1 Topic by kajakmannen

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Topic: Solidoodle sensitiv to current spikes and electrical noise

Really satisfied with my SD3 but is a little concerned with one thing. It seems to be really sensitiv to electrical noise or current spikes. I have a light bulb on the bottom of the printer to help getting the bed temp up and it's cable goes out though the lower left hole in the back of the printer. If I turn off the lamp by pulling the connector plug out for the lamp the printer can stop and it looses communication with the computer. Also if I use the hot air blow gun it can stop if the hot air gun is connected to the same electrical connection.

Anyone else having this problem and if so, has someone figured out a solution to the problem. Can the electrical feed be filed in some way or have I missunderstand the problem in some way?

Kajakmannen. Designer and hobbyist. My parts sofar:
Solidoodle 3 enclosure --> thing:125599 on thingiverse
Nema23 stepper fan mount --> thing:125611 on thingiverse

2 Reply by Tomek

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Re: Solidoodle sensitiv to current spikes and electrical noise

Seems quite unusual that you would have that kind of problem. You could add an inductor and extra cap on the solidoodle Vin...But I'm still confused why you would have such a problem.

You are taking from the same AC outlet as solidoodle, but not from the power unit? The power supply unit cannot support more power than the solidoodle defaults. But your outlet should have no problem, especially with a simple non-inductive load like a lightbulb I don't see what could be happening.

Where are you located? Does your country (if not US) have an unusual or questionable electrical system?



I've always been tempted to adjust my Vin for the solidoodle to 13.5Volts, and run a 12V SLA battery with the solidoodle. I communicate via my laptop, so I could survive short power outages because the SLA would supplement the power.  But it is heavy and bulky, and I've never had power outage problems, so I've never tried. But if your electrical source is strange, maybe this will help you as an extreme solution.

3 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: Solidoodle sensitiv to current spikes and electrical noise

I've had a fan plugged into the same power strip to blow on the back of the printer.  If I turned it off during a print, the print would stop.  It isn't a problem with the Azteeg, but it was with the Sanguinololu.  I don't know if the newer Printrboard has that problem.

There was someone here months ago that found his printer stopped if he flipped a certain light switch in the room.

4 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Solidoodle sensitiv to current spikes and electrical noise

IanJohnson wrote:

IIt isn't a problem with the Azteeg, but it was with the Sanguinololu.

Azteeg has SMPS topology, Sanguinololu has linear regulator topology.

tl;dr: Azteeg is better designed, also more expensive.

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5 Reply by Tomek

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Re: Solidoodle sensitiv to current spikes and electrical noise

elmoret wrote:
IanJohnson wrote:

IIt isn't a problem with the Azteeg, but it was with the Sanguinololu.

Azteeg has SMPS topology, Sanguinololu has linear regulator topology.

tl;dr: Azteeg is better designed, also more expensive.


being very particular and whining (and respecting a lot of other posts you make), I'm going to call out your claim about SMPS being better in terms of stability here.

SMPS vs Linear regulator does not make a difference tongue, assuming SMPS is switched mode power supply. Linear regulators are cheaper and stupidly wasteful (they burn 7/12ths of that 12v input as plain heat) but they're actually often more stable than a switched mode supply at least in a few ways. 


It sounds like they just need a better capacitor on the input and/or L-filter on the input.

And your statement about Azteeg  being better designed could very well still be true.

6 Reply by crashaffinity

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Re: Solidoodle sensitiv to current spikes and electrical noise

hooking up the solidoodle to a UPS should fix your problem, i do that as a default on ALL my electronics.

7 Reply by elmoret (edited by elmoret 2013-08-14 13:13:37)

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Re: Solidoodle sensitiv to current spikes and electrical noise

Tomek wrote:
elmoret wrote:
IanJohnson wrote:

IIt isn't a problem with the Azteeg, but it was with the Sanguinololu.

Azteeg has SMPS topology, Sanguinololu has linear regulator topology.

tl;dr: Azteeg is better designed, also more expensive.


being very particular and whining (and respecting a lot of other posts you make), I'm going to call out your claim about SMPS being better in terms of stability here.

SMPS vs Linear regulator does not make a difference tongue, assuming SMPS is switched mode power supply. Linear regulators are cheaper and stupidly wasteful (they burn 7/12ths of that 12v input as plain heat) but they're actually often more stable than a switched mode supply at least in a few ways. 


It sounds like they just need a better capacitor on the input and/or L-filter on the input.

And your statement about Azteeg  being better designed could very well still be true.

A LM7805 has a Vdropout of 2V, and a LM22674 at 500khz with a 0.4v schottky diode has a Vdropout of 0.99V.

Otherwise, you're right. SMPS isn't inherently more robust against voltage drops (outside of the max duty cycle/dropout voltage of the particular controller), but it usually has inherently better filtering (though this same filtering could be applied to a linear regulator)

Then again, I'm just a lowly mechanical engineer by education, I could be completely wrong tongue

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

8 Reply by Tomek (edited by Tomek 2013-08-14 15:49:07)

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Re: Solidoodle sensitiv to current spikes and electrical noise

Worse, I'm just a lowly mechanical engineering student tongue.  You're right about the dropout potentially being an issue if your Vin is close to your Vdd, but with a huge headway between 12v and 7v, this is a fair situation for their not being a difference.

I'm glad Azteeg uses SMPS though, in part because as people want high torque with <1.5amp current since our drivers are limited to that, they need higher inductance motors if they don't get bigger ones. So for a lot of setups we're looking at wanting >12V, at which point it's realllyyy silly to be using a linear regulator to 5V.


To get back on topic: Hi OP. How do you feel about this? Are you capable of modding your sanguinololu to have better input filters? Better input filters probably will help you, though this is not guaranteed.

Are you able to avoid the circumstances that cause your electronics to momentarily die? One or the other should solve the problem, which seems to be a result of the mediocre design of the Sanguinololu (admittedly it's a design that was quite affordable.)

9 Reply by foofoodog

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Re: Solidoodle sensitiv to current spikes and electrical noise

kajakmannen wrote:

Really satisfied with my SD3 but is a little concerned with one thing. It seems to be really sensitiv to electrical noise or current spikes. I have a light bulb on the bottom of the printer to help getting the bed temp up and it's cable goes out though the lower left hole in the back of the printer. If I turn off the lamp by pulling the connector plug out for the lamp the printer can stop and it looses communication with the computer. Also if I use the hot air blow gun it can stop if the hot air gun is connected to the same electrical connection.

Anyone else having this problem and if so, has someone figured out a solution to the problem. Can the electrical feed be filed in some way or have I missunderstand the problem in some way?

Yeah, so if that is a problem then don't do that. How is it you decided you have such heat issues that you thought this redneck chicken coup warmer contraption was a good idea? Are you running this thing in the arctic off of a solar panel? How about you just use a can of sterno instead. There won't be any electrical interference issues then. Or run a cord from another circuit. It is amazing how you drag all the EE types into this thread when all you need to be told is not to do what you are doing.

So this is what I recommend, dump 4oz of acetone in a dish at the bottom of the printer and light that up. That should give you the extra heat you are looking for. Good luck.