My Steppers quit powering up. Display comes on and operates but none of the steppers seems to have power. Checked the power supply and the 3 fuses on the SKR card. Everything looks normal. Fresh out of ideas. Any suggestions?
1 Like
Hmm. After the suspects you already checked, my next order of business would be grab a multimeter and check the main wiring.
The TFT display runs on its own microprocessor and firmware, so the fact it is working does not indicate that the control board is working. You might put the display in Marlin mode to make sure Marlin is alive on the board, or alternately you can send a M115 using either the TFT console or a connected computer, and see if you get the firmware info back.
You might use a meter and check the voltage on both sides of both fuses.
On the forum, we seen a couple of instances of a weak power supply. That is, voltage reads okay, but it only supplies a very limited amount of current. If you have an extra 12V to 24V power supply, it might be worth temporarily swapping to see if that makes a difference.
The SKR Pro board has 3.3V, 5.0V and 12/24V, so you should make sure you have all three. I believe there is an LED indicator for each.
Gets a little on the weird side. If I turn it on; Goto Marlin Mode (wait for Marlin Screen); Go back to TFT;
select a file to cut; start;(at this point ALL the Steppers work) let it complete (air cut; bit high above cut piece) Or cancel the cut . I can Home, set my Z and it all seems to work (can Cut Parts).
So it appears the wiring seems to be OK, the power supply seems to pass the test and the card kind of works. I’m really open to suggestions here.
So, the only time you have a failure is when you first start the screen in TFT mode? Is this still repeatable after you successfully did a (air) cut after the back-and-forth screen mode switch? At a minimum, I suggest you reseat at both ends the smaller cable connecting the display to the control board.
1 Like
Well after a week my luck ran out. The steppers will not come on at all no matter what tricks I use. Looking for another idea.
Previously when I selected a file it would display the Box with File Name and an OK button, now it will not display the box (no matter how many times you select it).
I also tried the M115 and received no response, along with M114 and M119. So it’s not talking to me. Going out on a limb here, I’m assuming this is a problem?
Fishing for a solution. since the hardware is sold out I found this on Amazon:
# BIGTREETECH TFT35 E3 V3.0.1 Graphic Smart Display Controller Board for Ender 3 Compatible with SKR Mini E3 V3.0, SKR 2, SKR 3, SKR Pro V1.2, Octopus V1.1 Motherboard
Will it work with the SKR PRO 1.2?, says it does?
That sounds like the same one I have.
Threre do seem to be 2 different versions of it, different processors, but the firmware package will deal with both.
Yes. be aware they make a regular one with the control knob to the side of the screen, and an “E3” version with the control knob located below/above the screen. So pick which one you want, based on your desired implementation.
The interface allows you to rotate which way the screen gets displayed, and that is how you can make a side knob to be left or right, and an “E3” version to be either above or below.
Time marched on, I had a job to do for a friend on Saturday and was getting desperate so we cranked up Repetier Host and ran it. Primo still started with unpowered steppers, BUT when I would press the Start on Repetier Host it powered them on and worked fine. I probably ran it 20-30 times on Saturday and got all the work done. After my friend left I turn it back on, still no Stepper power BUT if I Click on the Home button “WALA!” they lockup , gets squared up and EVERTHING Works! EXCEPT when first powered on they still have no power to the Steppers.
My system has always done that. They are hand moveable when the system initially powers on. The steppers don’t rest 100% of the time powered, you must move from the controller to activate. Zeroing /end stop squaring or just jogging will do it. Typically at the end of the gcode there is a deactivate M81 or M84 that will power them down so they don’t remain on when not in use.
Perfectly normal. That is the expected behaviour of the Marlin firmware. You can also unlock the steppers by sending the M84 command.
Been running for 6 days without issues. Problem just seem seemed to go away, hope it doesn’t come back.