Orion turned itself off halfway through a 4 hour print

[redlight]

So there I was, printing Yoda heads and key chains when all of a sudden… silence.

My PC, plugged into the same outlet was on so I knew it wasn’t a breaker. I toggled the power switch on the Orion and it fired back up. I homed the towers and let the machine cool down.

As background, the Orion has had a short lifespan so far, a few weeks, and a fan noise developed on day three. I was hopeful that it was the fan on the Rambo, but it tested fine.
I didn’t want a kit because I don’t really have the time for that sort of thing, but I discovered that changing the power supply is a lot more involved than doing the same on a PC. I should have bought the kit.

I’ll follow int2str’s lead and install a Silverstone ST45SF-G power supply. It’s small and has modular cables. The extra working room will be welcome, not that I hope to see the inside of the box again.

The people at SeeMe have been very good with regards to customer service and the Orion, once calibrated prints very well. I am frustrated though. Hopefully this dance solves the problem.

What else could cause the printer to turn itself off? Now that I have the thing in pieces on my floor, I want to address everything. Are there any mods that I should consider while I’m at it?

Thank you

[Eaglezsoar]

Hopefully the change in power supplies will fix your problem.
As far as upgrades are concerned, if it has been printing well I see no reason to change the arms, etc.
One upgrade that could be considered is an all metal Hot-End that will allow you to print nylons, polycarbonates and other high temperature
filaments. One of the the best selling all metal Hot-End is the E3d V6 but I would get the mount for it from Repables.com and print it out
before trying to mount the E3D.
The other upgrade to consider is the step motor dampener that mounts between the step motor and the frame of the printer. It makes the
printer significantly quieter but on an Orion the install can take a while because each axis stepper would need to be removed and the dampener
attached and the Orion doesn't give you a lot of room to work. If you are interested a user named Astroboy is selling them to members of this
forum.

[redlight]

Thanks Eaglezsoar.

I have already changed the hot end to an E3D v6. The stock one printed fine, but I do want to print nylon and more exotic materials. The noise hasn't been an issue. Maybe it will be when I grow tired of the songs it sings when it prints and perhaps I will need dampeners after all. I saw that Trick Laser sells dampeners and arms. Is the arm upgrade worthwhile? The parts I have made turned out very well and the claimed benefit is more accurate parts.

Regardless, I'm hoping to deal with electrical and other issues that I can address today. I can't leave this mess as it is.

Thank you again.

[Eaglezsoar]

Thanks Eaglezsoar.

I have already changed the hot end to an E3D v6. The stock one printed fine, but I do want to print nylon and more exotic materials. The noise hasn't been an issue. Maybe it will be when I grow tired of the songs it sings when it prints and perhaps I will need dampeners after all. I saw that Trick Laser sells dampeners and arms. Is the arm upgrade worthwhile? The parts I have made turned out very well and the claimed benefit is more accurate parts.

Regardless, I'm hoping to deal with electrical and other issues that I can address today. I can't leave this mess as it is.

Thank you again.

The arm upgrade is worthwhile only if you are having problems with the stock arms. If you change the stock arms to the Trick Laser arms usually no difference would be noticed unless the stock arms were a source of problems.
The dampeners are not cork gaskets which are basically worthless. The true dampeners are steel separated by a layer of rubber and completely isolates the stepper from the mounting surface.

[redlight]

The dampeners sound like they may be worthwhile. I would think that the belt alignment would be off if the motor was moved though. I'll probably order a set from Astroboy as you suggested and put them in if noise becomes an issue.

Thank you for the advice on the arms too. The parts I have made so far (not really Yoda heads or key chains) have turned out extremely well. I'll stick with the stock arms.

I just got back from the computer parts supplier. Those power supplies are $100 here in Canada, but I still think they are a good investment.

[astroboy907]

The dampeners sound like they may be worthwhile. I would think that the belt alignment would be off if the motor was moved though. I'll probably order a set from Astroboy as you suggested and put them in if noise becomes an issue.

Thank you for the advice on the arms too. The parts I have made so far (not really Yoda heads or key chains) have turned out extremely well. I'll stick with the stock arms.

I just got back from the computer parts supplier. Those power supplies are $100 here in Canada, but I still think they are a good investment.

Belt alignment will be off 6mm unless you remove the belt gears from the motors and offset them that distance.

Happy printing!

[redlight]

I would like to ask your opinion on something Eaglezsoar...

I am mounting the new power supply and have an option with orientation. The stock power supply was mounted with the fan blowing up towards the build plate. I'm thinking that having it face down makes more sense because it wouldn't fight the heating element. Am I missing something?

And I'm having no problem with black ABS after tweaking my slicer settings for the new hot end.

[Eaglezsoar]

I would like to ask your opinion on something Eaglezsoar...

I am mounting the new power supply and have an option with orientation. The stock power supply was mounted with the fan blowing up towards the build plate. I'm thinking that having it face down makes more sense because it wouldn't fight the heating element. Am I missing something?

And I'm having no problem with black ABS after tweaking my slicer settings for the new hot end.

I agree that having it with the fan down, does make more sense.

[redlight]

I'm glad that you agreed because that is how I installed it

The beast is back together and it passed the BBQ assembly test... no one got blown up and there were hardly any extra spare parts! I still have to calibrate everything again though.

I had trouble getting the Rambo out, so I basically had the machine apart. I elected to cut off the lower tabs on the front plate to make it easier next time. Four screws hold it in place when I want it there, but to remove the Rambo, taking that plate out simplifies things.

I also broke off one of the filament guide ears, so my first print will be a guide that is held in place by the nylon screw on that corner, then I can get back to making the filament spool rack parts that killed the Orion.

Thanks for your help.

[Eaglezsoar]

I'm glad that you agreed because that is how I installed it

The beast is back together and it passed the BBQ assembly test... no one got blown up and there were hardly any extra spare parts! I still have to calibrate everything again though.

I had trouble getting the Rambo out, so I basically had the machine apart. I elected to cut off the lower tabs on the front plate to make it easier next time. Four screws hold it in place when I want it there, but to remove the Rambo, taking that plate out simplifies things.

I also broke off one of the filament guide ears, so my first print will be a guide that is held in place by the nylon screw on that corner, then I can get back to making the filament spool rack parts that killed the Orion.

Thanks for your help.

I am sorry that you broke the filament guide ear, perhaps the one you make to replace it will be better than the original.
You will like your new power supply and I bet your heat bed will heat faster.
Enjoy your new printer and always ask if you have a question.

[RegB]

My "newly minted" Max V2 has turned itself off a couple of times.
It didn't do it at all until I "finished dressing it", i.e. put all the cover plates and acrylic panels on. I have a habit of testing things before the cosmetics are finished.

My suspicion was that it was overheating, SINCE the covers went on.
I have had problems with laptops suffocating on car seats, couches and deep rugs, so the Rostock is on tile.
Since I removed ONLY the acrylic cover behind the Z tower it hasn't shut down at all.
Hint/clue; On the Max V2 the Z tower is the one right behind the power supply.

[Mac The Knife]

I bought my Max V2 right before Memorial day weekend, and haven't had this problem. I wonder what the change was. As of a month ago, I am running my hot bed on a seperate power supply, but that was only done to reduce the warmup time, and to make the temperature more stable.

[redlight]

Since changing my power supply, there is a lot more room for air circulation and the bottom now has an opening for exhausting air. Interestingly, the 40mm fan on the Rambo started acting up too. I changed that out this morning and was able to print that four hour part.

I checked the temperature on the Rambo's driver chips after the part finished printing... 59C... That's still warmer than I would like. I may have to add another fan to blow across the front of the board or perhaps heat-sinks.

[RegB]

When I was young (relatively) PART of a job I had to do was reliability predictions.
Just about all our calculations were based on junction temperatures of 100C.
I don't now what the temperature gradient would be from junction temp to case, but you could probably research that. I wouldn't, I'd rather "print".
A full week now since the Z tower cover came off, no shut downs.

@Mac the knife; My V2 was shipped in late June/Early July.
I believe it was one of the first to have a V6 Onyx and a 550 Watt power supply.
Cold resistance measurements that I did for someone with warm-up time issues suggested that the V6 draws more current.

[BONE]

My "newly minted" Max V2 has turned itself off a couple of times.
It didn't do it at all until I "finished dressing it", i.e. put all the cover plates and acrylic panels on. I have a habit of testing things before the cosmetics are finished.

My suspicion was that it was overheating, SINCE the covers went on.
I have had problems with laptops suffocating on car seats, couches and deep rugs, so the Rostock is on tile.
Since I removed ONLY the acrylic cover behind the Z tower it hasn't shut down at all.
Hint/clue; On the Max V2 the Z tower is the one right behind the power supply.

Man, I'm glad I read this before turning on my MAX v2 for the first. Just because the fan is running, doesn't mean there is air moving. Especially fresh cool air from outside the chamber.

Best part of Halt and Catch Fire: "Up Helly Aa" episode:
Brain: How did you fix the over heating problem?
Gordon: We put holes in the case next to the heat sink. It was much easier to figure out after we fired your a$$.

[Earthbound]

Seems I have tripped over the overheating issue myself. Have been printing only PLA since relocating Apollo (my RMV2). Today I switched back to ABS and had two mysterious shutdowns mid-print. It occurred to me that the higher temps for ABS were pushing the power supply harder and that there was less air circulation around Apollo in its new spot. Pulled off one wood side panel and the rear acrylic piece. OK so far... I think that any enclosed chamber design that might be in the future will need to allow for air exchange through the power supply, or more efficient one that produces less heat.

[nitewatchman]

I added fans to my rear wooded panels. I am using a high efficency 750W P/S and the fan rarely runs. When it does run it is at fairly lowe speed.

The fans are 5VDC 80mm units from CoolerGuys and uses an extra two of their fan grills. This significantly drops the temperature inside the base.

nitewatchman

[Earthbound]

That looks like it would do the trick. Sure think that SeeMeCNC should add some slots on those side panels at the very least. I think Apollo will have to make something else...