1 Topic by RogerR

  • RogerR
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Topic: fans/internal LED "pulsing"

Long time listener, first time caller...

I teach at a High School, and we've had our press for almost a month. We've fought our way through most of the common issues, but a within the last week or so, have found a new one. The internal LEDs, as well as all the fans, well pulse on and off every 3 seconds or so. We've given the board a once over, and not noticed any clearly damaged components, and have tried unplugging various combinations of the LEDs and fans, without any change. It seems to print OK, though I suspect that the pulsing of the fan on the extruder head probably makes it more susceptible to jamming due to the heat softening the filament.

I didn't see any other instances of this on the Press forums. Any ideas?

2 Reply by Mysterio

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Re: fans/internal LED "pulsing"

I don't have any real clues but I'm curious as to whether they pulse all the time or just when printing, and if it's the latter, does it seem to synchronize with the pulsing of the green ring around the power button?

3 Reply by RogerR

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Re: fans/internal LED "pulsing"

Actually, oddly enough, the top LED doesn't pulse while it prints. I don't recall if it ever did, but several of my students tell me it used to.

4 Reply by Mysterio

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Re: fans/internal LED "pulsing"

RogerR wrote:

Actually, oddly enough, the top LED doesn't pulse while it prints. I don't recall if it ever did, but several of my students tell me it used to.

That's really suspicious...  I wonder if something shorted out on the board, but if so I'm surprised it's printing at all.  Have you sent a support request?  They are incredibly slow to respond though.

5 Reply by RogerR

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Re: fans/internal LED "pulsing"

Mysterio wrote:
RogerR wrote:

Actually, oddly enough, the top LED doesn't pulse while it prints. I don't recall if it ever did, but several of my students tell me it used to.

That's really suspicious...  I wonder if something shorted out on the board, but if so I'm surprised it's printing at all.  Have you sent a support request?  They are incredibly slow to respond though.

Yes to both your questions on the press support. It now has a new symptom as well; after a couple hours of printing (or attempts at printing), the LEDs and fans stop completely. Also, the extruder motor sounds very "weak", and jams very easily. we checked the stepper pots with a multimeter per the online instructions, and the voltage was a bit high (1.7 V), and we adjusted it but there was little if any change. Not sure if the motor is related. To the fans/LED problem.

6 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: fans/internal LED "pulsing"

RogerR wrote:
Mysterio wrote:
RogerR wrote:

Actually, oddly enough, the top LED doesn't pulse while it prints. I don't recall if it ever did, but several of my students tell me it used to.

That's really suspicious...  I wonder if something shorted out on the board, but if so I'm surprised it's printing at all.  Have you sent a support request?  They are incredibly slow to respond though.

Yes to both your questions on the press support. It now has a new symptom as well; after a couple hours of printing (or attempts at printing), the LEDs and fans stop completely. Also, the extruder motor sounds very "weak", and jams very easily. we checked the stepper pots with a multimeter per the online instructions, and the voltage was a bit high (1.7 V), and we adjusted it but there was little if any change. Not sure if the motor is related. To the fans/LED problem.

Sounds like your power supply is bad. The pulsing is caused by the off/on heating cycles of which draw the most current. Check into a new power supply and you should be good.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
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7 Reply by AZERATE

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Re: fans/internal LED "pulsing"

carl_m1968 wrote:

Sounds like your power supply is bad.

I wouldn't say "bad", so I give this a +.75 wink
Many users have upgraded to something like this . I had pulsing/flashing issues and my issue mostly disappeared once upgrading.

The pulsing, in my experience, never happens when the printer is simply turned on, but when I heat the bed or hotend, then the pulsing begins. Once I upgraded, the pulse is less of a disco show even when heating both simultaneously...but I have done many modifications, so the 'bad power supply'' comment may be a cause if your are 100% stock. Still, this can be corrected by upgrading your PSU

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