Prusa mini and power outage
Hello all,
I still have 3 months to wait for my MINI, but i want to prepare things :
Is an UPS recomanded for the printer, in case there is an issue with the power un my house?
If yes, which is the maximum power which MINI can require?
RE: Prusa mini and power outage
what do you hope to do with your UPS?
a small one will guard against a momentary power loss, and provide a short runtime,
A bigger UPS will give a longer runtime.
I don't have a Mini, I cant see the power specification for the PSU, I suspect it will be lower than the mk3, which has a 240 watt power supply.
I have seen UPS Specifications showing 'Full Load' runtime of 1 Minute!!!!! that cost more than a different brand, similar VA rating that was less expensive whose specifications showed 10 minutes full load runtime! do your investigations read reviews, and good luck!
on the MK3 and mk3s there is a power panic system, which sometimes triggers as power transfers from mains to UPS or back to mains.
some users have found it necessary to unplug the power panic wires. hopefully someone with a mini can identify whether this is an issue with the mini
My UPS is a Powercool Smart UPS and it doesn't trigger either of my Mk3s Printers
I don't see power panic in the 'Mini' feature list!
I got a 1500va UPS for my mk2 printer about 3 years ago, as the cost was little more than a smaller UPS. It now supports my three printers, with a reduced runtime!
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: Prusa mini and power outage
what do you hope to do with your UPS?
It will by my first 3d printer. My thinking was that If I have a long time printing, and after let's say, 12hours I get a power interruption .... then ... probably ... I loose the entire print and I need to start from scratch .
So maybe having an UPS ... is it possible to:
- hope that the power outage is shorter than the time "offered" by the UPS' batteries
- pause the print and somehow put it in a state (sleep?) in order to continue when the power is back?
- other solution to avoid loosing 12 hours for nothing ?
RE: Prusa mini and power outage
Power source is external power brick, 110-240V input, 160 W max output, hope it helps you size UPS for your needs. I do not have smart plug or meter to measure how much power it actually consumes. Most power consumption in printers is attributed to heated bed.
At this point MINI does not have power panic and recovery. Power loss recovery is promised in upcoming firmware updates, memory of last g-code line IIRC. I am not sure if there is or will be possibility to pause print then sleep the printer, if you just pause it, heaters still run. Cooling down you risk issues with extrusion, and model unsticking from heated bed. Yes I have heard about MK3 PSU being too sensitive with power panic wire and triggering it when switching to batteries. Another problem is that sinusoid produced by some UPSes (differs in technology being used) is not up to snuff for MKx PSUs and it just does not work. But MINI has external brick, which may or may not be as sensitive as MK3 PSU. Hopefully somebody with MINI and UPS can chip in.
RE: Prusa mini and power outage
- pause the print and somehow put it in a state (sleep?) in order to continue when the power is backk
Not really practical. As soon as your bed cools down, you will loose adhesion. On the smooth sheet it might stay in place but on the powder coated sheet the part will just get loose completely. And there is no way you get the adhesion back.
Often linked posts:
Going small with MMU2
Real Multi Material
My prints on Instagram
RE: Prusa mini and power outage
In the UK most power outages are quite short.
I believe my UPS will power one of my printers for about 90minutes... which should cover most instances...
not tried it recently... batteries can deteriorate!
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: Prusa mini and power outage
The power panic feature really needs to be added to the Mini+. Every so often I have a power trip that lasts no more than a second or two and it's incredibly annoying to be in the middle of even a moderately sized print only to have the power trip for a moment and have to either start completely over or figure out where the power failure occurred and try and slice the model at the right spot and attach it to the print (which may not even be an option for certain prints)
I would suggest that you get a UPS,
power panic doesn't always work
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: Prusa mini and power outage
Thanks for the reply! I did some more digging and found that power panic is a planned update for the mini, but regardless I went ahead and purchased a UPS for the time being. Thanks again 🙂
For interest, which UPS did you go for?
I have a 1500KVA Powercool UPS...
thinking of getting a separate UPS for my router and CCTV.
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
UPS
Since the mini is literally the only thing that’s going to be connected to it and that the majority of times my power trips it’s for only a second, I decided to just go with a modest 600VA. Probably won’t last if the power goes out for any significant amount of time, but for those random times it goes out for a moment I think that should be fine.
For interest, which UPS did you go for?
I have a 1500KVA Powercool UPS...thinking of getting a separate UPS for my router and CCTV.
regards Joan
Should be fine for your mini and if you use one, your RasPi too!
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: Prusa mini and power outage
But how is this still not available almost two years later .. and now they are even starting to sell the XL with this feature with no indication that they still haven't figured out how to do it for the mini.
RE: Prusa mini and power outage
I personally don't think we're ever going to see a "power panic" on the mini. The MK3 does it by having a special power supply that can signal to the printer that power was lost and enough capacitance in the power filter to keep the printer up long enough to store the info where the print left off. The mini's power supply does not have this feature. The only way this could really be accomplished on the mini is to either be constantly writing this info to the EEPROM, which would probably make the EEPROM fail within one large print, or constantly write it out to a file on the USB stick, Still not ideal since all the writes would wear out the USB flash, but at least the USB stick is easily replaceable and they're pretty cheap. Doing it the USB method could also have other problems like corrupting the file system if the printer is in mid write when the power is lost. The one way they could possibly do a power panic is to built support into the firmware for reading the status of a UPS plugged into the USB port. When the UPS signals that power is lost, the printer could write out where it is at in the print, then pause the print.
RE: Prusa mini and power outage
Power panic feature exists in many cheap 3d printers nowadays. For the price I paid for the MINI+ I expected to find a power panic feature already built-in that I didn't even bother checking if it has any. Now, after a BSOD crash that occurred to me during a 20+ hours print, there's no way to 'rescue' what's been already done. Would surely like to see an upgrade option to add such feature to the MINI.