This is my third print since I got the TAZ 4 last week. It happened to me on my first print when I was using a USB cable connected to my computer and pronterface. So I tried the SD card, and it worked fine.
But now this SD card print of a different model has stopped after two hours and 16 minutes. When I go to the menu on the LCD it shows the “Print from SD card” rather than stop or pause print, so it seems to have just reset itself, but the extruder did not move to the “done” position where the bed comes out to greet you when a project is done.
Because I used the SD card, I don’t see what line finished and which didn’t, so I can’t attempt to split up the Gcode file and have it resume (though I’ve never tried doing that, I heard it was possible).
My software on my SD card has one directory called “2014Q3” and I’m not sure if that’s the latest firmware or not, or even how to install newer firmware.
Any idea why this printer is pausing and ruining prints? Thanks for any help.
I did skip exporting my Sketchup model in NetFabb this time, because when I loaded it, NetFabb didn’t find any errors miraculously. I wonder if skipping that step has led to this.
So I’m now trying to print it a third time, this time having used NetFabb to “auto repair” and export the STL, then slicing it to g-code. Fingers crossed.
The third print (exported from NetFabb despite nothing to repair) did get further along on the print. But still failed, stopping the extruder head in its tracks, keeping the temperatures at 230 and 85, burning a hole in the plastic and no doubt creating a serious fire hazard.
Your gcode file is only 3 layers high so it looks like a software problem and not a printer issue. The printer is doing what it was told by the gcode file to do.
That makes sense. I suppose I could look at the gcode before I export it, and ensure the code is there that finishes the project before starting such a print job. I created the model in Sketchup, the Solid Inspector said there were no errors, I made it one group and saved the STL. Then I uploaded the STL into NetFabb and it found no errors, so I uploaded it into Slic3r and exported G-code.
I suspect the issue must be with Slic3r then. I’ll take a look there. Thanks for the help.
kmanley, you nailed it. Turns out when I went to export from Slic3r, I hit the button and then I thought it was done when the document popped up on my desktop. I failed to see the progress bar at the bottom that was still going, and so I was grabbing the file before it was done exporting.
I have found the same problem sometimes.
Obviously the GCODE file would need some sort of ‘END of DOCUMENT’ sentence. Something that can be checked for file consistency.
I looked at it in the gcode viewer and saw it only did three layers before it got to the end of the file. Plus there are a BUNCH of lines that should have been at the end of the file, like turning off the bed heater and extruder. So that kind of told me your file was bad. 8^)
I’ve noticed that slic3r can take forever to save large gcode files. Try a different slicer to see if the file is exported faster–that’s pretty much why I use Cura.
