Print job stops halfway (replicator dual clone)

[KC]

Hi all,

Need some help troubleshooting with my replicator dual clone (Duplicator 3).

The printer was printing and suddenly there was a brief "thud" sound and the extruder stopped moving and stopped extruding. No error message comes up on the LCD screen, but when I tried moving the extruder mount I realised that the whole mount is locked in place (so i guess the X and Y axes stepper motors are still engaged). It just wouldn't move at all so I had to cancel the print.

I checked the cable connections for X and Y axes motor and briefly tightened all the pulleys. Then I attempted the same print again but the same problem happened.

The printer firmware I am using is makerbot firmware 7.5, and the print job was done via SD card.

What could be the problem? What are the chances that SD card slot is damaged if the print job was started properly but stopped halfway (I am trying to rule this out now by printing via USB)?

Appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction. Thank you for your time!

[Dan Newman]

Did the print ever work from the SD card? I ask as MBI's firmware has a known
bug whereby a print will work from the SD card file but after working one or two
times, the file will become corrupted and the print will then just stop partway
through as you described.

Or the problem could be something else entirely (bad SD card, problem with
the electronics, etc.).

Dan

[Jetguy]

Basically, what Dan is telling you is the same advice I would provide in the Wanhao group.

#1 Don't use MakerBot OEM firmware on your Duplicator. That's about 6 ways of wrong even though I know that Wanhao has that listed in the update instructions.

#2 if you want to update your firmware, Use Sailfish firmware specifically edited for the Duplicator series.

#3 No surprise to see both an SD card error and combination firmware issue on an older D3 using Makerbot firmware.

As Dan pointed out, there are tons of ways this can wrong all related to a BAD SD card read. Running MakerBot firmware has dozens of reported bugs in it, and as Dan pointed out, there is a KNOWN issue that each time you print a file from SD, certain MakerBot firmware can and DOES corrupt the file. That means it prints once fine, then craps out a second time you print because the file was corrupted.

Part 2 of the problem Dan pointed out is D3 and early D4 models route the X axis motor and endstop cables directly next to the SD card reader and ribbon cable going to the mainboard. This has been corrected on the D4S and is no longer an issue per specific advice I gave to Wanhao for new models. That said, it's trivial to make a simple modification to move the X axis cables to the back right corner hole and connect to the mainboard routing them far away from the SD card reader and ribbon cable.

I included that step in a larger mod to go to flex rated cables but no reason it cannot be performed with the stock wiring.

So basically I would say do both:

#1 load Sailfish firmware instead of MakerBot

#2 move the X wiring away from the LCD ribbon cable in the front right corner of the machine to the back right corner.

In this picture, you can see BOTH the X and Y axis wires go down the right hand back corner cable path to the mainboard.

https://flic.kr/p/mSXVdZ

[Jetguy]

Sorry, in part 2 when I say "Dan Pointed out", what I meant was Dan was saying the SD card hardware was suspect. He is correct, many Replicator Dual "clone" machines have copied the original MakerBot schematic and yet in the process potentially caused even less stable SD card reads than the OEM Replicator Duals could be.

What I've found is that the biggest problem in nearly every clone bot is that the X axis stepper motor cables are bundled near the SD card reader circuit board and ribbon cable going to the mainboard. The stepper motor wires throw off a huge amount of EMI/RFI (radio interference) that due to proximity to the SD card reader and ribbon cable to the mainboard results in corrupted SD card reads.

It's that combo of potentially bad interference + a known bug (bad feature- however you want to spin it) that MakerBot firmware can write back to the SD card and such EMI/RFI during that write could corrupt the file on the SD card, beyond just corrupting a read really makes this a bad situation.

Again, what I'm saying is this is a double combo of bad situations and is true for any bot running a firmware based on Makerbot code. Most all machines (Replicator Dual, Replicator-2, Replicator 2X, CTC, Flash Forge, Wanhao, Mbot 3D) have less than perfect electrical wiring and routing, circuit board design, etc. This potentially affect SD card reads and can corrupt them on nearly every 3D printer on the market in some form or another.

However, MakerBot used some library code for the SD card functionality that also wrote to the SD card file when closing the file. Sailfish firmware has corrected this, MakerBot firmware hasn't.

So the wiring problems and other design issues set you up for a highly likely chance of corruption and then using MakerBot firmware that writes to the file at closure (not required for any reason) "seals the deal" in that if EMI/RFI just happens to be present at the time of writing back to SD card, you can pretty much count that file as being corrupted. Sailfish doesn't perform this write back to the file at closure.

[KC]

Hi Dan and Jetguy,

Thanks for all the advices, really appreciate it.

I will reposition the x axis stepper motor wire to rule out any EMI issues that could result in the problem.

I had problem upgrading my duplicator 3 firmware to sailfish as the upload new firmware always ended with failed to upload error message. I had successfully uploaded sailfish 7.7 to my duplicator 4 and the process goes fine. I have to be honest though this replicator dual clone of mine is not exactly a duplicator 3 but it is basically an unbranded clone that is from the same line as lasercut wood duplicator 3/ flashforge creator. I tried uploading sailfish firmware via both "duplicator 4 v1.5" and "flashforge creator v1.5" but both failed the upload. I am just wondering are these firmwares compatible with the older replicator dual clones?

Another question is: I have good reason to suspect that I might have screwed up the board that is holding to the SD card slot reader and keypad buttons. My SD card fell into the ridge beside the card slot and I mistakenly used a tweezer to retrieve the card. In doing so I accidentally touched the board and that triggered a "reset" melody. Now my SD card is still reading properly, but I will experience the jam halfway through the print job which could be due to faulty SD card reading transmission. So the question is that, if the board is messed up by myself, would the card reader still be able to read the SD card?

Thanks again for your time!

[Jetguy]

Ok, so for Duplicator 4, auto reset is enabled for firmware update, AKA you DO NOT press the reset button for upload. As such, your clone or knockoff probably doesn't have auto reset and therefore you MUST press the reset button on the printer BEFORE clicking upload.

The firmware is compatible, you just need to reset so the printer is in bootloader mode to upload firmware.

NO, highly unlike you messed up the SD card board, If it reads at all, then it works.

This is a combo of EMI from the stepper and using MakerBot firmware.

[KC]

I see. Will give the reset button a try later.

I have re-positioned the x-axis cable and the printer is working fine for now, even though the firmware is still makerbot 7.5. I will probably have a better peace of mind after I upgrade the firmware to sailfish 7.7.

Thank you for your kind help Jetguy, really appreciate it. Learning new things as I go!