printer died

Mid print it just stopped - wouldn't come back on.

Attachment 15228

The plug is burnt and the receptacle looks corroded.
I know I need a new receptacle and power cord.
I saw an older thread about this and the advice was to test the motherboard. I'm not an electronics person so I have no idea about that. I looked on Amazon for motherboard testers and nothing looked like anything I know how to use. Should I just buy another motherboard?

What about the power supply box? At first I thought that would have to be replaced, but now I'm not sure. The light on the switch comes on when I turn it on, but nothing else does.

Last question - if I end up replacing these parts is there something that I can do - as an electronics illiterate - to improve the function or durablity of my machine or should I just replace them with the same thing? Sometimes I feel like I spend more time working on the machine than I do printing on it - I wouldn't mind an upgrade.

Any information or advice is appreciated.
Donna

Starting at the Beginning.

What I mean is start by testing the Fuse, power Cord, Power Receptacle, Power Supply.
The Fuse is in the Power Receptacle.
If the Fuse has blown you can replace an power on , if the fuse blows again further testing will be required.
You can do a old mans test by smelling the power supply if it smells burnt it most likely is dead.
Though with proper training anything can be repaired.

Before continuing AC MAIN VOLTAGE IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!!!i

You must know that I am a Electronics Technician an have been repairing electronics for 50 years.
Repair is not recommended except by an Electronics Technician, Plus replacement power Supplies are not expense.

I replaced the internal fuse in my supply and the thermal fuse (RT1) and powered it back on and it worked.

Attachment 15230

Again AC MAIN VOLTAGE IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!!!i Your Life is not worth the price of this $20 power supply. Or at least $20 where I live.


More likely that not the Main Board is alright, When my power supply died ("exploded") it sounded like a M80 firecracker going off.
This sound is enough to scare most people into leaving house AC MAIN VOLTAGE alone.

Now for the good news My controller was not damaged, so more likely yours too should be OK!!!

If you want to trouble shoot be extra careful.
1st You will need a good multi-meter to measure voltage and resistance and a knowledge of what the numbers mean.
In today electronics repair most do complete assembly swaps in my day we repaired to component level which in my opinion is fun.

If you need help in how to there are many How to videos on you-tube. I find myself searching for many to quicken the repairs.
When you decide to start trouble shooting your 3D Printer setup a game plan.

My self I would disconnect the Power Supply connect the controller to a USB power source this will show you if it will power on.
Then while the Power supply is disconnect from the controller replace the Fuse and power it on this will protect the controller for a spark.

After you have done initial test post results for more information.

I've seen that quite alot over the years.
It's usually because the plug is a poor fit or just hasn't been pushed far enough into the socket.
The burn marks are causde by the electricity actually bridging the gap between the pin and the socket - ie: they are not quite making contact with each other- but are close enough for the power to arc across the gap.
You cna usually both hear such sockets 'fizzing' and usually smell the burning as well.

And yeah when the capacitor in a power supply goes it really GOES !

Computer power supplies have very large capacitors in them. Like c cell batteries.
Twice I've had one explode on me while I was peering at the back of a computer. Huge bang, massive spark about 6 inches long and both times I very nearly crapped myself.
I'm a LOT more careful these days.

Slightest sign os a psu issue and the old one comes out and a new one goes in before I go anywhere near the power switch. :-)

The best one I ever had (it's relative, the owner wasn't as impressed as I was) was entirely my fault.

We had a loose power switch on a computer - and like pillock i was poking around the connectors with a screwdriver while the thing was switched on.
Next thing something 'bit' my hand, there was a huge bang and smoke coming from the wall socket where it twas plugged in.

Nice weld spot on the shaft of my screwdriver - the fuse in the mains plug had literally vapourised - nothing but molten glass and burn marks left.
The computer was fine.

The surmise was that the mains power had come out the wall - then run down the screwdriver and headed back to the wall - mwhere the fuse and it had an argument and the fuse lost.


And no, i don't do silly things like that any more :-)

Electricity scares me. I've done more with this printer than I ever thought I would. Haven't had much choice - it's not like there is a 3d printer repair shop down the road. I only found this place a couple months ago, and you have already been a lot of help.

Last night I got in touch with Tronxy. I have been chatting and emailing with them and they sent me a pic of how to check the power supply. If I'm not clear on what to do when I get a tester, I'll probably just order a power supply box. I'll let you know what happens.

Not long after I got this machine, one of the wires to the hot bed burned thru. It kept happening and I did some research on it. I found out about Mosfit boards and added one to my machine. I was nervous about doing it, but I finally got it right. I was mostly having problems with overheating when I tried to use ABS and had to crank up the temp of the bed so I put it off for months. I finally got up the nerve. LOL. One thing I kept reading was that the power supply provided with most of these machines is not large enough and that it is a good idea to upgrade. Is that something I should do or is it not a good idea. If I remember right, they said to change the 12V supply to 24V? Does that make sense? The Mosfit helps, but I have had the bed wiring go bad a couple of times since then. It gets hot and is in constant motion. Would a larger power supply help with that or make it worse?

Thanks so much for the replies. Your experience is very helpful. I'm sure you can tell I don't have a clue.

Donna

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frierson22

One thing I kept reading was that the power supply provided with most of these machines is not large enough and that it is a good idea to upgrade.

Donna

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Yes

I have purchased a larger power supply for one of my 3D Printers, Thought would replace the Next time every time I do work.
I finally decided I will keep the Supply as a Spare, If it is not broke don't fix it.

When I started out in electronics my boss drew a 4 foot arc from a 2000 Wt Armature Radio linear RF Amplifier,
Scared me real good, it also impressed to enough to want to play with this mysteriously powerful electric current my whole life.

When you are ready to start your repairs if you want some morel support or just a friendly gesture that you are prepared for final testing'

POST!

We will be here to help you with all our combined knowledge...

it actually sounds like you need better quality wiring.

The wire is getting hot because it is carrying more current than it's actually supposed to - or it's just putting up too much resistance. Either way you need better wire..

For something like a hotbed you want pretty thick wire - cliff will know the various specifications - I just know that you can rarely have too high a specification but it's really easy to use wiring that just isn't up to the job.

I have a mate who is an industrial electrician - so i just tell him what i want and the supply cupboard at the factory provides the right stuff.

But if wiring is getting so hot the plastic is melting - you definitely need better wire.

I'm just going to get another power supply. I think that is the problem. At least I hope it is. I got a tester and didn't spend a lot of time trying to figure it out, so I didn't get a reading I think is valid. The tiny power indicator light that is inside the box is not coming on. Like you said, they don't cost that much and just easier. Hopefully that will fix it.

As far as the hot bed, a lot of what I read about that blamed it on the connectors. They are pretty shaky and with the bed being in constant motion, that's where it fails and sometimes burns the connector. One common solution was to solder the connections directly. I'm not comfortable with that since I have never soldered before. I don't want to learn on that. I've gotten really good at attaching the connectors and did switch to larger wire and it's working much better. I just watch it and try to make sure there is as little pressure as possible on the connections.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frierson22

As far as the hot bed, a lot of what I read about that blamed it on the connectors.
They are pretty shaky and with the bed being in constant motion, that's where it fails and sometimes burns the connector.

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Glad to see you decide of a new power supply!

Heat is generated from the weakest link the
1. - smaller Wire causes the majority of Hot Bed heating Problems.
2. - Controllers Mosfets being under rated.

Both of these can easily be fixed.
1. Use Larger Wire - (You Have Completed this)
2. Only need to do this if it continues to overheat.

There are a lot of people a lot there telling us that we need an expensive Controllers that our controllers will not work.
Wrong they are totally incorrect my smaller cheaper Chinese controller has never failed me.

However I have failed them by making a small mistake now they are dead. This does not make my controllers BAD!!!

Post a Picture of the burnt connectors.

These are pics of the first time it happened. I only have them because I was running around trying to find a replacement connector locally. No luck of course. There was nothing telling me what the connector is called and I ended up ordering several of the wrong things. I got a replacement assembly from the company and later figured out how to order what I need so now I have a bunch of the little metal connectors that go on the end of the wire and the plastic connectors so I can replace just what is damaged. Then I had to buy a new tool to attach the connector to the wire which of course came with no instructions. YouTube and trial and error finally got it right. I think the larger wire and the mosfit helps - I can physically feel that the connector is cooler than before, and the plastic connector does not look so burnt when it does fail. The last one looked more like just a physical break than a burnt wire. One reason my connection lasts longer now is practice using the tool and getting better connections. After this last time, I tried to re-route the wires so that there is less stress on the connection as the bed moves. Keeping my fingers crossed that will take care of it. If I have another break, I will ask again for more info on the Mosfit controllers you mentioned.ThanksDonna

Stupid question - how do I get breaks in my response. I use the return to break up the long text into easier to read groups, but when I post, the breaks go away.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frierson22

Stupid question - how do I get breaks in my response. I use the return to break up the long text into easier to read groups, but when I post, the breaks go away.

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I just type like always

Carriage return gives me another line (Enter) in windows
What are you using to connect to the forum.

Molex connector

Hot-Bed Cable

I use Microsoft Edge most times.

Yes that's what I needed. At this point it's easier for me to reconnect broken wire to the connector than to open the control panel and attach the other end there.

I just figured it out.

Clicked on remove format box - whatever that means - it worked.

as far vas the formatting goes - try switching to firefox.
Not only will it speed up your internet browsing and stop microspoft spying on you (well a bit anyway), but you should find that things like text formatting should fix themselves.

I mena edge is actuially better than chrome, but neither is particularly good and both have fairly major agendas.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefo...ce=firefox-com

So I finally got my new power supply. It was easy enough to hook up - just moved wires straight from the old one to the same spot on the new. It turned on and everything seemed fine. But when I try to heat the bed or the nozzle it freezes with a "powering down" message. I can turn it off and back on. I can use the controls to move the nozzle around for a few seconds, then it will do it again.

So frustrating - I haven't been able to print since mid September.

Anybody know what could be causing this? I'm ready to just get a new printer. Problem is, the best deal for the money I can afford seems to be Tronxy and I'll have the same problem getting replacement parts.

I figured it out - the voltage switch on the power supply needed to be switched from 220 to 110.Duh - I remember having to do that when I first set up the printer, but forgot to check with the new power supply. Thank goodness - I will be printing again.

I'm back again with more problems. My heated bed is out again. From the pic it's easy to see where it failed - same as always.

Attachment 15505

I added a Mosfit board and since then I have just been replacing the female connector, or, if possible, just the damaged wire end. The male connector looks worse every time it happens, but so far it has continued to work.

Attachment 15506

The male connector is soldered directly to the bed and I would not know where to begin replacing it.

Is there a way to strengthen or improve that connection that a novice could safely handle?

Earlier on this thread you mentioned about an under-rated Mosfit board? Should I look into replacing what I have with something else? I don't even totally understand what it does or what to look for when shopping for one.

Attachment 15507