Motors suddenly STOP as if turned off

[truenorthtrader]

Have a new strange problem.

Printer when going towards the bed will just STOP DEAD. Rambo is still on but the motors just all turn off at the same time.

When I turn on and off it works, resetting doesn't change anything. When the Cheapskates travel a distance it will just randomly turn off at different points.


I tried changing belt tension and re checking cheapskates but nothing works.

PS I changed the Motor fuse with 5amp car fuse but hasn't changed anything.

Has anyone experienced this and know the solution?


thanks!

[Polygonhell]

Could be a bad USB cable, or a lose power connection.
Does the PC lose connection to the board?
Does it continue to read temperatures?
If you watch the LED's on the board do you see them do anything when the motors stop?
What I'm trying to determine is if the board is resetting.
If the PC remains connected, I'd guess it's an issue with the 12V connection, most likely something loose.
If the board is resetting, it's more likely to be the USB connection.
There isn't very much else on the board that would affect all of the motors simultaneously.

[truenorthtrader]

Power supply seemed dead and I almost passed out.

Started at the switch and was going to work back and seems the switch is faulty as it started up when I squeezed the wires.
Will get a new 6 amp switch tomorrow and retry..although I have the same switch at 3A 125VAC not sure that will do.

Hope it's just the switch!
thank you
A

[truenorthtrader]

I used the other lead on the switch for the Green wire actually don't need to buy one.

Still does it.
The POWER SUPPLY is just shutting down as it's going down to the print bed every time.
I look and the fan is not turning. There is a slight clunk sound from the power supply as well.

USB is solid,
Continues to read temperatures after power supply turns off
The Green LED light by usb is on.
2 Red lights for heating turn off with power supply
TX and RX yellow lights blink as if receiving data from Repetier until I kill the job.

Looks like I might have to swap the power supply. Might be another Month before I get it running again. :/

[barnett]

Did it always behave this way or is this a new phenomenon?

I imagine a temporary short might cause the power supply to die like that. Could it be the leads on the hot end/thermistor shorting against anything? If it's related to motion, what's moving when it dies? Maybe the wires to the hot end along the bowden tube?

[truenorthtrader]

Never just started after my last small decent print, I wanted to print a bigger item and it started. Didn't change anything.

I just checked with flashlight all wires are protected with RTV paste on the hot end from touching and wrapped in high-temperature silicone tape.
Repetier is receiving data constantly as well from the hot end.

If it's not the power supply then it does have something to do with faster motor movement.
It does the homing clicking 3 end stops every time, only when it moves fast towards the bed at the beginning.

Either that or the 3 motors running at high speed is causing the power supply to turn off, like a drain? I checked belt tension and cheapskates to make sure they're not too tight, they move easily but are solid on the rails.

All my wiring is soldered but I'm not sure what to reheat and check first if it's not the power supply.

[mhackney]

If you suspect the high speed movement, detune your rapids to about 1/2 and try it. How you do this depends on your firmware and/or host application. But it might be worth a test, you could be drawing enough current to shut down the power supply.

[truenorthtrader]

Hey folks.

John from SeeMeCNC was kind enough to get me through step by step. They REALLY know their stuff! Very impressed.
..but not surprised since they were brilliant enough to design this beast!

After closer inspection found 1 of the Resistor wires broke as John stated was the #1 culprit.

It was INSIDE the silicone so I didn't see it until I peeled away.

I got it temporarily working by soldering the wires ( was a pain as these don't solder well ) Then put some PC-7 around it to make it solid, then RTV and waited hours and heated it up.

Now it's actually printing even though I'm going to get a couple resistors incase this doesn't hold.

So if this happens to anyone, Check the wiring in the hotend FIRST!

At least all my motor wiring was re soldered and super strong now.

Thank you all again I hope I can give back like you guys some day once I know this machine well enough
A