ouch! looks like a nasty one to me! could the main ultimaker board be over heating? causing a slightly dodgy solder joint to fail/short causing the freeze out? are you able to run the printer with an addition fan blowing across the board?
Either way, sounds like a new main board may be required.
Contact
Remember ultimaker is community driven so they will help anyway they can.
Hi!
Maybe you can start swaping Z axis motor. If the problem persist the you should focus on the main board.
If you have 2 printers, swaping parts you will find were the problems come from.
Let’s see!
My first suggestion would be to make sure you download the most recent version of Cura and also install the most recent firmware. Once you have done that make sure to reset the machine back to factory default and see if that fixes your problem.
Try to level again the buildplate!! Maybe the nozzle does not have the appropriate distance from the buildplate.
Most likely the Z stepper is overheating so definitelyi reduce the Z current but dont’ print anything large until figuring this out. The next most likely thing is that your stepper is moving 2x as far as it should be - something wrong with the microstepping setting. I think there is a jumper on the board near the Z stepper driver that needs to be installed or removed. You can easily test this by moving the Z around - start at any height say 0mm from the glass then move to 10mm from the glass and I’m guessing it will be 20mm up instead of 10mm. Exactly.
There is a jumper somewhere. Contact support.
Your screen freezing is MUCH more troubling. Did you have USB connected when that happened? If so then disconnect. If not, send it back (the pcb). That should never ever happen.
Hey Gregh,
The problems I see listed in your post, to me, in my experience with troubleshooting hardware (having been on the programming side, as well as the hardware side) of designed systems: the described phenomenas in systems such as this, are as a result of hardware failure. This could be as you said a result of corrupted memory in my opinion, or an electrical component that has since become faulty on the board becoming sensitive after long hours of printing. My advice would be to look into a new board for your ultimaker such as the one in the following link:
Best of luck to you!
has it ever worked right?
no:
-do you have the correct Z stepper motor? (it is different from the XY steppers)
yes:
- it could be a power issue, try running it in a different location such as at work. or try a different power brick.
- it could be something related to the electronics. maybe ESD damage.
what’s your handle on the UM forum, couldn’t find the post?
https://ultimaker.com/en/community/21084-possible-motherboard-breakdown
would love to understand why this had so little attention in UMForum.
Yes. It’s an issue which has appeared in the last week or so after using the printer daily for months.
I actually move my printer between the office and home and have seen this issue at both locations on the one printer. I will add swapping the bricks to the list.
Thanks,
The screen glitch issue is described exactly by 2 other users here:
https://ultimaker.com/en/community/18135-screen-input-freezing-but-still-printing
But no resolution on that thread.
I have seen this 3 times in the last few days
UM GB support is busy assisting, I’ll keep you all posted.
Cheers,
Greg
Thanks for this. Since reducing the current from 1300 to 1200 I did not see the original issue again on the Z axis. I did see similar overstepping on the Y though and I then reduced the current on the XY steppers similarly. That seems to be working, but there is heat-staining on the board that indicates that the stepper drivers have been overheating. I am now running a fan over the board while I print, but I now wonder if the overheating has caused other damage to the board becasue I am still seeing some freezing up and other quirks. UM GB is supporting me.
Thanks again for the suggestion.
Greg
