I just received my Mini from Amazon on Thursday, and finally opened the box today. My rocktopus printed perfectly. A few hours later, I decided to print a Marvin. Unfortunately, the y-axis never moved, and the extruder tried to clean itself in mid-air. The print head ended up diving into the bed and leaving the mark seen in the attached photo - I’m assuming that’s bad. I’m not sure if that means I need a new PEI sheet or not.
I planned on installing a dampener once I was comfortable that the printer was working, so I figured it was a good excuse to check the motor itself. It turns out that one of the 4 pins in the motor power connector has fallen off and has now disappeared into the black hole that is my work area. Can anyone recommend a replacement for that plastic connector? I didn’t see anything on the parts list in the lulzbot store that looked remotely appropriate.
Also, what’s the right way to stop an obviously bad print from continuing? I hit cancel in Cura, but that didn’t seem to do what I expected.
I would contact support for that one. The PEI is still alright over the rest of the bed, but the stepper shouldn’t have done that.
For a job going bad and causing issues, I go with the power switch on the printer. Immediate and complete shutdown.
Cancel in the software usually stops after a command or two, there are almost always a few in flight to the printer. That’s fine 99% of the time, but if there is something happening that could damage the printer, I want to stop ASAP.
Last question first… Best way to stop the printer is with the power switch. I recommend ALWAYS watching the mini go through its leveling process, and if anything looks wrong (like not probing washers, or deflecting washers downward when probing) – hit the Cancel button – and if that doesn’t stop it, flip the power switch.
You have several options, presented here in the order I would recommend: #1 - Return the printer to Amazon. From your description, it sounds like one of the Molex plugs/sockets was defective. If sold or fulfilled by Amazon, a return and repurchase might be the best route. OR #2 - Contact Lulzbot tech support. They MAY advise you to return the printer to Amazon. Or they MAY offer to send you parts (motor with plug and a new bed). Or they MAY want you to box up the printer and send it to them for repair. OR #3 - Buy new parts and install them yourself. There is a bill-of-material (BOM) document on the memory stick that comes with the mini, and it lists all the parts with part numbers and sources. I think the connectors for each motor are Molex WM2535-ND (male) and WM2902-ND (female) sourced from Digikey, but I may be misunderstanding your reference (check the BOM). The bed would be more expensive, and more work to repair. A new PEI sheet from Aleph Objects is about $30 and a fair amount of work to remove/replace; an entire new bed assembly (heater, glass, PEI all assembled) is less work but about $100.
Good luck, I know it’s a bummer to get a new toy and find a defect right out of the box!
