Error and Warning Messages
Error and warning messages will appear on the touchscreen display of your Pantheon HS-Pro or HS3 and on the web console when an error has occurred. The messages will contain some information that led to the fault condition. Use this guide to help determine the root cause of the fault.
Too Many Retries
HS-Pro users HS-Pro users may encounter this warning when performing a z-tilt adjustment or bed mesh calibration which happens that the beginning of a print to put the bed in plane with the XY gantry. “Too many retries” means that during probing, the z-height couldn’t be adjusted properly after five attempts.
The primary culprit for this debris on the nozzle or on the bed at the three z-tilt adjustments points. Be sure to thoroughly clean the nozzle before printing and ensure the bed is clean.
Probe Samples Exceed Samples_Tolerance
HS-Pro users HS-Pro users may encounter this warning when performing a z-tilt adjustment or bed mesh calibration which happens that the beginning of a print to put the bed in plane with the XY gantry. “Probe samples exceed samples_tolerance” means that during probing, the measured height at the same point was repeatedly larger than the 0.020mm tolerance.
The primary culprit for this debris on the nozzle or on the bed at the three z-tilt adjustments points. Be sure to thoroughly clean the nozzle before printing and ensure the bed is clean.
Thermocouple Reader Fault
This fault may occur for either the “EBBCan” MCU, the “printhead” MCU or the “mcu” MCU. The “EEBCan” and “printhead” MCU relates to the printhead, while the “mcu” MCU relates to the chassis and bed.
EBBCan/printhead Thermocouple Reader Fault
There is only one temperature sensor on the printhead that could issue this warning and that is the thermistor for the extruder. Things to check are:
Unplugged Thermistor
Broken Thermistor Wires
Fraying Thermistor Wires
Excessive Material Build-up near Thermistor Wires
If none of these checks reveal an obvious answer then the last check to determine the fault is measuring the nominal resistance of the thermistor at room temperature. The thermistor used for the extruder on both the HS-Pro and HS3 is a PT1000 type RTD. At room temperature it should be approximately 1000Ω. Use a multi-meter to measure the resistance.
If the PT1000 measures out as an open-circuit, then the thermistor is damaged and will need to be replaced. Contact Pantheon for a replacement.
If the PT1000 measures out as a short-circuit, then the thermistor is damaged and will need to be replaced. Contact Pantheon for a replacement.
If the PT1000 measures out around 1000Ω (800Ω - 1200Ω), then contact Pantheon for further support. It may be required to send the printhead to Pantheon for refurbishment.
MCU Thermocouple Reader Fault
If there is an MCU thermocouple reader fault it may be relating to one of three temperature sensors, Bed, Chassis, Chamber, that the primary MCU monitors. The most critical system is the Bed so it is advised to start the investigation there.
Bed Thermistor
The bed thermistor is embedded in the silicon heating element under the bed. On the HS-Pro is it a PT1000 RTD, while on the HS3 it is a 100kΩ NTC. Things to check are:
Unplugged Thermistor Cable
Broken Thermistor Cable
The bed thermistor is not a serviceable item, contact Pantheon if you suspect a serious fault has occurred.
Chassis Thermistor
The chassis thermistor is a PT1000 RTD. On the HS-Pro it is located underneath the top-plate near the camera. On the HS3 it is located next to the z-stepper motor on the left side of the machine. Things to check are:
Unplugged Thermistor Cable
Broken Thermistor Cable
The chassis thermistor is a serviceable item, contact Pantheon if you suspect a chassis thermistor fault has occurred for a replacement.
Chamber Thermistor
The chamber thermistor is a PT1000 RTD. On the HS-Pro it is located in the middle air-duct at the back of the machine. On the HS3 it is located in the air-duct through the top-plate on the right side of the machine. Things to check are:
Unplugged Thermistor Cable
Broken Thermistor Cable
The chamber thermistor is a serviceable item, contact Pantheon if you suspect a chamber thermistor fault has occurred for a replacement.
Heater not Heating at Expected Rate
There are several heating elements on the HS-Pro and HS3 that this warning message can relate to. The warning message will mention which heater it relates to. In the picture below, the “extruder” is not heating at expected rate.
Extruder not Heating at Expected Rate
This warning is issued as a fail-safe when the extruder is not heating up as fast as it is expecting based on the PID tune parameters. However this warning can be issued for multiple genuine errors relating to extruder.
Extruder Heater Element Failure
The extruder contains two 50W heater elements that work together to maintain print temperatures. If one or both of these heater elements are not functioning correctly, the warning will be issued. Things to check are:
Both heaters are plugged in correctly
No broken or fraying wires
No excessive build-up of material near the heater wires
If none of these checks reveal an obvious answer then the last check to determine the fault is measuring the nominal resistance of the heater element at room temperature. At room temperature each heater element should be approximately 13Ω. Use a multi-meter to measure the resistance.
If the heater measures out as an open-circuit, then the element is damaged and will need to be replaced. Contact Pantheon for a replacement.
If the heater measures out as a short-circuit, then the element is damaged and will need to be replaced. Contact Pantheon for a replacement.
If the heater measures out around 13Ω, then contact Pantheon for further support. It may be required to send the printhead to Pantheon for refurbishment.
Excessive Build-Up of Material on the Printhead
In rare cases, excessive build-up of material on the extruder can result in this warning being issued. This occurs when the extruder is attempting to heat up but the effective mass of the extruder is now outside the expected PID tune. A considerable amount of material on the extruder is needed to cause this condition, however it can happen when a part detaches from the bed and sticks to the extruder.
Abnormal Part Cooling
In rare cases, automatically generated excessive part cooling from the slicer with a change in requested print temperature may cause the extruder to not heat up at the expected rate. This phenomenon has only been observed a few times and is highly unlikely to be the cause of the warning.
Bed not Heating at Expected Rate
This warning is issued as a fail-safe when the bed is not heating up as fast as it is expecting based on the PID tune. However this warning can be issued for multiple genuine errors relating to bed’s heating element.
Bed Heater Element Failure
The bed has a 500W resistive heating element adhered to the underside of the cast aluminum plate. Things to check are:
Power and Thermistor cables are plugged in correctly
The silicon pad is not drooping or detaching from the aluminum plate
The color of the silicon pad is consistent over the entire surface (no regions of over-heating or burn marks)
When measured with a multimeter set to resistance, it should measure out to approximately 1Ω.
The bed heater is not a serviceable item. Contact Pantheon if you suspect a serious fault has occurred.
ADC out of Range
This fault may occur for either the “EBBCan” MCU, the “printhead” MCU or the “mcu” MCU. The “EEBCan” and “printhead” MCU relates to the printhead, while the “mcu” MCU relates to the chassis, chamber, and bed. ADC out of range typically indicates that one of the temperature sensors has breached its expected operating range.
EBBCan/printhead ADC out of Range
This is warning is issued when the extruder temperature is outside the normal operating range. This can be associated with the following:
Faulty Extruder Thermistor
“EBBCan” or “printhead” ADC out of Range is typically associated with a thermistor failure which reports a value well outside of normal operating conditions. Inspect the thermistor for damage.
Requested Extruder Temperature too near the Limit
Requesting a temperature that is too close to the temperature limit of the extruder may cause this warning to occur. For example, if the limit is 330C and the requested temperature is 330C, then when the extruder heats up and tries to maintain 330C, it may reach 330.5C and throw this warning.
MCU ADC out of Range
This is warning is issued if a temperature sensor on the machine’s chassis or bed is outside the normal operating range. This can be associated with the following:
Faulty Bed Thermistor
“MCU” ADC out of Range is typically associated with a thermistor failure which reports a value well outside of normal operating conditions. Inspect the bed thermistor for damage.
Faulty Chassis Thermistor
Inspect the chassis thermistor for damage.
Faulty Chamber Thermistor
Inspect the chamber thermistor for damage.
Requested Bed Temperature too near the Limit
Requesting a temperature that is too close to the temperature limit of the bed may cause this warning to occur. For example, if the limit is 130C and the requested temperature is 130C, then when the extruder heats up and tries to maintain 130C, it may reach 130.5C and throw this warning.
MCU Unable to Connect
EBBCan/printhead MCU Unable to Connect
This error message will be issued when the machine is unable to communicate with the printhead. You will see this error message when you disconnect the printhead while the machine is powered on. If the printhead is plugged in while the machine is on and this message still appears then the two common causes are:
The printhead fuse is blown.
The printhead cable is damaged or incorrectly installed.
No Trigger after Full Movement
On the Pantheon HS-Pro and HS3, each of the X, Y, and Y1 axes are driven by servo motors. The “X” servo motor is on the gantry, the “Y” servo motor is the motor closest to the front of the machine on the left side, and the “Y1” servo motor is the motor closer to the back of the machine on the left side. Each motor has a power connector (4-pin) and data connector (8-pin).
Servo Status Checks
When powered, the Status LED on the back of the motor will be illuminated and show the current state of the servo. During normal operation, users will see the LED in one of two states:
Flickering GREEN, meaning the servo is enabled and ready to accept motion commands.
Solid YELLOW, meaning the motor is currently disabled.
Below is a excerpt of the user manual for the servo motor that provides more information on what the condition of the Status LED actually means. Review this document if you experience anything different from the above two conditions. Please note that the color YELLOW as written in this document is actually very much so an orange color on the servo motor itself. YELLOW = ORANGE.
Status Check
When the machine is off, the Status LED is off.
When the machine is powered on, and audible “clunk” is heard by the servos energizing.
The Status LED on the servo is illuminated solid YELLOW.
When asked to “HOME” the servos travel smoothly to their axis limit and the Status LED switches to a flickering GREEN.
Immediately after bumping off the axis limit, the Status LED will blink 3 times (torque saturation after bumping a hard stop).
After the 3 GREEN blinks, the Status LED will switch back to the flickering GREEN.
Servo High-Level Feedback
The servo motors have a High-Level Feedback (HLFB) signal that is used to inform the system that the specific axis has reached its “HOME” or final position. This signal is part of the 8-pin data connector and is connected to a small signal processing adapter circuit board on the main control board in the electrical panel. On the signal processing board, the connections are slightly confusing but to clarify: The “X-AXIS” as labelled on the circuit board is for the X-axis servo, the “Y1-AXIS” is for the Y-axis servo and the “Y2-AXIS” is for the Y1-axis servo. Each axis has a green LED that signifies the condition of the HLFB signal. The LED will illuminate when the axis has “homed” or when it has completed a movement command. The LED will not be illuminated during movements or when the motor is disabled. On HS-Pro printers, the E-STOP button will disable the servos and turn off the LEDs.
Function Check
Power on the machine and observe the signal processing board while homing the machine.
The LEDs should illuminate as each axis is homed.
Further Troubleshooting
Be sure all connections to and from the servos are fully mated and the pins inside the connectors are fully seated.
Be sure the main control board is clean and there is not a build-up of dust/debris.
Be sure the system is up to date and there are no modifications to the configuration files that may alter the axes settings.
If at anytime the system exhibits behaviour that does not align with the normal behaviors described in the sections above, please reach out to Pantheon for further diagnostics at: support@pantheondesign.com.