Smoke/Scorching

ar300 · 14 Mar 2017, 11:08

Hi. I have been using the duet wifi for months with no issue, it is a great piece of kit. Today however, I was running through startup when smoke and sparks started to fly through the case. I opened it up and could see scorching on the E1 stepper driver chip. The E1 stepper driver is currently unused on my set up as I don't have dual extrusion. The board is still functioning. I have included pictures. Thoughts on the cause?

ar300 · 14 Mar 2017, 11:12

ar300 · 14 Mar 2017, 11:21

strips · 14 Mar 2017, 11:23

I'm not able to answer you about this but if you want a more educated reply from someone with a bit more knowledge I would take photos with details showing the scorching. As close and detailed as you can get them with good lighting.

yngndrw · 14 Mar 2017, 12:46

The burnt patch looks to be right next to the output of the driver - Check for lose bits of metal that might be rattling about in the electronics enclosure, including behind the board.

From the picture I can't tell if the output connector is burnt or if it's just the lighting ?

dc42 · 14 Mar 2017, 13:21

That does seem very strange. I would indeed appreciate close-up photos of the driver chip. Also, please check whether the back of the board is scorched in that area, and whether there is any way that the output connector pins on the back of the board could have been shorted to or by anything.

ar300 · 14 Mar 2017, 14:28

Thanks strips,

This is just about as good a picture as I am going to get.

ar300 · 14 Mar 2017, 14:35

Thanks dc42, The back of the board is completely clear from everything. If stepper driver No 4 isn't allocated to anything within the .config file, should there have been any power through it at the time anyways?

ar300 · 14 Mar 2017, 14:39

thanks yangndrw, The pins are clean, that is just the reflection from the grey case.

ar300 · 18 Oct 2017, 16:44

I have been using the printer since then with no issues until now, when I have update the firmware to 1.19. I am now getting temperature warnings on this driver. Can I disable these warnings as they are coming through every few seconds?

dc42 · 18 Oct 2017, 17:16

Currently there is no way to disable the temperature warnings. If it is less than 6 months since you purchased your Duet, please ask your supplier to replace the driver under warranty.

ar300 · 18 Oct 2017, 17:19

Thanks for the reply. The board is 11 months old. Will they still replace the driver as it burnt out in March (see above)?

dc42 · 18 Oct 2017, 17:45

As you reported it in March, I would expect it to be covered.

I'll consider providing a way to disable monitoring of specific drivers in firmware 1.20.

ar300 · 18 Oct 2017, 17:57

Thanks for the advice, ill send them a message.