Heated bed troubles

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TheMaker
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 6:40 pm

Heated bed troubles

Post by TheMaker » Tue Jul 12, 2016 11:31 pm

Hi,

I've not been using my 3-D printer much at all lately due to being busy with other things, but when I came back to run a project, I noticed that the bed wouldn't heat up.

When I fired it up, everything works fine. The hot end heats up fine, but the bed does not. The M2 I have has the old (outdated and need to replace) double power supplies, has the z stepper motor that heats up to 500 degrees Celsius when printing (an exaggeration, but pretty darn hot), and is not painted matte black like the newer ones but rather just a stainless steal frame.

So, here's the catch.

When I tell S3D to heat up the bed, the red light on the Rambo for the heated bed doesn't light up indicating that the heated bed is getting power. I believe this to be a problem with the power cable connection in the back - it's loose and the male connector pops out easily (even with the cord in a relaxed position). Wiggling the connector slightly (if you hit the sweet spot) lights up the LED, but as soon as you take the pressure off of the connector, the bed (and sometimes the entire machine) becomes disconnected from being powered at all.

So, what do you suppose I could do to remedy this problem?

Thanks in advance!

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SouthSideofdaSky
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:35 pm

Re: Heated bed troubles

Post by SouthSideofdaSky » Wed Jul 13, 2016 12:48 pm

Sounds like you likely have a loose wire. Here is a related thread that may help a bit:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2956

My HBP wire failed last year and I ended up getting a free replacement from MakerGear.

TheMaker
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 6:40 pm

Re: Heated bed troubles

Post by TheMaker » Wed Jul 13, 2016 3:09 pm

Hey, thanks for responding.

I checked out the wires going into the heating pad and those are good. The heated bed works if I wiggle the power connector that connects the rambo to the power supplies.

Again, thanks.

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SouthSideofdaSky
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:35 pm

Re: Heated bed troubles

Post by SouthSideofdaSky » Wed Jul 13, 2016 6:08 pm

Ohhhhh, sorry I misread. I thought you meant the wire connection at the back of the platform rather than the connection at the RAMBO.

It sounds like it is a similar problem though with a flaky electrical connection. If the bed connector is the only one that seems flaky, a new HBP still might fix the problem. I reread your post a couple times...do you mean the main power connector from the power supply to the RAMBO, or the one that connects the HBP to the RAMBO? If you mean the main one, it's odd that only the bed loses power...

You could try any number of things, but I'd recommend emailing support (at) makergear (dot) com and seeing what they tell you. Like I said, they might be willing to replace components for free.

TheMaker
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 6:40 pm

Re: Heated bed troubles

Post by TheMaker » Wed Jul 13, 2016 10:34 pm

Hey,

No problem. It's the main power connector that connects the power supply to the RAMBO.

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