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My Rostock MAX is suddenly exhibiting very odd behaviour. In the middle of a print, it will shut off completely. I have to flip the switch (wired from the PSU) off and back on again in order to get it to activate. I'm running the prints off my SD card, but I hadn't changed anything before the problem started. I was literally printing the same thing three times. The first two prints were successful, the third had the shutdown partway through the print. Since the issue started, I've tried running different gCode, printing in dry-run mode, and lowering the current to my motors. If I just leave the printer on without performing any actions, it seems to run fine. But if I try to run a print, it always shuts down. I am using an LCD screen, but my cables are shielded, so I don't think I'm getting interference. I've checked for bad wiring everywhere I could think of, including the on/off switch. But I feel like a short at the switch wouldn't be fixed by flipping it off and back on again. I seem to be resetting the entire power supply, but I don't know what could be causing it to shut off to begin with.

Update: I suspect my issue is the same as this: http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2795, which is on the Rostock MAX portion of the forum.

dsnettleton wrote:Update: I suspect my issue is the same as this: http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2795, which is on the Rostock MAX portion of the forum.

Do you feel that your power supply is bad as it was in the link you posted?

It's hard to say. It runs for a while, and sometimes I can get full dry run prints out of it, but heating up the extruder shuts it down. Sometimes I'll click it on and it'll turn right off again. The more time I spend on it, the less consistent its behavior appears. But I've checked all of the wiring for shorts and can't seem to find anything.

I tried to replace my bad power supply with an old ATX power supply I had in my parts bin. For that particular power supply I think it was a protective feature I couldn't get around (I didn't go shorting any chip legs though). When it would die I had to fully unplug the PSU and wait for a charge to die and replug it in. This time change really messed me up this year and I haven't gotten to work on getting the printer up again.

I bet it is the power supply.
Check with SeeMeCNC they may replace it.

Curiouser and curiouser...
My printer got to the point where every time I turned it on, it would flash on and back off again. So I methodically unplugged stuff. Turns out, if my LCD screen is unplugged, the power supply doesn't trip off. I'm still troubleshooting, but it seems to be printing fairly well for now. I'll have to try a few more things, and double-check the pins in my firmware, but I figured I should post an update.

Incidentally, I thought I had it for a minute when I found that my power supply's fan was no longer running.
I opened up my power supply and found this:
[img]http://ubuntuone.com/6XwoAxA2PrOK3O23IW84vY[/img]
That bundle of wires had been jostled when I moved the printer and obstructed the fan!
Filed that under "A problem, but not the problem."

Have you tried a new power supply yet?

No. I don't have a spare power supply and I'd prefer not to have to purchase one. I can't shake the feeling that the problem is related to a loose connection somewhere.

So I gave up and replaced the power supply. That fixed the problem.

dsnettleton wrote:So I gave up and replaced the power supply. That fixed the problem.

Hey, you got it fixed, that's all that counts.
You Sir, are a wizard!