Stops at random points in the middle of the print

whoDat · Post by **whoDat** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:33 pm

Recently my M2 likes to stop in the middle of a print, at seemingly random points. The whole thing just stops, all motors. The printer is still 'On' ... all fans are running and the LCD is on. I try to re-start it by having it start at the layer it left off on (Simplify3D lets you start at a certain layer) but it's hard to get that exact using a ruler to measure. It seemed to start doing it after I upgraded to Windows 10, but then I tried printing using SD card rather than over USB and it's still doing the same thing.

1. Anyone know what to check that would cause this?

2. Is there a better way to know what layer (or mm height) it stopped on so that I can at least restart it at that point?

whoDat

Bratag · Post by **Bratag** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 10:01 pm

whoDat wrote:Recently my M2 likes to stop in the middle of a print, at seemingly random points. The whole thing just stops, all motors. The printer is still 'On' ... all fans are running and the LCD is on. I try to re-start it by having it start at the layer it left off on (Simplify3D lets you start at a certain layer) but it's hard to get that exact using a ruler to measure. It seemed to start doing it after I upgraded to Windows 10, but then I tried printing using SD card rather than over USB and it's still doing the same thing.

1. Anyone know what to check that would cause this?

2. Is there a better way to know what layer (or mm height) it stopped on so that I can at least restart it at that point?

whoDat

Are you printing over USB? If so then that's probably your issue. Any interruption to the USB communication can cause this and windows is prone to doing that. If you catch it in time then you can simply hit pause -> resume on the machine control panel in S3D and it should pick right up again. Alternatively, and probably better, is print from SD card and disconnect the USB entirely - in fact this can even happen if you are printing from SDcard and have the USB connected.

willnewton · Post by **willnewton** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 12:03 am

He did mention that he tried the SD card and still no worky. I am not sure about your stopping issue, but for fine tuning your restart you can just grab the Z-knob and give it a few clicks until it is printing how you like. You can also fine tune your first layer this way too in case your bed is out of whack and you don't have the time or inclination to go through the bed level.

Sorry you are having trouble, make sure to send a note to tech support now, so they can get back to you before the weekend. Makergear has a great help desk.

When you say the stop, do you mean stop with the motors locked or stopped and powered down?

In S3D, you can turn on "verbose logging" in the machine control panel and it will log the g-code, probably giving you the layer if you scroll back through it, but I have never gone through and checked it for specific layer#.

Bratag · Post by **Bratag** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 2:48 am

willnewton wrote:He did mention that he tried the SD card and still no worky. I am not sure about your stopping issue, but for fine tuning your restart you can just grab the Z-knob and give it a few clicks until it is printing how you like. You can also fine tune your first layer this way too in case your bed is out of whack and you don't have the time or inclination to go through the bed level.

Sorry you are having trouble, make sure to send a note to tech support now, so they can get back to you before the weekend. Makergear has a great help desk.

When you say the stop, do you mean stop with the motors locked or stopped and powered down?

In S3D, you can turn on "verbose logging" in the machine control panel and it will log the g-code, probably giving you the layer if you scroll back through it, but I have never gone through and checked it for specific layer#.

True - hence my comment about disconnecting the USB all together - you can be printing off SDcard and still have interruptions over it.

willnewton · Post by **willnewton** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 2:59 pm

Just having USB plugged in is enough to cause an issue even when printing from an SD card? I have not experienced that issue before, but I only print via USB.

He did mention a new OS install, maybe Win10 is messing with his USB...... I wonder if he is using the computer for other tasks while printing?

He might need some Octoprint!

whoDat · Post by **whoDat** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:24 pm

I've tried printing with the USB cable completely disconnected (used the LCD to start the print) and still having the same issue. It's also doing it much more frequently now. Going to try logging with verbose on to see if there are any issues showing up in the log.

It just stops, all motors still locked, fans still on, hot end and bed still stay at temp.

whoDat

insta · Post by **insta** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:47 pm

I've seen that happen when the SD card wasn't safely ejected ...

jimc · Post by **jimc** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:51 pm

yes try a different sd card. it may be corrupted in some way.

PcS · Post by **PcS** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:40 pm

I had this happen to me and in the end it was an lcd that went bad causing the problem. I disconnected the lcd and swapped out the firmware and everything was fine after.

dklassen · Post by **dklassen** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 11:59 pm

Old thread but all of a sudden the same thing is happening to me. Just stops at random points. LCD you say?

Stops at random points in the middle of the print

Stops at random points in the middle of the print

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