes. 60 Hz I can't see. But the flicker is only slight so I don't think 50Hz would be visible but it would have to be roughly that kind of frequency for me not to be able to see it.

Wouldn't this decrease the lifetime of the FET that controls this circuit? Maybe not. But it might get hotter than at the slower frequency.

 

[tomkooij 0]

Our two week old Ultimaker has flickering lights. Not due to PWM/heating but "lose-contact" flickering.

 

The lights flicker on and off while printing. Probably due to the belts hitting the LED wiring. I haven't been able to find the exact spot yet.

Any thoughts?

 

[Nicolinux 288]

The lights look like they don't go off entierly. Are you sure it is hardware related?

 

[illuminarti 18]

As you look at the front of the printer look behind the front panel in the top left and top right corners, where the horizontal LED strip is connected to the two vertical ones. There's a short piece of wire that runs between the strips, and which can tend to stick out and catch on the pulleys.

The wires ends of the wires are wrapped in heat shrink tubing where they join the LED strips. Put a drop of superglue between the heat shrink tubing and the front wall of the printer and stick them flat on the wall. That should move the wire out of the way of the pulleys, and keep it there.

 

[gr5 2,224]

When the printer is not moving and the lights are on, poke your finger around the led strips until they flicker. That will be the problem area.

 

[tomkooij 0]

The LED strips were loose from the ultimaker frame in the top left corner. I'm not sure if this caused the flickering. I cannot reproduce the flickering when touching the LED strips.

Hope it does not turn out to be a PSU problem.

 

[gr5 2,224]

Hope it does not turn out to be a PSU problem.

 

I don't think so. You would hear it in the steppers as well. Did you glue the lights away from the belts yet?

 

[tomkooij 0]

Glueing the wires as per illuminarti's instructions "is scheduled" first thing monday morning Thanks again for the help.