Filament Runout Sensor Issue Hictop Prusa I3

Recently I ran into some troubles with the filament runout sensor on my Hictop Prusa i3. Basically the filament sensor alarm starts buzzing and the system stops working just after movement begins whether there is filament in the printer or not. After many emails back and forth with Hictop troubleshooting they decided the part was defective and they would send me a new one in 10-15 business days from China. It has been 20 and still nothing. I have reached out to Hictop but no response as of yet.

So my questions is, can I just disable the sensor all together? I don't find it to be entirely necessary while I figure out my replacement part situation with Hictop.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is the first 3d printer I have built.

Thank you

This is exactly what was happening to both my Hictop's

I found a solution for my Hictop's filament run-out sensor and other problems read the link supplied EFI Shielding nothing ventured nothing gained.
sounds strange but with only a simple test you will know for sure.

In the attached pictures I found a old case and just slid it over the controller held on by duct tape, as a test to prove that Electrical interference was causing my entire set of problems.

However I do not recommend this as the possibility of a short is high.





yes you can disable the sensor by changing the Marlin software and re-flashing the controller.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2017 08:00AM by Roberts_Clif.

Thank you so much for your advice and this is definitely something I would like to try however the issue is this is my only printer and I need it to work first in order to print the cover piece for the EFI shield.

Right now I am looking for a temporary fix to disable the sensor all together and get the printer working in the meantime

I will absolutely do this once the printer is working though so again thank you

I'm sorry I didn't see the part you mentioned about using just an old case of some kind to test great idea...I will do that tonight

also...any idea what changes I will need to make to the firmware?

I apologize for being new to all this

I do not know what software comes with Hictop 3DP11.

I bought Both my 3D Printer Used, as the Original owners could not get them to work.

I do Have this web Page for Hictop and it states that it is Marlin.

then you would use Marlin like the partial source below

* Configuration.h

//===========================================================================
//========================= Filament Runout Sensor ==========================
//===========================================================================
//#define FILAMENT_RUNOUT_SENSOR // Uncomment for defining a filament runout sensor such as a mechanical or opto endstop to check the existence of filament
// RAMPS-based boards use SERVO3_PIN. For other boards you may need to define FIL_RUNOUT_PIN.
// It is assumed that when logic high = filament available
// when logic low = filament ran out
#if ENABLED(FILAMENT_RUNOUT_SENSOR)
#define FIL_RUNOUT_INVERTING false // set to true to invert the logic of the sensor.
#define ENDSTOPPULLUP_FIL_RUNOUT // Uncomment to use internal pullup for filament runout pins if the sensor is defined.
#define FILAMENT_RUNOUT_SCRIPT "M600"
#endif


Presently using Marlin 1.1.0 RC8BF - Release Candidate 8 BF standing for Bug Fix

Downloaded from here

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.
Setup was really easy for the most part, the hard part was troubleshooting the EFI troubles. It really looked like programming errors, bad components, defective parts and was not thinking correctly.
Should have started troubleshooting in the first place.

Oh!! Just finished printing my second EFI print shield. This will be 9 hours of successful printing with the EFI fix. (EverReady battery)
Now to begin the Aluminum Duct Tape installation.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2017 03:09PM by Roberts_Clif.