Bed and Hot-end not heating.

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ClothBender
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Bed and Hot-end not heating.

Post by ClothBender » Wed Jun 04, 2014 3:43 am

I just installed an e3d v6 hotend on my M2 and now neither the bed nor the hot end are heating up. The hot end was working fine for a minute or so, but it hasn't worked since that first try. I've triple-checked to make sure I haven't missed something obvious, such as the power not being plugged in, but I can't find anything. All of the motors and thermistors are still working fine.

I was just wondering if anyone else has encountered a similar problem or knows how to fix it. FYI my M2 is from November 2012, so it has the 19V and 12V power supplies.

Thanks in advance

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Capt. John
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Re: Bed and Hot-end not heating.

Post by Capt. John » Wed Jun 04, 2014 4:48 am

Long ways from an expert, check wiring was first thought, but that does not
explain the bed not getting heat to it.

What software are you using to operate the printer?

Don't quote me on this, my M2 purchased last April, "I think" is 24 volts.
Capt. John
Manistee, Michigan
Reel Amateur at 3D printing
Fishing Tackle Manufacturer & Webmaster for:
http://www.michiganangler.com
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ClothBender
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Re: Bed and Hot-end not heating.

Post by ClothBender » Wed Jun 04, 2014 4:58 am

Capt. John wrote:Long ways from an expert, check wiring was first thought, but that does not
explain the bed not getting heat to it.
Yeah, I initially thought it might have been an issue with the wires, but like you said, it doesn't explain the bed not heating.
Capt. John wrote:What software are you using to operate the printer?
I use Pronterface

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jimc
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Re: Bed and Hot-end not heating.

Post by jimc » Wed Jun 04, 2014 5:09 am

try sending code M999 to the printer then manually turn on the heat and see what happens.

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ClothBender
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Re: Bed and Hot-end not heating.

Post by ClothBender » Wed Jun 04, 2014 5:54 am

jimc wrote:try sending code M999 to the printer then manually turn on the heat and see what happens.
No go, it's still not heating.

imsmooth
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Re: Bed and Hot-end not heating.

Post by imsmooth » Thu Jun 05, 2014 3:40 am

I just had that issue while testing the systems. I opened the rambo box and saw that my power connector from the power supply was not fully engaged on one side. Thus, those circuits were not getting power. Shoving the connection flush fixed it.

Jonathan

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ClothBender
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Re: Bed and Hot-end not heating.

Post by ClothBender » Thu Jun 05, 2014 5:06 am

imsmooth wrote:I just had that issue while testing the systems. I opened the rambo box and saw that my power connector from the power supply was not fully engaged on one side. Thus, those circuits were not getting power. Shoving the connection flush fixed it.

Jonathan
Checked the power connection and from what I can tell, everything is fine.

Is it possible that there is a problem with my RAMBo board? That's the only thing possibility I can think of at the moment.

Dale Reed
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Re: Bed and Hot-end not heating.

Post by Dale Reed » Thu Jun 05, 2014 9:13 pm

ClothBender,

Check the wiring right behind the bed, where the wires enter the covering right behind the red bed heater connector. A few of us have had the wires flex to the breaking point there. For some it got hot and melted, for others (like me) it pretty much just broke and become intermittent. Also check the connection on the bottom of the heater itself and between the heater and the red connector. Pull apart the red connector and see if you are getting voltage there. At the Rambo end, check that the wires are firmly screwed into the black push-in connector, and be sure that connector is firmly in the board. Measure voltage there.

Check / replace the blue (15A) fuse on the board.

The path for bed heater power is something like this:

* Power supply (plugged in, fuse/breaker OK, getting voltage out -- 12V or 24V, depending on how old your M2 is)
* Power connector (two pins furthest toward the left side of the printer on the six-pin block on the back of the Rambo, block must be fully seated, pins shiny, proper polarity, no little strands shorting the pins --- these are some big wires stuffed into those tiny holes, and it's easy to have a strand hang out)
* 15A fuse (fuse must be good and seated fully in socket)
* switching circuits on the Rambo board (who knows, might've zapped a MOSFET on the board)
* connector for bed heater on Rambo board (solder joints on board good, connector seated fully, wires captured, screws tightened, no shorting strands)
* wires in harness up to bed (no wire breaks due to repeated flexing)
* red connector where bed heater plugs into harness (pins clean, seated fully, wires not broken due to flexing, good solder joints from wires to connector)
* bed heater (wires properly soldered to heater, no breaks due to flexing)

The first place along that path that you don't have 24 V (12 V for older M2s) will tell you where the problem is.

You can diagnose "in reverse" for the bed heater and wiring harness by pulling the 2-pin bed heater connector from the Rambo and resistance on the harness wires. You should see the bed heater resistance all the way down to the 2-pin connector. (That's probably as far as you can go with the resistance check -- the electronics won't play well with the ohmmeter...)

I assume the bed temperature reading is correct (ambient, around 25 C -ish). This would indicate that the bed thermistor (sensor) and its wiring are good. Put your hand on the sensor at the back of the bed and see if the temperature comes up a bit.

Dale

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ClothBender
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Re: Bed and Hot-end not heating.

Post by ClothBender » Thu Jun 05, 2014 11:00 pm

Dale Reed wrote:ClothBender,

Check the wiring right behind the bed, where the wires enter the covering right behind the red bed heater connector. A few of us have had the wires flex to the breaking point there. For some it got hot and melted, for others (like me) it pretty much just broke and become intermittent. Also check the connection on the bottom of the heater itself and between the heater and the red connector. Pull apart the red connector and see if you are getting voltage there. At the Rambo end, check that the wires are firmly screwed into the black push-in connector, and be sure that connector is firmly in the board. Measure voltage there.

Check / replace the blue (15A) fuse on the board.

The path for bed heater power is something like this:

* Power supply (plugged in, fuse/breaker OK, getting voltage out -- 12V or 24V, depending on how old your M2 is)
* Power connector (two pins furthest toward the left side of the printer on the six-pin block on the back of the Rambo, block must be fully seated, pins shiny, proper polarity, no little strands shorting the pins --- these are some big wires stuffed into those tiny holes, and it's easy to have a strand hang out)
* 15A fuse (fuse must be good and seated fully in socket)
* switching circuits on the Rambo board (who knows, might've zapped a MOSFET on the board)
* connector for bed heater on Rambo board (solder joints on board good, connector seated fully, wires captured, screws tightened, no shorting strands)
* wires in harness up to bed (no wire breaks due to repeated flexing)
* red connector where bed heater plugs into harness (pins clean, seated fully, wires not broken due to flexing, good solder joints from wires to connector)
* bed heater (wires properly soldered to heater, no breaks due to flexing)

The first place along that path that you don't have 24 V (12 V for older M2s) will tell you where the problem is.

You can diagnose "in reverse" for the bed heater and wiring harness by pulling the 2-pin bed heater connector from the Rambo and resistance on the harness wires. You should see the bed heater resistance all the way down to the 2-pin connector. (That's probably as far as you can go with the resistance check -- the electronics won't play well with the ohmmeter...)

I assume the bed temperature reading is correct (ambient, around 25 C -ish). This would indicate that the bed thermistor (sensor) and its wiring are good. Put your hand on the sensor at the back of the bed and see if the temperature comes up a bit.

Dale
Thanks for the help, I'll give this a shot. Do you have any insights as to how I should fix my hotend as well? They both stopped heating at the same time.

Dale Reed
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Location: Cleveland Heights, Ohio USA

Re: Bed and Hot-end not heating.

Post by Dale Reed » Thu Jun 05, 2014 11:16 pm

Pretty similar process, with the following exceptions:

* I believe the hot end gets its power from the middle pair of pins on the 6-pin connector at the back.
* The 15A fuse is not involved.
* On older M2s, this is powered from the 19V brick. The 12V brick only powers the two pins on the left, which is only the bed heater.

Obviously, the wires in the harness take a different path up to the extruder carriage and the hot end.

Same concepts, different particulars.
Dale

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