Printer is stopping mid-print

Controllers Smoothie
1

I have a Da Vinci printer that I HEAVILY modified, I replaced everything except the steppers, extruder, and heated bed. It would freeze on me randomly into a print very consistently which is why I modified it to try and fix this problem so I put a Smoothieboard in it. It is STILL freezing mid-print and I am at my wits end, I cannot get a single long print 3+ hour long prints to finish without it simply stopping communication with Pronterface 100% randomly. I use Simplify 3D to output my gcode into Pronterface. My PSU is adequate regulated 20 amps on its own dedicated power outlet, steppers stay around 55C in the enclosure, all the wiring is solid that I have in it, ferrite rings all over the place including on the USB cord. This happens regardless of printing from the SD or Pronterface. It appears to simply stop, steppers are still enabled, its still in “job mode” but nothing else will happen I am un-able to control the printer until I restart everything. It can happen anywhere from 5 minutes into a print to 3 hours into a print it is consistent but there is no common ground between any freeze. I have no idea why it keeps doing this, the entire reason I purchesed a Smoothieboard was because I figured replacing the entire controller board would solve the problem and it did not… I can find countless others who have the same issues with other boards online also so it seems like a very common problem in 3d printing that has no clear answer or solution, I’ve spent many many hours trying to fix this… I have experience dealing with machines like this also I have built my own CNC machine that has never had a single problem like freezeing mid-cut. I have no clue what else to try I have invested a huge amount of money and still not getting any results at all with this thing… Very frustrating… any ideas………?

Ryan

Also sometimes when it freezes it will still be regulating the temperatures, like it stopped executing gcode. Other times the entire printer will lock up and the temperatures go wild and have no kind of shut off.

Imported from wikidot

2

Hey there !

What you describe is, in my experience, most commonly caused by a ground loop problem.

Your computer, and your 3D printer, should be connected as close as possible in your electrical network ( ideally in the same power strip ) and all the cables ( power cables, usb cable ) should be as short as possible.

If your problem is a ground loop problem, printing from SD card will not help as long as your USB cable still connects the printer to the computer.

Also make sure you unmount the Smoothieboard’s mass storage device before printing.

Cheers.

3

I did not do any actual grounding on the printer itself also. The install process on this website lacked the information to properly ground the printers electronics through the PSU could this be effecting it? I’m not sure how to actually do that properly.

4

Ground loop does not really have to do with grounding the printer frame.

It just means your printer and your computer should be connected very close together in the network ( ideally on the same power strip ).

You can find instructions on the web about grounding things, but it’s no simple matter.