I3 stops printing after a few hours. Anyone else encountered this problem?

Setting: Prusa I3, ramps 1.4, 550W ATX PSU, Gadget 3D LCD with SD support. probably not relevant at all but just in case, Slic3r settings.

Hi, my machine always stops after a few hours of printing so I can never finish bigger prints.
Before I had the LCD display, I used prontrface and I thought the communication between the computer and the printer was the reason. Now I print straight from SD (Gadget 3D LCD) so this shouldn't be a problem anymore but still no more than like 6 hours of printing.

I have also noticed that after a while I start getting strange characters on my LCD, the longer the print, stranger the display. So I guess this might be electronics.

Is it PSU related or what else can I try to find the cause?

EDIT: it stops randomly. Just tried to print the triangle thing again and it stopped after 10 layers. No strange characters on display this time. Fans still turning. SD 11% on screen. I connected my notebook with pronterface to see if boar was hanging and fan immediately stopped and I can move motors.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2013 04:36AM by WestMD.

The issue is EMI. Use shorter lcd cables, run them separated from other wires, and also add a ferrite toroid into the lcd cable.

I'd bet your power supply isn't up to the task.

Are you using a 12v LED power supply? Similiar to what I experienced at some point.

---

Yvan

Singularity Machine

If it's a 550W ATX supply as mentioned in the first post, it likely is not up to the task of driving a printer. Get a 12V 30A industrial supply instead.

If that's not it, then I'd bet on the CPU being flaky. You may have a bad solder joint on the board or tin whiskers.

Quote
uncle_bob
If it's a 550W ATX supply as mentioned in the first post, it likely is not up to the task of driving a printer. Get a 12V 30A industrial supply instead.

If that's not it, then I'd bet on the CPU being flaky. You may have a bad solder joint on the board or tin whiskers.

Duh! I missed that(in the faint blue font...) Short of an oscilloscope, is there some way of seeing those power supply glitches in real time?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2013 07:33PM by Yvan.

---

Yvan

Singularity Machine

Well, that's why they make digital storage scopes.....

Far cheaper to spend the $45 on a known good supply and take it out of the "things I need to worry about" pile.

Thank you very much guys for your feedback. And a big big SORRY, I somehow forgot to click on the mail alert and thought there wasn't any response on my question :s
I just see now you all took the time to help me out. Anyway I have learn my lesson no, always double-check the mail alert.

I think i have solved the problem in the meantime by placing a 8cm fan on the ramps board. Apparently the board was over heating and that caused the printer to stop. Almost printed all big parts of the Delta 3DR without any problems.

Bonus question: Is there a solution available to get rid of the bulldog clips to attach the glass to the bed of an I3? They're driving me crazy, I Can't stand them any longer.

Kapton tape works to attach the glass to the bed. It's sort of semi-permanent. Pulling the "arms" off of the clips has a similar effect. For an even higher level of attach, there's always epoxy.

Thank you, I think I will go with the kapton solution.