Prusa Mk4 - Second failed print with the same failure mode
toobnix.org
This is the second time this happens: somehow the motors or the belt slip (not in just one axis) or the Prusa printer loses its origin or something, 3 or 4 layers into this large and long print: al...

This morning I came to work to a perfectly printed set of plates. So I started another instance of the exact same print, went for a swim at the municipal swimming pool nearby, came back to check on it just in case, and it had done the same thing it did on Friday.

This time, nobody was at the office (it’s Sunday) so I know nobody monkeyed with the print. Clearly the plate hasn’t moved. So those hypotheses are out.

The belts look tight - although the teeth feel a bit chewed up, particularly the table belt. But I doubt this is what caused the slip, as it seems to slip randomly in both directions at the same time.

At this point, I’m placing my bet on the print head coming so close to the edges that it hits the limit(s) when it’s unlucky, or it causes the stepper motors’ counters to overflow or something - i.e. it hits a firmware bug. The PrusaSlicer software seems very confident that I can print this close to the edges, and indeed the printer does it, but I wonder if it’s overly optimistic.

So I bunched up all the plates closer to the center of the bed and re-sliced, so the printer never prints less than ¼ inch from any one edge. Let’s see what happens with that.

  • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.orgOPEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    This is the company’s printer. I’ll have to get the expense approved first.

    Assuming it needs servicing of course: I have to keep cranking out these adapter plates as fast as possible right now, and something tells me not going so close to the edges of the bed will help. It wouldn’t be the first firmware bug I hit in this printer…

    Thanks for the tip!

    • teotwaki@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      Not sure what you need to get approved. Buying a roll of ASA? It’s part of printer maintenance, and making it more reliable in the long run.

      And if you don’t have ABS/ASA on hand… why is the printer in an enclosure?

      • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.orgOPEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        My company is flexible, but ultimately this is not my printer and I want to ask permission to undertake maintenance. For all I know, whoever ordered it in the first place is in fact in charge of it, or maybe they want a 3rd party to do it. It’s just a matter of talking to the boss and making sure what I’m about to do is approved 🙂