1 Topic by PeppermintGreen

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Topic: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

Hi all. Not very long ago, I bought an EMUTag to use with my Jr. It's worked great on the few times I've used it. This morning I was printing a couple of things out, and as the last one finished, I tried to read the EMUTag to my phone to back up the data, and it wouldn't read. I then put the card back in my printer and it says NO SPOOL. I realise the most likely explanation is that the batteries have gone, but aside from the fact it would be very coincidental they ran out that very second, I really haven't used it all that much. Nor have I ever left it anywhere near my printer when not in use. Foolishly I haven't got any spare batteries so I've ordered some, but could there be any other explanation? I've verified the tag is locked. (And switched it side to side just in case) Is there anywhere on the EMUTag I can check the voltage with a multimeter? Also, if it is just batteries and I replace them, do I have to do anything with it after the swap other than write new tag details to it?

Many thanks!

2 Reply by yizhou.he

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

you can check voltage on the battery with a multi-meter. I heard EMUTag runs out battery fast when in communication, so it is not  surprise it is out when you try to read it with your phone.

(Da Vinci 1.0, Jr. 1.0 RAMPS, miniMaker) X4, (Creality CR-10S, CR-10 mini, Ender-3) X4, Anycubic MEGA X4, Anycubic Chrion X1, ADMILAB Gantry X2 (MonoPrice Maker Select V2, Plus, Ultimate)X4--Select mini X1, Anycubic photon X4, Wanhao duplicate D7 X1.
iNSTONE Inventor Pro X2, CTC Dual X2, ANET-A8, Hictop 3DP-11, Solidoodle Press, FLSUN I3 2017X1

3 Reply by PeppermintGreen

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

Update. I found the place to test the battery, and it's showing me 3.9v. Is that enough?

4 Reply by yizhou.he

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

It use 3 X 1.5V battery, so 4.5V when battery is all new. 3.9V should be ok. is the Bold text below possible cause of your problem?


-------------------------------------------------
Do not leave the EMUTAG in the printer whilst it is powered on and you are not printing - it will drain the batteries.
This is because it will be in the presence of a reader field as it's ready to send data, so the unit consumes power.

The life of the batteries can be as low as 8 hours when in constant use - and you don't want to start printing and the batteries go flat.... It may halt the print.
You should not take the batteries out each time as you'll have to reset the EMUTAG with a new card UID - and you'll soon run out of cad UIDs to use. Just remove it from the printer or turn the printer off.
The lifespan of the batteries when not "in use" (n the presence of a reader field) is years... check the EMUTAG web page for details.

https://www.instructables.com/id/EMUTAG … -Printers/

(Da Vinci 1.0, Jr. 1.0 RAMPS, miniMaker) X4, (Creality CR-10S, CR-10 mini, Ender-3) X4, Anycubic MEGA X4, Anycubic Chrion X1, ADMILAB Gantry X2 (MonoPrice Maker Select V2, Plus, Ultimate)X4--Select mini X1, Anycubic photon X4, Wanhao duplicate D7 X1.
iNSTONE Inventor Pro X2, CTC Dual X2, ANET-A8, Hictop 3DP-11, Solidoodle Press, FLSUN I3 2017X1

5 Reply by mjf55

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

From personal experience, the batteries in the EMUtag will only last about 12 hours while in the printer.  If your total print time is in that range, that is the what caused the battery drain.  Now 3.9 volts is in the edge of a problem.  You can easily test this by taking the EMUtag out of the printer and program any tag info in it ( your not going to use it for this experiment.  Now, put the EMUtag in lock as if you are going to use it.  Remove the phone from the proximity if the EMUtag.  Wait a few seconds and bow try to read the tag information.  Is it what you programmed?  Just compare the UID.  My guess is that it will not match, showing that the batteries are not strong enough to retain the data.

6 Reply by PeppermintGreen

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

Thanks mjf55. But the issue is that neither my phone, nor the printer will read the tag. Locked or otherwise. :-(

7 Reply by mjf55 (edited by mjf55 2017-09-17 22:21:51)

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

What data do you get when you read the tag with your phone? Or does it completely fail and no data is read back?  You may need to reflash your EMUtag - http://www.soliforum.com/topic/16563/re … he-emutag/   That is just one way to do it.

8 Reply by PeppermintGreen (edited by PeppermintGreen 2017-09-17 22:48:50)

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

I don't get a thing. It just won't read it. I tried with an actual xyz tag to make sure it wasn't just my phone and that read fine. But putting the EMUTag to my phone does absolutely nothing.

I guess I'll wait and see what happens when the new batteries arrive. If they don't help, I'll try reflashing it. Gotta admit I'm not very impressed that I'm having to do this so soon after buying it. I'm giving serious consideration to wiring a powerboost up to the controller pins and powering the whole thing from a Lipo battery. Anyone ever tried that? The EMUTag website says it can take 3.3 to 5.5v so it seems like it'll work fine.

9 Reply by mjf55

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

PeppermintGreen wrote:

I don't get a thing. It just won't read it. I tried with an actual xyz tag to make sure it wasn't just my phone and that read fine. But putting the EMUTag to my phone does absolutely nothing.

I guess I'll wait and see what happens when the new batteries arrive. If they don't help, I'll try reflashing it. Gotta admit I'm not very impressed that I'm having to do this so soon after buying it. I'm giving serious consideration to wiring a powerboost up to the controller pins and powering the whole thing from a Lipo battery. Anyone ever tried that? The EMUTag website says it can take 3.3 to 5.5v so it seems like it'll work fine.

Yeah, I was just reviewing the EMUtag site also.  I agree, 3.9 volts ( when measured in the emutag ) should be plenty.   I am pretty sure mine acted the same as yours when it needed to be re-programmed.  I think that will be your fix.  There are multiple ways to re-program it.  I wrote one based on the RPi.  This thread shows some trials and tribulation on fixing / flashing the EMUtag http://www.soliforum.com/topic/15971/nfc-tag-emulator/ .

Once I hooked my up to the 5 volts from my RPi ( which I never powered off ( unless we lost power)) I never had another issue with the EMUtaag.

Here is a better alternative, but...  you no longer need your EMUtag and it costs....  I have on and its great, 
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/16626/da … r-and-tag/

10 Reply by PeppermintGreen

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

Yeah, I was looking at that to be honest. Wish it had come out before I bought the EMUTag really!

I'll give flashing it a go, and if that works I'm going to look at hooking up a powerboost and a 1200mah battery. That way at the end of every day I can just whack it on to charge and not worry about batteries again. (Not that I'm convinced that's what the issue is here.)

Thank you for everyone's help.

11 Reply by mjf55

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

PeppermintGreen wrote:

Yeah, I was looking at that to be honest. Wish it had come out before I bought the EMUTag really!

I'll give flashing it a go, and if that works I'm going to look at hooking up a powerboost and a 1200mah battery. That way at the end of every day I can just whack it on to charge and not worry about batteries again. (Not that I'm convinced that's what the issue is here.)

Thank you for everyone's help.

Please let us know what happens.  Inquiring minds want to know

12 Reply by cgrillo (edited by cgrillo 2017-09-18 16:46:25)

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

To be honest it sounds like the batteries are just too flat.
I have had the batteries just hold on enough to finish my printing and then die when I try to read the card afterwards.

Checking the battery voltage whilst the EMUTAG is not under load / in a reader field is pointless by the way.

The EMUTAG can be supplied with 5v - have you got a 5v source anywhere  (old USB lead that you can chop up) ?
That way you don't need batteries (as long as you keep it powered).
There are some details on the EMUTAG web site showing what to do to add some power wires and extra diodes so that it will use batteries or supplied 5v - whichever is the higher.

13 Reply by PeppermintGreen

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

Well I live in hope! Apparently the batteries got shipped today so should be with me today or tomorrow. I am tempted to just whip them out and wire up a power boost. But for the first time in a while, I don't have one spare. Only the passthrough 3.7v charge circuits. And if it doesnt work with 3.9, it sure won't work with 3.7 straight out of a Lipo.

14 Reply by cgrillo

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

PeppermintGreen wrote:

Well I live in hope! Apparently the batteries got shipped today so should be with me today or tomorrow. I am tempted to just whip them out and wire up a power boost. But for the first time in a while, I don't have one spare. Only the passthrough 3.7v charge circuits. And if it doesnt work with 3.9, it sure won't work with 3.7 straight out of a Lipo.

You may be surprised..   3.7 should work
Small cell voltage will drop when in use - but a lipo should be ok.

http://www.emutag.com/howtos.php

15 Reply by PeppermintGreen (edited by PeppermintGreen 2017-09-19 19:33:47)

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

Well, the new batteries arrived today. I popped the old ones out, popped the new ones in and sure enough! It's alive again! And then I looked at the old batteries and saw to my horror that one of them is all swelled up! It looks like the cell has failed completely. Hence I guess why they died so quickly after I got the EMUTag. So as a warning to any future purchasers, check the batteries when you get them!

Now as I still have a couple  of 1200mah's lying around, I'm going to try the 3.7v charge board I have and if it works, I'm just going to print myself off a little case that holds the board, battery and EMUTag. And after each print I'll put it on charge and hopefully never have this issue again.

Thank you to everyone for your help!

16 Reply by mjf55

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

Just remember, if you do use an external power source ( RPi or 1200 mha batteries) take out the small batteries.  You CAN NOT have two power sources at the same time


Glad it worked out ok

17 Reply by real_terk

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Re: EMUTag suddenly stopped working.

mjf55 wrote:

You CAN NOT have two power sources at the same time

You can, if you modify the PCB a bit, like shown here:
http://www.emutag.com/howtos.php