SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2014-10-16T21:30:01Z

Yes communication problem. Mine experienced the exact same symptoms described in these postings.

The circuit board is directly mounted to the frame of the Solidoodle. Touch it lightly with your finger while it is operating, the vibrations are directly applied to the USB connector. Over time this works the contacts loose (even if your not plugging and unplugging it all the time). I desoldered the USB connector and wired in a new one.

Suggest a design for the next model that they put some shock absorbing bushings between the circuit board and the frame. Decouple them mechanically.

Hope that helps!

Steve

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2014-08-30T11:56:34Z

Sometimes with these problems, it is a good idea to try a second computer to narrow down USB problems vs hardware problems.

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2014-08-27T17:17:11Z

Suddenly the last 2 days my most recently purchased Solidoodle 3 is REGULARLY stopping midway thru the first layer. These are gcodes I've used for months in the exact same setup with a dedicated laptop. I can STOP the print and ZERO the printhead, but I am no longer able to manually control its position. Clearly seems like a communication problem.

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2014-07-24T21:24:36Z

I have a craft light with a circular flourescent tube and a large central magnifying lens near my SD4. I discovered that turning the light on or off during a print had about a 50/50 chance of immediately locking up the printer. I'm sure this was due to the high voltage of the ballast.

I yanked out the ballast and tube, and replaced them with LED lighting. No problems since.

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2014-07-24T15:54:01Z

Sometimes other things turning on or off that are connected to the same power strip or circuit can interrupt it. One person even reported that turning on a certain light switch would make his printer stop. I used to have a desk fan behind the printer to cool the electronics on hot days, and turning it on after a print started would make it stop. Is there anything like that going on?

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2014-07-24T14:06:40Z

I purchased my Solidoodle 3 a little over 7 months ago. It was working great until about a month ago. I used to be able to do long prints (10 hrs +), but all of a sudden the Solidoodle would stop printing in the middle of a print. I have isolated the USB, and have not installed any new firmware since buying the Solidoodle.

While testing the Solidoodle I barely got a few minutes before the print stopped. I included the log incase it may help, but there are no error being reported so I am not sure what is the cause. For this last print I did not see any power skipping, and the computer did not go to sleep.

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2014-05-31T10:54:20Z

Your printer may be shaking so much at some point it disrupts the powercord. The cords are designed to sit extremely loose on the Solidoodle for unknown reasons, I use a rubberband between the USB and powercord to force it in place. Before it would loose power just from strong winds in the room... Now I can practically juggle the whole thing and it still goes strong.

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2014-05-30T19:28:25Z

Same problem definitely power usage related. I had a wood router running
Today from same outlet and was running it hard. Took me 3 tries to realise it was causing power surge inside with my printer, seems doesn't and much to impact it.

I have 230v supply so never would have thought this was issue

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2014-02-12T02:47:58Z

Ok, so many months on. Brand new PC and it did it again. I have so much scrap ABS it's not funny. would cutting the usb power track (I read about this hack somewhere), possibly help. Or is there a buffer setting in case the usb port hangs for a period of time?

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2013-12-22T05:26:53Z

Bad power is an issue no matter where you live, and it ranges from brown outs to loose connections in your outlets, bad cords, etc. Like downeym, I too learned my lesson and now use a ups, mine is an apc xs1500. It won't let me print without power for very long, but that's not the point, it just needs to bridge the tiny moments of power loss. Glad you got to the heart of the problem.

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2013-12-21T18:55:08Z

Briggs wrote:

Tough one ccomito. At very least keep eliminating the easy stuff. Try different USB cable, port on your computer. Could be bad power too: outlet, cable, psu, surge protector, etc.
Loose connections. Hope it's not your board.
Will be interested to hear what finally solves your issue.

So last night I grabbed a 50ft extension cord from the garage and plugged in the printer to an outlet in my back room. So far I've ran 3 prints and rather large ones. I'm hoping its only a power issue. I'm running a 4 hour print now so we'll see how that goes. So far so good, I'll keep you posted.

Thanks!

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2013-12-21T03:09:04Z

Tough one ccomito. At very least keep eliminating the easy stuff. Try different USB cable, port on your computer. Could be bad power too: outlet, cable, psu, surge protector, etc.

Loose connections. Hope it's not your board.

Will be interested to hear what finally solves your issue.

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2013-12-20T23:11:55Z

ronsii wrote:

ccomito1223 wrote:
ccomito1223 wrote:
I know this is old but did anyone figure anything out? I've got the same problems as the op and have tried all the usual suspects to no avail.
I did read another thread that suggested the baud rate might be off. I checked my settings and both computers were different and not set to 250000. I'm testing now to see if it's a fix.

The older SD printers had to have 250k baud the new ones with the printrboard main board will work with any baud.

That may be the case however it didn't work for me. I set it to 250k and it quit printing after a small circle... I'm so frustrated.

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2013-12-20T07:25:46Z

ccomito1223 wrote:

ccomito1223 wrote:
I know this is old but did anyone figure anything out? I've got the same problems as the op and have tried all the usual suspects to no avail.
I did read another thread that suggested the baud rate might be off. I checked my settings and both computers were different and not set to 250000. I'm testing now to see if it's a fix.

The older SD printers had to have 250k baud the new ones with the printrboard main board will work with any baud.

Re: Solidoodle stops mid print/after a couple of layers

2013-12-20T03:41:10Z

ccomito1223 wrote:

I know this is old but did anyone figure anything out? I've got the same problems as the op and have tried all the usual suspects to no avail.

I did read another thread that suggested the baud rate might be off. I checked my settings and both computers were different and not set to 250000. I'm testing now to see if it's a fix.