Mystery error: Zortrax M200 printer fails after starting fine

Zortrax printer fails after starting fine

I am running a print farm which includes 4 zortrax printers. all of these 4 printers only run the same identical files. One of the printers will not complete any prints despite all my efforts to fix it.

  1. material extrudes perfectly with no signs of wear etc.
  2. Print starts perfectly
  3. first few layers seem ok
  4. Either one of three things results in ghosting:
    1. Material gets blocked but layers are adhered well then the print stops
    2. Layers are unstuck and probably causes a blockage which fails the print
    3. Layers go wildly out of alignment and the printer starts ghosting.

I have tried:

  • different material
  • re-levelling the plate
  • cleaning everything on the printer
  • changing the nozzle 
  • changed the hotend
  • changed the extrude cable
  • tightened all screws
  • re-adjusted the motors/ bands
  • created specific print files for this printer with different settings.
  • changed the heatbed cable (I was going to do that anyway)

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! Thanks.

Zortrax printer fails after starting fine

I am running a print farm which includes 4 zortrax printers. all of these 4 printers only run the same identical files. One of the printers will not complete any prints despite all my efforts to fix it.

  1. material extrudes perfectly with no signs of wear etc.
  2. Print starts perfectly
  3. first few layers seem ok
  4. Either one of three things results in ghosting:
    1. Material gets blocked but layers are adhered well then the print stops
    2. Layers are unstuck and probably causes a blockage which fails the print
    3. Layers go wildly out of alignment and the printer starts ghosting.

I have tried:

  • different material
  • re-levelling the plate
  • cleaning everything on the printer
  • changing the nozzle 
  • changed the hotend
  • changed the extrude cable
  • tightened all screws
  • re-adjusted the motors/ bands
  • created specific print files for this printer with different settings.
  • changed the heatbed cable (I was going to do that anyway)

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! Thanks.

Hi Alazer,

As the problem is present only on 1 out of 4 printers, we clearly see that's a hardware issue.

I would change the heater&thermocoupler first (as you haven't replace it yet).

Let me know if it works.

My printer has not completed one print out of the last five prints, I had two prints fail a week ago but thought nothing of it as it didn't happen again. I am currently in contact with one of your staff to solve this problem. I have checked the motherboard connections and it has no fixed the problem. Printer starts fine but somewhere in the printing process it's as if someone has turned the power off then back on.

I have used the exact same print which has worked perfectly before, deleted everything from the usb thumb drive just in case it was a corrupted the file, re-sliced it then put it back on. (I have the latest firmware)

Only thing I can think of is possibly the power supply has a problem?

My printer has not completed one print out of the last five prints, I had two prints fail a week ago but thought nothing of it as it didn't happen again. I am currently in contact with one of your staff to solve this problem. I have checked the motherboard connections and it has no fixed the problem. Printer starts fine but somewhere in the printing process it's as if someone has turned the power off then back on.

I have used the exact same print which has worked perfectly before, deleted everything from the usb thumb drive just in case it was a corrupted the file, re-sliced it then put it back on. (I have the latest firmware)

Only thing I can think of is possibly the power supply has a problem?

Hello, Beninja. 

It is possible that the issue is caused by power supply, but there are other possibilities that should be eliminated. 

At first, please, make sure that it's not caused by the filament endstop - you can deactivate it in your printer's menu and see if the issue reoccurs. 

Beside that, make sure that this issue isn't caused by any power outages in your area. 

Best regards, 

Marta

Zortrax Team

Hi Marta,

I have already asked Karolina if this could be the problem. My end stop doesn't work properly, I have contacted Karolina about this two, my send roll of filament and it hasn't detected the runout (yes it is enabled). I have no power outages in my area especially to cause it to fail 5 times in a row on 1 day (my computer and all appliances are still on including the clocks).

Karolina is helping me resolve this issue.