Is it too cold to print? Near freezing ER01 Error

[sensebellum 2]

Just moved to Laramie, WY and it’s pretty cold in my van. Yes, I have a 3D printer in my work van.

 

I went to do a print this morning and it is about 30 F inside the van.

 

The printer has been working great for weeks and now I get the ER01 error.

 

Nothing has moved and before I dig into the circuit boards and take things apart is it possible there is a minimum temperature for the sensor?

 

is it possible it can be too cold inside the van to print and that is why I am getting the error?

 

Else, I will take apart the printer as per the support article.

 

https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011640020-Stopped-temp-sensor-ER01

[UlrichC-DE 115]

Hello

I have also had this error. I have it on the UM2 when it gets too cold. I have never changed the sensor because of this.

Warm it up a bit and print it. With the cover in the front and the top I turn on the heating plate a little. When it prints, it runs through and then has the error at the end of printing.

For me, it was 35F last time. 

[sensebellum 2]

Thank you for the tip! Is there a way to bypass the screen and turn on the heating elements? I tried the scroll wheel but it seemed stuck on that warning. (I'll take a picture this evening).

 

Aside from that would a coffee warming plate or something work? I was about to stick my butane burner in there but decided against...

 

Thank you!

[UlrichC-DE 115]

Info: Normally, the printers only work between 15 and 32 degrees Celsius

59 - 89.6°F

 

You will probably have to warm up the printer to be able to print. 30F is extreme.

 

Right, butane in the van is bad. Can you leave the car running for a while or put the printer somewhere else?

I would use an electric heater.

 

[UlrichC-DE 115]

I remember that years ago I installed a 50W cartridge heater in the UM2. Therefore, the original may not be able to continue printing at these temperatures.

[sensebellum 2]

Awesome thanks for the heads up! I'll look into an electric heater.

 

Is that cartridge heater an upgrade?

 

Any specific links to either?

[UlrichC-DE 115]

The UM2 had 25 watts
The one from the UM2+ had 35 watts
I had installed the one from 3D Solex with 50 watts (Google -3D Solex 50W-)

I wouldn't call it an upgrade in that case. More like an attempt/modification.

Since then, I have also had the PT100 sensor in stock.
The idea was: better to have than to need.
 
If you print at low temperatures, you can get a problem with the glass plates.
The glass is then exposed to higher temperature differences in a shorter time and the surface tends to flake off.

Therefore, I would prefer a small electric heater and fan over modifications to the printer.
Better a fan heater than a radiant heater. For the interior of a van with no insulation worth mentioning in sub-zero temperatures, I would use 1kw.

Practically, less is enough, but then the heater must be in constant operation.
If the cold is stuck in the van, you need the power to get the temperatures together at all. Then you can set one or two stages back.

[tinkergnome 927]

22 hours ago, sensebellum said:

is it possible it can be too cold inside the van to print and that is why I am getting the error?

 

Here is the answer for an UM2+:

 

https://github.com/Ultimaker/UM2.1-Firmware/blob/f6e69344c00d7f300dace730990652ba614a2105/Marlin/Configuration.h#L155

 

It's a plausibility check (for security reasons) and is triggered below 5C resp. 41F

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by tinkergnome

[UlrichC-DE 115]

compile new software at 30F in the van. This is real van life. This sounds somehow familiar to me 😆

[sensebellum 2]

Hey that’s a great idea. Just change the value in firmware right?

 

You mentioned it to security check. As in it probably is checking against a failure of the sensor?

 

Is there any reason to believe something might break if it’s too cold? Nothing subzero Fahrenheit but just wanting to make sure I’m not going to risk something going wrong.

 

Pure van life indeed!

 

Thank you!

[UlrichC-DE 115]

I guess there are several factors that speak against changing the code.

 

The main reason is that it can be problematic to print at sub-zero temperatures. Layer adhesion, glass plates and unfortunately also the low performance of the printer.

 

I guess you can't even get the print bed up to temperature depending on the filament.

If the heating cartridge and heating board are too weak, they will run the whole time. The printer doesn't have to do that.

 

I think the construction is not designed for that. It's all very thin-walled for quick heat-up correct and cool-down.
For sub-zero temperatures, I think the print head should have more metal and more power.
The heating board is also too weak for sub-zero temperatures.

 

If there is too much cold coming from outside, the measurement of the PT100 may also be too inaccurate for printing.
The values are point values that are close to the heating elements, but only close to them.

 

Better fan heater. In my estimation.