Y Axis randomly stops mid Print - Ender 5 Silent

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1

Good Day

Hope someone has come across this and can help :slight_smile: starting to run out of ideas.

Problem

My Y Axis randomly stops mid print and then never recovers, X and Y continues as normal and the results is a blobbed line for the rest of the print.

This does not happen with every print nor at the same height every time, this does also not appear to be slicing related as the same gcode file could stop 10mm into the print or print for 5 hours and stop 101mm into the print.

I have also had successful prints which makes this even tougher to troubleshoot and don't seem to have this problem printing of the Micro SD when connected to the Printer.

Troubleshooting

Note : I am still troubleshooting this but hoping the get some suggestions.

In the beginning I thought this was dirty shutdowns on the Pi so got into the habit if I was unsure if I shut it down cleanly to let it boot up, reboot into save mode and then do another clean boot.

  • I want a clean looking printer with Pi Mounted to frame and Pi Power and USB out the way so powered the Pi with a Dual USB 9V/12V/24V/36V to 5V Converter DC-DC 3A Step Down Power Module

  • USB data cable used is the "UGREEN US132 USB 2.0 male to mini 5pin male" and have used the Ugreen products for many years as they produce high quality cables.

Initially I thought power was my problem as, when I now stated troubleshooting this I noticed the UNDERVOLTAGE icon, and went over to an Original Pi 5.1V 2.5A PSU, but had yet another failed print last night (CE5_Ender3_Filament_Spool_Holder_V2.gcode)

This has happened with :

  • Ender5_LEDHindges.gcode (Printed Fine)
  • Spool_Pin.gcode (Failed)
  • CE5_Ender3_Filament_Spool_Holder_V2.gcode (Failed and yet to print a successful print. - There was about 45Min left on this print when I left it to finish on it own and when I got to it later it had failed.)

Troubleshooting next steps :

  • Print of SD Card attached to Printer via OctoPrint (So not from Pi SD )
  • Shorter / Another Data Cable

Logs

octoprint.log - attached and does not have much info besides the UNDERVOLTAGE and my cancels on the failing prints.

serial.log - Logging was not enabled and have now started another shorter print where this has been enabled and will upload if failed.

Additional information about your setup

Pi 3B
OctoPrint 1.3.11, OctoPi 0.16.0
Ender 5 Silent Addition
Marlin 1.1.8
Logitech C270

Lerminator_octoprint.log (163.6 KB)

Lerminator_failed
Lerminator_failed.jpg406×661 141 KB
- LOL we not resolving stringing issues here :rofl: I can fix that if I can get a successful print.

2

Update to Initial Post with extra log files

Since my original post earlier the shorter print I started also failed, however this time it was the extruder stepper that stopped / disengaged. This is the first time this has happened.

Attached it the logs, please excuse the entries - "2019-10-12 09:26:00,280 - octoprint.printer.standard.job - INFO - Print job selected - origin: sdcard, path: 68orga~1.gco, owner: None, user: None" as I edited the gcode so that I do not loose this print as well.

Lerminator_octoprint_1.log (171.2 KB)
Lerminator_serial_1.log (2.7 MB)

Thanks in advanced.

3

Have you checked the stepper cables?
Maybe they got loose because of the vibrations.

4

Hi @PrintedWeezl I have thanks, this a relatively new printer as well (but not my first, my first printer I built) and with the silent board this printer is so quite and vibrations is very little, thanks anyway.

5

I would check the cables anyway. Disconnect them and connect them again and see if it changes anything.

I your ender 5 was delivered like my ender 3 was, then the cables on the board were already connected. If you didn't check them while assembling the printer this could be the issue.

6

Fair Point, I will check that thanks and revert back.

What is interesting is if you check the Serial Log in the beginning of the print there is a lot of echo:busy: processing responses it the clears up for a while and then starts again and just before I cancel the print due to this stepper disconnect there is a whole bunch of them so hoping the logs would help with what is happening here.

7

I'm having the same issue. The y- axis freezes but x- and z- keep on going. I've already checked the cables, the gcode, the logs, and nothing seems to be amiss...the prints just keep failing. For a while if I restarted the printer and octopi immediately before the print it would finish without issue, but the issue has recurred even after a system restart. Using a Pi 2B, OctoPrint 1.3.12, OctoPi 0.16.0, Marlin 1.1.8 with an Ender 5&silent mainboard. Unfortunately I'm starting to suspect the board.... following this thread in case anyone else has this issue.

8

Hi Spaceboi

I am glad I am not the only one that is having this issue, however and just check my Y axis does not Freeze per say its stops moving and if you the feel it it's loose like it was disengage. If it just froze it will not be able to move or moving it would be tough as you would be working against the stepper.

I have not had much time to troubleshoot this much further however I have found that is seems to happen more often with small objects and especially round corners, or round objects. for example :

I can print print the attached temp tower no issues but the other attached file I cannot print for no love or money.

It just does not make sense, and would be interesting to see what results you get.
The base post gcode file fails at about the 5th or 6th circle on the first layer if I recall correctly.

Keep me posted if you do try printing it.

lerminator_gcode.zip (2.3 MB)

9

I have an ender 3 also and the same problem occurs. Any help from anyone would have great.

10

@James_Nixon
Pls provide these informations - they might help us to resolve the issue :slight_smile:

Logs ( octoprint.log , serial.log or output on terminal tab, browser error console ...)

Additional information about your setup (OctoPrint version, OctoPi version, printer, firmware, browser, operating system, ...)

11

@PrintedWeezl just had a print fail a few seconds ago exhibiting the same problem again. Had logging enabled this time, attaching in case they help. I didn't see anything terribly out of place...it's almost as if the board just ignores the y position part of the command. Watching terminal as it fails, the commands still contain the y position updates.... not sure if they're not being received, if they're falling off somewhere, or if something else is happening. The same print does not fail when printing off the SD card directly to the printer.

print_failure
print_failure.jpg1894×1420 1.03 MB

serial.log (1.3 MB) octoprint.log (17.9 KB)
System config:
Ender 5 with Creality silent mainboard
Octoprint v1.3.12
OctoPi v0.16.0, running on Raspberry Pi 2 Model B Rev 1.1

1 Like
12

Great you logged it. I'm not at my pc right now but I will look into the log tomorrow.

You said you're running Marlin 1.1.8 as firmware. Is it your own marlin build or the creality version?

13

Looks like a mechanical or firmware issue, because from the log OctoPrint is happily sending changing coordinates on all four axes.

14

It’s the creality version of the firmware.

1 Like
15

Hi @foosel, Thanks for your response.

As all has mentioned printing from attached to printer is no Issue, so that irons out mechanical.

From a from a firmware perspective it could only be the way in my opinion be how octoprint communicates with the printer, as the same firmware has no issue with printing off SD and I agree with you it still sends all the correct commands but the stepper seems to disconnect.

I am happy to try anything to try get this to work, if you have any suggestions it would be great.

Thanks

16

The only thing that OctoPrint can do here is what it already does, send the commands from your file to the printer. It's the job of the printer or rather the firmware to do the right thing. I also do not see any kind of communication issues or something like that in the log that could indicate at a problem between OctoPrint and the printer.

I'm sorry, but I don't have an answer for you here other than, whatever this is, I have no idea how it could be OctoPrint's fault or be anything fixable by OctoPrint or any other host attached via serial.

1 Like
17

I'm having the exact same problem. It prints fine for a while then at some point it randomly loses all Y motion.

I switched my cables to my X and Y axis stepper motors and the issue occurred on the same motor.

Ender 5 with silent mainboard.
Octoprint 1.3.12
Version 0.16.0, running on Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Plus Rev 1.3

18

Same here. Prints turn out fine from the SDcard.
Ender 5 with silent mainboard.
Octoprint 1.3.12
Version 0.16.0, running on Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Plus Rev 1.3

19

Okay, so you've proved that the problem isn't related to software or to OctoPrint; it's related to that motor and the related belts/pulleys. If it were me, I'd look for a loose set screw on a pulley, slackness in that set of belts, anything like bits of plastic caught in a gear or lack of lubricant.

20

What all do we have in common? 1.1.5 silent boards, latest version of Octoprint and I think the same Ver of Marlin from Creality,1.1.8. Has anyone tried a different version of Marlin and see if the issues remain? I doubt that the issue is anything mechanical, unless, we all installed our printers incorrectly or there is a bad batch of motors, cables, etc ,etc. My issue is that the same STL file prints just fine repeatedly from the sd card, but as soon I send that via Octo its craps the bed. If it was a loose cable or motor then it would be reproducible when printing from the sd-card as well. That leads me to think that it's either an Octoprint issue or a Marlin issue. I have seen where people have increased the USB buffer in Marlin ( I think ) and had some success fixing with other issues. Maybe they are related?
I ordered my 1.1.5 board from Amazon (Sovol was the seller) that already had 1.1.8 Marlin for the Ender 5 installed. I’m going to try a different firmware and see if I can reproduce the issue.