I have a Afinibot A3 3D Printer for 2 months now, and it wasn’t until just recently that i’ve encountered this issue.
My printer reboots itself randomly and is very inconsistent when it resets. When it reboots, it is like it turns itself off and then turns itself on. LCD shows what is shown when turning on such as version, model, firmware, and then shows the home screen. When printing with sd card, it resets itself when heating the extruder, and when it is busy with a print.
I’ve tried printing via repetier host with a usb cable, but with little success. Instead of resetting, the exturder temperature just starts dropping, and if it happens when printing, it makes a stuttering sound and then just stops printing. On the LCD the timer is still counting down even though the printer isn’t printing, and the logs don’t show this problem at all. At this point I have to reset the printer manually. Sometimes I might be able to print something without issues, but I can’t print reliably with this problem.
First Layer: Extruder: 200°C HeatBed: 60°C
Next Layers: Extruder: 190°C HeatBed: 55°C
I’m prepared to replace some parts if need be, but I’m hoping for a easy simple solution that I have simply overlooked.
When you say the next layers are 190deg are you reffering to your printing settings ? (slic3r)
One thing to look at would be the jumper on the control board, one is labeled USB power and will take logic voltage from USB or the power supply. Try it with USB (usually it’s from power).
The first layer is usually not at the same temperature as the others, there is a parameter in Slic3r for that. (see attachment)
We will have a look at the controller here from the stock and try to give you informations about the jumper, if any.
I have found three things that caused my 3D printer to reset during prints.
If you were printing while the computer was off (through the SD Card), but the USB cord was connected to the PC, and you decided to boot up that PC. This establishes a connection via USB which results in your printer to restart.
If your PC is already running and is printing (can be printing from USB or SD Card), and your USB connection is weak or you accidentally bump into it causing it to disconnect/reconnect, then this will also cause the same behaviour as step #1 where it will disconnect.
If it is not plugged to the wall (through a power splitter), It seems like any jump in power that is fed to the PSU can cause instability with the printer. I had an AC connection on the wall outlet and had my 3D printer connection to the outlet below it, and very rarely it would often reboot/stop when my AC turned on. So you may want to make sure the power it receives is steady and does not fluctuate.
Additionally, if this does happen to you, do not peel off your print from the heatbed, you can still resume printing (although it’s a manual and slightly tedious process).
What you want to do is reheat the extruder slightly so that you can lift up the nozzle from the model, as it’ll be stuck somewhere on the model. It may leave a mark, but that’s fine, once it’s lifted from the model, you can set the X Y Z to be home (0,0,0). You then want to manually raise the Z-axis to the highest point of the model, where the last layer was printed and try to align it as best as you can. Note the Z-axis coordinate that you see on the LCD display (or on repetier host). And then check the G Code for that Z-axis position (CTRL + F and enter the z-axis position). You want to delete all of the G Code before it, and keep the G Code that sets the temperature. This way it’ll re-print from the layer that was set at this Z-Axis, it might slightly grind a bit of the plastic on the first layer, but it shouldn’t be too much. You can sand this specific layer after the print is complete.
The printer resets even when the computers is off, so I don’t think the usb is the problem. I did have the printer plugged into a power bar so I tried plugging the printer into the outlet directly, but the printer still resets. I do have a paper printer plugged into the same outlet, but the 3d printer has been working fine with no problems until just recently.
I will try 3d printing with the paper printer unplugged.
Since the 3d printer draws power from the usb as well, it doesn’t completely reset, but it stops the printer from printing and I can’t do anything with it until I reset it myself.
I’m about halfway into a 50 minute print, and it hasn’t reset yet. Going to try longer prints once it is done just to be sure.
For long prints I usually just print off the SD Card, seems to be more reliable for me that way… Otherwise I’d have to keep the computer on, and may potentially encounter a windows update, or something unexpected
After 3d printing for maybe 6 hours straight with the paper printer unplugged, the 3d printer hasn’t reset once. I guess the paper printer being plugged into the same outlet was the cause… which is weird to me, because i’ve had that paper printer last month, and there hasn’t been any issues until just recently.
We would not say it’s 100% sure to be linked.
You printed from the SD card and with or without USB connection ? As Zirak said the USB connection to the PC could reset the board if connected.
I’ve printed from sd card and without a usb connection but it still reset. With the printer unplugged, i’ve tried printing from sd card, and repetier host with usb connection and it did not reset.
Update: 3d printer started resetting itself again even with paper printer unplugged. Tried printing through usb, through sd card, and through sd card with usb unplugged.
You seems to know how to connect electronic things, we see those cable ends.
Just to be sure, have you run over all screw terminal just in case ?
We are waiting for the manufacturer to answer us, the solution might be to replace the controller board but we want to be certain you will not have the same issue after.
