Stops printing halfway, claims it's done

Ender-3 V3 Printers Creality Ender-3 V3 (Regular)
1

I found the issue! My filament roll didn’t spin freely, so the filament could not make it to the extruder :man_facepalming: I should have thought about “user error” before thinking about “bug”.

I’ve been using my new Ender 3 v3 (regular) for about 3 weeks, in that time I’ve printed about 800m of filament (~80 hours of print time). Not very big numbers. I haven’t even tidied up the print location yet.

Yesterday, it suddenly stopped 2 prints at about 50-75% of the print. It then marks the print as “completed”. I’ve taken photos of the result of the second aborted print:

Half-completed print
Half-completed print1600×1200 182 KB

Half-completed print close up
Half-completed print close up1200×1600 185 KB

I immediately looked to narrow down the issue. Here is what I found:

  • The issue happened twice. Once with a file I’ve printed before (a Gridfinity base plate) and once with a fresh file (Gridfinity screw driver holder, see pictures).
  • In between the 2 half-printed files, I printed something successfully. This was another known-good .gcode file. This means that the behavior is inconsistent.
  • I downloaded the .gcode file from the printer and opened it in Orca Slicer. The file is complete. The number of layers in Fluid matches the number of layers in Orca slicer.
  • The estimated print time was correct. The estimated time was ~2h18m, and after this point it stopped printing. However, the print was not complete at this point (see images)
  • There is no error anywhere.
  • I downloaded the logs from the printer. I can’t find any errors in there either. I don’t really know what to look for, though.
  • I looked at the storage capacity of the printer. According to Fluid, it currently uses ~560MB (5.6GB free). Curiously, the drive claims to have been manufactured 22 years ago (11/2003).
  • I have not changed any of the software
    • Operating System: Buildroot 2020.02.1
    • MCU: 341a2c18-dirty-20230717_153001-cxsw-virtual-machine
    • Leveling MCU: 341a2c18-dirty-20230717_152940-cxsw-virtual-machine
    • Nozzle MCU: 341a2c18-dirty-20230717_152940-cxsw-virtual-machine
    • MCU Rpi: v0.11.0-372-gb9ad7605
    • Version according to printer touch screen: 1.2.3.21
  • I have not changed any of the hardware
  • If I start a new print, it works fine. Until it just stops.

I am at a loss. Does anyone have an idea of what the issue might be?

2

I have a similar problem on my K2 when the filament gets tangled on the spool, or any time something stops the filament, like friction in the guide tubes. Basically, the printer will detect when filament is out, but not when it is stopped. I haven’t found a good solution besides vigilance to be sure the filament can move freely (and I might change brands of filament).