Fan1 disappeared, V6 hotend temp problem, loss of EtherNet conn

3mm

I had some time to work on my newly working delta printer. Some tuning matters, click'n, clack'n & tweak'n.

After modifying the hotend with a print-cooling shroud, the printer hotend (E3D-V6 w 30W cartridge) no longer would attain PLA (190°C ~ 215°C) printing temperature. Initially when I had it working w/o the shroud, the hot-end barely would attain 215°C and some filament sites state 200° ~ 230° for PLA. I had successfully printed (with a few cooling related blemishes, as there was no print cooling at that time) the recommended E3D-V6 Hotend cooling fan-shroud and fan adapter. After adding those parts to the Smart-Effector, I have been unable to attain the low-range PLA printing temperature.

After many hours of fiddling around, my thoughts were:

Either the print heating cartridge has degraded (doubtful) or
Something in my tuning parms isn't set correctly
Shroud is leaking air onto the heating block, and I checked, it leaks a little, but not much. I think the heating problem is more fundamental.

In any case, I ran the hot-end heater auto-tuning around 50 times, each cycle, I used an external fan to reduce the heating-block/thermistor temperature back down to ambient 25°C, tweak a setting and reinstantiate M303 H1 220 P1.0 command. Each time the maximum temp that was attained was below 185°C. (It would be useful, to log the maximum temp attained during temp-tuning.) I finally was able to attain 195°C when I began to experience problems with the DUET-E controller.

The procedure that I use to update the controller config.g file (and to keep versions synchronized), I have a duplicate DUET bin/sys/macro/etc directory tree on the control laptop which is connected to the DUET-E v1.02 via copper EtherNet. I make changes to the local config.g file, and then upload that file to the controller via the DWC SETTINGS > GENERAL > UPLOAD facility. After uploading, there is a short delay, a REBOOT query message appears, click OK, then the smart-effector platform white LEDs flash twice (signifying reboot and possibly power-cycle?) all the while the controller remains connected to the laptop via the network as is indicated by the Green DISCONNECT button. Occasionally I receive a red 'http request timeout' error message, the exact verbage of which I don't recall. When this ocurs, the controller has disconnected and the Green DISCONNECT button (DWC) changes to Blue CONNECT button. Clicking CONNECT has frequently failed since the controller anomaly has begun to transpire. Its looking dicey.

I began to notice that the double flash on the Smart-Effector wasn't occuring, during UPLOAD reboots, exhibiting only one flash. I seem to recall that a single flash idicates something wasn't accepted somewhere? The controller began to repeatedly require re-connects. Also, the 2nd Fan icon has ceased to present on the DWC. FAN0 (print cooler) is present, but FAN1 (heat-break cooler) is missing, and also located on the Smart-Effector FAN1 no longer turns. I have not as yet checked to see if that fun is still functional, but my guess is that the controller is the source of that anomaly.

The controller is continuously cooled by a high-performance Pabst TYP-812 radial fan, and the air is vectored inside the bottom of the controller enclosure. The enclosure is mounted vertically on a tower.

I rechecked wiring, unplugged and reseated all the connectors and did pull-tests on the connector wires in an attempt to identify bad-pinning. Everything seems ok.

Ahh.. one last matter. The DWC the 'Vin' field depicts 11.5Vdc, yet the power-supply is rock solid at 12.3Vdc. So I wonder what is going on with that value? The power-supply I have does not sag with everything running, eg, heaters, fans, stepper-motors. I've checked this on my Tek scope while cycling things and also steady state. I checked with a recently calibrated HP bench DVM. Its rock solid at 12.3Vdc. So I don't know if this is an issue or not?

Anyone have any suggestions, aside from repairing the controller?

Thanks in advance..

3mm

dc42

Let's start with the under-powered heater. Are you sure that the heater cartridge you have is for 12V operation, not 24V? Try measuring its resistance at the E0 heater terminals of the Duet (with power off, of course). For a 12V 30W heater, it should be about 4.8 ohms. If it is a lot higher, then either the heater cartridge is faulty, or there is a poor connection in the wiring or the PCB. So measure the resistance at the heater terminal block on the PCB and see if it is any lower.
Regarding the power supply voltage, did you measure it at the PSU output, or at the Duet VIN terminals? How accurate is your multimeter?

3mm

@dc42

Hi, thanks for the reply.

Re; the E3D-V6 'E0' heater, supposed to be 12Vdc 30W cartridge heater.

Measured E0 (H0) resistance (unscrewed bootlace ferrules & measured directly on those) using my old trusty HP-3438A bench DVM.

Reading is 5.04Ω - test lead resistance 0.62Ω = 4.42Ω.

Re; the Vin...I originally measured using a Kelvin 400LE DVM, which is an inexpensive 'beater' DVM but which is reasonably accurate.

Today, DWC not 'connected' to controller, I re-measured Vin using my Fluke 77, and HP bench DVM, measured directly on the screw-heads of controller Vin port. Both DVMs show 12.14 Vdc. After three hours of warm-up, re-measured using the bench DVM: 12.14 Vdc.

Connected to DWC (via browser)...
With both E1 & E2 (= bed heater, driving ext SSR) heaters running, steppers holding, Vin: 12.09 Vdc.

I trust both the Fluke and the HP DVMs, while the Kelvin is also not bad, but is off by 20 millivolts.

FAN1 still not registering on DWC and isn't physically running either...maybe it failed? I'll stick it on one of my power-supplies and see if it works...maybe the PWM setting cooked the FAN electronics?

3mm

dc42

Heater resistance looks OK.
Can you measure the 3.3V voltage with your DVM? You can pick it up on an endstop connector. The 3.3V rail is used as the analog reference, so if it is higher than normal then the VIN monitor will under-read.
If Fan1 isn't registering in DWC, that's normal if it is configured in thermostatic mode. Otherwise, it is a configuration issue or a mismatch between DWC and main firmware versions.

3mm

@dc42

Ok...one problem at a time.

Vin: measured 3v3 rail & ADC reference, at plugs:
E0_STOP (2 & 3): = 3.30 Vdc
ADvREF: (J1-41): = 3.30 Vdc

Looking around on the schematic I see that the ref is being used by the thermistors, which are exhibiting calibration issues.

thx, 3mm

dc42

@3mm said in Fan1 disappeared, V6 hotend temp problem, loss of EtherNet conn:

@dc42

Ok...one problem at a time.

Vin: measured 3v3 rail & ADC reference, at plugs:
E0_STOP (2 & 3): = 3.30 Vdc
ADvREF: (J1-41): = 3.30 Vdc

Looking around on the schematic I see that the ref is being used by the thermistors, which are exhibiting calibration issues.

thx, 3mm

So 3.3v is OK. The exact value doesn't affect the thermistor readings, because the thermistor circuit is ratiometric. Your calibration issues are probably due to incorrect parameters in the corresponding M305 commands.

3mm

@dc42

Ok, but what about the 11.5Vdc reference issue? What does that effect directly...its important enough to display its value on the DWC? Why is it reading low? If its not affecting anything, why care? Its either a SW issue or the chip is out of spec.

3mm

3mm

@dc42

2nd Problem: EtherNet Disconnecting.

The controller intermittently (or so it seems) disconnects from the network. This happens irregardless of what I'm doing, in fact, at times it disconnects when the system is sitting idle. But it nearly always disconnects, now, when I upload any file over the EtherNet port. It emits this error in red font:


The last HTTP request has timed out. Please make sure the connection between your device and the board is not interrupted.

My local network is comprised of a modem/single port router, that feeds a 5 port switch that is connected to a Tektronix logic analyzer which is not in use right now, also to a TV set, to an HP LaserJet printer, to my HP laptop and the DUET-E controller. Everything Cat5 cable. Nothing else on the network is exhibiting issues, but I did swap ports.

So what do you think is happening in this?

thx, 3mm

dc42

@3mm said in Fan1 disappeared, V6 hotend temp problem, loss of EtherNet conn:

@dc42

Ok, but what about the 11.5Vdc reference issue? What does that effect directly...its important enough to display its value on the DWC? Why is it reading low? If its not affecting anything, why care? Its either a SW issue or the chip is out of spec.

I don't understand why that reading is low. The tolerance on that reading is +/-5%, but that include the 3% tolerance of the 3.3V reference. If the 3.3V rail is accurate as your meter suggests, the reading should be within +/-2%. The accuracy depends on the ADC accuracy (which is normally very good once the firmware has run auto calibration on it) and the values of R60 and R61.

2nd Problem: EtherNet Disconnecting.

Ethernet disconnection issues are usually caused by either a bad Ethernet cable or an IP address conflict. Are you using a static IP address assignment, or DHCP? Which firmware version are you running?