Hello,
I received my A350 a couple weeks ago and finally found the time to set it up.
After carefully and smoothly assembling the unit, loading filament and leveling the bed for the first time, I was met with a number of issues while trying run the first test print vase.
I noticed that while auto-bed leveling, homing after boot, or in the preparation phase before a print, the bed motion (Y) would “clunk” when it passed roughly the middle of its travel. After paying attention a little more to this, I could see the bed physically rack itself when the clunk happens. I loosened the bed and linear modules, made sure everything was seated properly and retightened everything, but the problem persists
During the preparation phase of the first print attempt, the heated bed was showing negative temperatures, and the nozzle temp would start rising, reach ~140C and then start falling, all while the elapsed time for the print is ticking away.
The whole unit would then become unresponsive and only a power cycle would wake it up again.
I followed the troubleshooting instructions for measuring the heated bed resistance and read 90k Ohms, which is normal.
After updating firmware to v1.10.1 (previous was ~v1.7.X) things got worse.
The single clunk the bed used to make has devolved into a huge shutter, and happens at any random time or place now when the bed is moving. It is now very loud and scary, prompting me to power off the unit.
I’ve done this three times so far just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. It’s not.
I can reproduce it in a normal bed leveling procedure.
At random times the control unit looses connection with the rest of the unit.
Tapping “reconnect” does nothing. Only a power cycle brings things to life again.
Just so it’s clear, here are all the things I’ve done to troubleshoot:
-Loosened print bed & linear module connectors, verified everything is aligned properly and tightened everything back down.
-Reseated all cables, verifying all pins are intact.
-Measured resistance of the heated bed. 90k Ohms.
-Flip and reseat the USB-C touch control unit connector.
-Verify the “breathing light” on the main connector hub unit thing. Yes, it’s breathing.
So there it is.
Not even a first test print and dead in the water.
Sort of a huge bummer considering I’m $1600 in and I’ve been waiting on this thing for a year and a half.
-D
Man, do I feel you. I know how frustrating that is. It sounds like you’re definitely giving it a major effort.
First, I think you need to call support in on this one. @Rainie and others from staff should see this. And, did you email support@snapmaker.com? Here you’ll get a bunch of sympathetic ears, well-meaning suggestions, and maybe the eye of some staff, but emailing is what starts the repair / replace process officially, if that’s where it needs to go.
Sounds like maybe the controller is wonky, but that’s my WAG from symptoms. There may be something in your Y Axes, too, with that weird hitch mid-way.
I only got so far with 3D printing myself, and have been focusing on CNC and laser - they’re much easier crafts. 3D is just so damned finicky, I wanted a couple early wins. You might try those out instead, also to give them a dry run, make sure the print heads work (or don’t).
If you do reply, photos and videos will go a very long way towards getting to the bottom of this and getting you up and running, I suspect.
Sadly, the bed motion issues will no doubt affect the CNC and Laser functions as well.
Starting to think the central control unit is wonky, as you also suspect.
Will contact support now.
Thanks for the sympathetic ears though.
In the meantime, enjoy the wonderful sound of stepper motors being fed bogus square waves:)
The lack of response from support after emailing them, similar problems reported by others in the forum, and a whole official pinned FAQ thread that leads to broken links is not inspiring confidence in this project.
Also, getting all these Snapmaker 2.0 Kickstarter emails in the meantime with “project success!” and fancy new features and accessories being announced is super depressing.
Beginning to think I made a very expensive mistake.
I have got that feeling a couple times since receiving my A350. But there are some strong community members so hopefully with their help we can turn this into something good.
@Rainie, @Edwin, and all of @staff - you CANNOT fail your dedicated customers who are passionate and WANT their investment in your vision to be rewarded.
I’ve been reading these forums for a year and a half since I backed, and this has been a problem the whole time.
You really need to fix your support staffing, and mature your processes. You need to get back to people within 1 day to at least acknowledge that you received the email. Stop apologizing for taking so long - stop taking so long.
@d90 - unfortunately, you’re not alone - this does seem to be the standard M.O. from support. They can take days to weeks to even respond once. They DO get back, and they often get it resolved - but that doesn’t help you right now. I really was hoping that Snapmaker being a more mature company (this being their second machine, robust community) would work LESS like a startup and more like a proper consumer company.
You need to improve your support, folks. This is not cool.
As far as the audio you posted, sounds like the stepper motor is skipping steps. Something might be jamming the motion internally. Check out this as well: Excessive play in x-axis linear module bracket, might help in disassembling it.
I have had the same feeling with support since January when I got my A350. It’s only because of this community that I have not thrown in the towel yet. I’m willing to bet support will take even longer right now since China is currently on holiday until the 8th.
Seems that this unlucky user is describing the same bed motion issues (bump/clunk) I started out with before the firmware update, which made it even worse:
Though I was never even able to do a first print due to additional bed heating and lost controller connection issues.
Hey, i am really sorry about your faulty machine, that suxx.
I guess there is not much you can do, disassemble and check which linear module is faulty.- After that i would look into the module to find the issue, maybe its mechanical.
