So, I think I've finally gotten my MAX dialed in so it's producing serviceable prints, and I started printing a real model (rather than a calibration target). Things were going along swimmingly until about 1/2 way through our neighborhood lost power due to a kamikaze squirrel.
From what I've seen, the stock config doesn't appear to keep state of where it is in a print job. Is anyone working on means of making sudden power outages more survivable? I'm guessing that it'd take a pretty large UPS to be able to run the motors and the heaters long enough to finish a job, but what about realizing that power's gone, saving the state of the job, and homing the arms on the towers?
Dealing with power failures?
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Earthbound
- Printmaster!
- Posts: 458
- Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2014 2:39 am
Re: Dealing with power failures?
There is ambition to "fix" this and you'll find threads about it.
Need a UPS to keep printer up for as long as it takes to print the biggest/slowest layer.
Need hardware (RAMBo or other) with add-on circuitry to make it "power-aware".
Need firmware that supports such functions.
Basic approach is when loss of normal power is detected, continue printing as usual until it reaches a milestone like finishing a layer. Then raise head and send to a park position where it won't ooze onto the model.
Record log of what layer was completed so it can resume later. On resume, warm things up, begin next layer.
All of this is for a standalone machine printing from SD card. If connected to PC, then host software needs to be involved, too.
While the power is out, the bed will cool down and the model will lose much of its adhesion. Completion on resume may be a gamble at best.
Need a UPS to keep printer up for as long as it takes to print the biggest/slowest layer.
Need hardware (RAMBo or other) with add-on circuitry to make it "power-aware".
Need firmware that supports such functions.
Basic approach is when loss of normal power is detected, continue printing as usual until it reaches a milestone like finishing a layer. Then raise head and send to a park position where it won't ooze onto the model.
Record log of what layer was completed so it can resume later. On resume, warm things up, begin next layer.
All of this is for a standalone machine printing from SD card. If connected to PC, then host software needs to be involved, too.
While the power is out, the bed will cool down and the model will lose much of its adhesion. Completion on resume may be a gamble at best.
"Trust no quote from the Internet." - Abraham Lincoln
Re: Dealing with power failures?
The other approach is to provide both short and long-term power backup so the job doesn't have to be interrupted. UPS for the short term, generator for the long term. You can leave the generator startup and switchover (plugging the UPS into the generator instead of the wall) as a manual operation if you know someone will be around that can do it. Critical operations like datacenters and hospitals will make it as automatic as they can, of course.