Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
Hey guys are you also thinking about an automatic shudown after print button/checkbox on the printer Software? I would appreciate it and you could safe a litte bit of your money. Yes i know that you could do it with gcode, but i think it could be a lot cooler directly managed from the printer. For Example you got an 4h print which you trigger at 22h and you want to go to sleep, you could easily check the auto shutdown checkbox/button.
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
My Prusa Mk3 uses 12 watts per hour when idle. To use 9.5 cents worth of electricity, it would have to idle for 83.3 hours. Even if the system could shut off, there would still be idle power being used; probably less than 12 watts, but 1 or 2 is easy to see. So the savings is so meager, probably not worth the effort. Plus, there is no power relays or switches the firmware can toggle, so you'd need to add hardware to make the feature work.
As it is, all heaters are disabled after a print; motors and fans disabled, etc. The LCD stays on ... the CPU is running at an idle ... but that's about it.
Can I suggest you buy a mechanical clock power timer - set it for print time plus a buffer - then head off to bed.
ps: but perhaps some new future design can reduce the idle power to less?
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
For this specific reason, I have use a combination of OctoPrint and a powerplug running Tasmota ( https://github.com/arendst/Tasmota) which can be turned on and off using the OctoPrint Plugin https://plugins.octoprint.org/plugins/tasmota/
I did not do this for powersaving reasons, the PI I am using is consuming more than the Prusa idling, for me it was important to get the power away from the Printer - so a malfunction does not burn down my house 😀
And it allows me to easily remote print files, or monitor them and if I see thing go weird, I can act.
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
quite good idea - but in meantime, You can use smart socket (Tuya smart or similar) - it can shutdown the power source - and also monitor power usage (costs).
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
don't forget to either eject your filament, or let the hot end cool before turning off your printer. to reduce the chances of heat creep after printing
Prusa firmware runs the extruder fan, until below 50C
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
sure. first wait to cool off - that is visible from the web interface, then turn off... 😉
and I leave every time the printer with clean printing bed - so when some idea is walking around, I can remotely start a new job then... usually small pieces are already printed when I come home... 🙂
also camera is "on site" - to view how it is going and in case of emergency I'm able to shut down entire system remotely...
and I have successfully tested file transfer via my phone from dropbox (synchronised exchange location throught all my devices) to the printer without even starting computer at home... 🙂
(sure that in this case is VPN to home network a "good to have" condition... 😉 but not necessarily necessary )
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
The idea is to switch the power off after printing and cooling down, I do the same in my other 3D printers, running Klipper or Marlin, it's a matter of safety not because of consumption, of course we'll need some external hardware, but as in my case, using Prusa link, could be a good advantage, even to handle a Tasmota socket, or even a specifically designed hardware, I can do it, but I need to know how to trigger it from the Mk3 after printing and cooling, I can change a pin level using final gcode to switch of a pin, and then the complete power system
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
Those above gcodes could help to make the job
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
Smart plug is the easiest. Just set it for 20 minutes after the print completes.
Everything will be cool after 20 minutes. I've been doing this for years without issue.
Just look at your remaining time and set the timer for the plug for 20 min later.
Some smart plugs have energy monitoring. With those you can trigger things to happen based on energy usage. So you could make a routine that when the power consumption goes below a certain amount (aka idle usage) you're routine is triggered, aka a 20 minute timer.
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
Sorry, but it's not valid, suppose you have a color change, and you make the printer wait a while because you're busy, time will run, and consumption will decrease
RE:
From my point of view, I only need a controllable pin, this pin has to have the value HIGH, when switch the printer on, and the firmware must make it LOW in the case of an emergency, after three or five seconds, or in the case of prolonged inactivity, this could be an user defined period, just having this kind of behaviour in a single pin, you can develop your own hardware, or use a commercial one
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
Of course not only emergency or inactivity, the pin must be controllable too, using the above gacodes
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
If the printer is waiting for a color change, the bed will still be heated. You will have to select an energy level below what is required for the the bed heating for your automation.
I myself use OctoPrint, a plug flashed with the Tasmota firmware and the Tasmota plugin in OctoPrint for this. There you can define a min temp threshold for the bed and hotend and an interval until it shuts down the printer and the Pi with OctoPrint.
RE:
Sorry, but it's not valid, suppose you have a color change, and you make the printer wait a while because you're busy, time will run, and consumption will decrease
The heat bed will stay on, therefore you will not reach idle energy consumption and the printer will stay on. You set the routine based on idle energy consumption aka nothing running.
RE:
The approach to achieve a printer shutdown via the GPIO board and gcodes for the printer seems a bit going in the wrong direction and also prone to future errors to me, especially if PrusaSlicer tends to nuke your profiles with every other profile update.
This does not look like a "set it and forget it" thing, but more like set it, forget it, troubleshoot it after the next update. 🙂
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
The approach to achieve a printer shutdown via the GPIO board and gcodes for the printer seems a bit going in the wrong direction and also prone to future errors to me, especially if PrusaSlicer tends to nuke your profiles with every other profile update.
This does not look like a "set it and forget it" thing, but more like set it, forget it, troubleshoot it after the next update. 🙂
Hence why a energy monitoring smart plug for 30 dollars is a no brainer imo.
Or just leave the printer on until you come back to it. It won't hurt anything.
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
No nukes on initial gcode or final gcodes
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
Is not about 30 dollars, I'm talking about security,
This is a commercial switch inside one of my 3D printers
RE: Implement automatic shutdown after Print.
I have found that updated profiles had restored e.g. the firmware update check in the custom gcodes for my printers that I had disabled before. It is just something more that the user has to keep checking and I do not want to have to deal with that eventual problem. Especially not if I have another solution for this already that has been in place for years.
If you are still searching for your own solution you should be aware of potential hurdles.