Fix for persistent cartridge missing error! Maybe other electronic glitches too

I have had the unfortunate circumstances of having my Formlabs 3+ constantly spitting out cartridge missing errors for no apparent reason, and the cartridges chips were fried, meaning undetectable by any other printers either. I initially thought it was a mechanical issue so I had the spring finger replaced, but that did not solve the issue, after many back and forth with customer service was kind enough to provide me with a refurbished unit, but the cartridge missing problem still persisted! I was very confused initially as this problem was present in both unrelated devices. I ended up having to buy peoples used cartridges just to print something ONCE.

After many weeks of experimenting I realized its electromagnetic interference (EMI). Apparently Formlabs ACDC power supply is quite sensitive to EMI, and that apparently its enough to fry the cartridge chips causing all this missing cartridge errors. so then I purchased a EMI socket filter and the problems have since completely disappeared!!! I recommend EMI filters with 4 or more stages just to be safe.

If you suspect your home has unstable power or Formlabs is connected in series with large noisy appliances such as microwaves and washing machines, I highly recommend you get a EMI filter for the Formlabs socket. It might just make random persistent electronic glitches/problems disappear.

As a electrical engineer, I believe formlabs need to take a look at their ac/dc modules to see if improvements can be made for EMI filtering and transconductances. I say this because I have had 2 printers with the exact same issue, and none of my computers or other devices have had any issues with my home power.

I hope my long rant will be able to save some of us that is struggling to get their printers working.
Thanks for reading.

1 Like

Great Work!

Hi @Victor_J_ST ,

Thank you so much for sharing your experience in troubleshooting; I am grateful that you decided to post that on our forum so that it is searchable for others who may be experiencing similar issues!

This solution may be helpful: F2 Missing Cartridge - Any fixes? - #8 by crwalters