Is is safe to use wall smart plug to power ON/OFF MK4S?
My MK4S printer is in the basement. I typically keep it OFF and switch ON only when I need to print something. I'm not a frequent user so printer is OFF for days at the time. When I design something to print, I have to run to the basement only to switch the printer ON and then run back upstairs to my computer to upload the gcode file and print it. This is inconvenient. However, I also own several smart wall plugs that I can switch wall power ON remotely from my phone. So the question is: Is is safe to have MK4S plugged into the smart wall plug with printer switch always set to ON and control it ON/OFF state using smart wall plug? Is the printer own switch just cutting power supply or it has some form of electronic spike protection and it would not be smart then to cut the power to the printer? Can someone knowledgeable give me some guidance here?
RE: Is is safe to use wall smart plug to power ON/OFF MK4S?
I have been doing that for years with my printers. Smart plugs flashed with Tasmota firmware, you can control/automate those via Home Assistant and/or OctoPrint. You should just wait a few minutes after the print job is finished and the nozzle has been cooled down by the hotend fan before you switch the printer off. Otherwise the hot nozzle might lead to heat creep deforming the plastic parts in the extruder.
RE: Is is safe to use wall smart plug to power ON/OFF MK4S?
I have a similar situation with my printer in another building, I use a smart plug together Prusa connect to check temperature before I switch off the try to leave the printer in a ready state for the next print to be able to turn on and print, that works if t correct filament and nozzle is in the machine which is not always the case. The only thing beyond watching temperatures that I heard of is the off chance to corrupt the thumb drive by just cutting power, that has not happened to me yet.
/Anders
RE: Is is safe to use wall smart plug to power ON/OFF MK4S?
Filesystem corruption can only happen during a write operation on the drive. If the printer is idle there is no risk for that. It makes no difference if you use an external switch to cut off power or the switch on the power supply, provided the printer is idle when you do this. This is not a computer with an operating system that needs a proper shutdown.
RE: Is is safe to use wall smart plug to power ON/OFF MK4S?
Filesystem corruption can only happen during a write operation on the drive. If the printer is idle there is no risk for that. It makes no difference if you use an external switch to cut off power or the switch on the power supply, provided the printer is idle when you do this. This is not a computer with an operating system that needs a proper shutdown.
Makes sense, and I cant recall ever corrupting a thumb drive.
/Anders