Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
How many of you have your printer on a UPS?
I started a 6 hour print and 2 hours into it, the utility power pulls a summer time blip-out for 30 seconds. Thanks to an old re-purposed UPS with a new battery, my MK2 never skipped a beat. Not that the loss of two hours into a print would hurt a lot, it would still would put a kink into my printing schedule. If an outage occurred well into a major, complex print, it might be a different matter.
With the availability of a basic, dumb UPS out there for under $40, it may be well worth the price if you don't already run your printer on one. Helps protect that little computer in there as well.
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
It's always a good idea to have a UPS although in my case the UPS is the one that killed my print 😮
I started a big print in the morning and when I got home from work I found my printer "dead" and the print only halfway complete. Apparently the UPS itself died, there was no power failure and everything that was connected to it was off.
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
Learned very early on that a UPS is essential where I live, especially for longer prints.
Running 2 printers off my server UPS which is an APC UPS 3000.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
in my old job. I got grief for putting dual power servers on a ups and straight on the mains...
until the single ups popped it's clogs... my servers stayed on line, others, died...
the customer fitted a single ups... single point of failure, and inside the UPS there was space for two strings of batteries, they only fitted one string...
so when there was a mains blip... one weak battery, let the whole system down..
regards
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: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
hmmmm.... why not simply use a car or motorbike battery in addition to the power supply ?
ok, guess you've to adjust the psu voltage to 13.8V then, so that the car battery would be charged properly.
a proper car battery should give you several hours of printing... even when your power line is cut.
dem inscheniör is' nix zu schwör...
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
"why not simply use a car or motorbike battery in addition to the power supply ?"
Don't do this without a proper balancing and charging unit ! Otherwise you will kill the battery, the PSU and the printer 😯
Thomas
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
Would you really want a regular car battery charging in your house or enclosed space generating fumes and the potential for explosion or spill?
Doesn't seem like a great idea!!
A UPS is definitely the way to go. Not only providing a degree of backup power but also protection from bad power.
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
Would you really want a regular car battery charging in your house or enclosed space generating fumes and the potential for explosion or spill?
Doesn't seem like a great idea!!
A UPS is definitely the way to go. Not only providing a degree of backup power but also protection from bad power.
Would you really want a 3D printer in your house or enclosed space, working 24/7 and being a fire hazard, making lots of noise and generating toxic fumes? 😉
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
Thomas
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
Would you really want a regular car battery charging in your house or enclosed space generating fumes and the potential for explosion or spill?
Doesn't seem like a great idea!!
A UPS is definitely the way to go. Not only providing a degree of backup power but also protection from bad power.
and what's inside a psu ? a standard vrla-accumulator, or even called: sealed lead-acid (SLA), gel cell, or maintenance free battery.
usually used for motorbikes as well.
@Thomas: if you set the psu voltage between 13.5V and 13.8V you should be fine not to overload the battery.
dem inscheniör is' nix zu schwör...
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
hmmmm.... why not simply use a car or motorbike battery in addition to the power supply ?
Because it could get damaged or destroyed by deep discharge in case of long power outage. There should be at least protection circuit disconnecting battery after dropping under 10.8V.
Also there is risk of damaging PSU or burning its fuses by excessive charging current going to battery after utility power gets restored.
UPS is definitely better solution.
And last but not least - while running from battery, printer input voltage would change from initial 13.8V (trickle charged) to minimum 10.8V, which is quite big range, which would definitely affect printing quality (motors power, heating power, fan speeds etc.).
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
I have just 1 PRUSA i3 MK2S printer. Can anyone tell me the max power draw when the printer is running? I would like to get a UPS for it. I would like to determine what the best size would be. Or can anyone suggest one?
Re: Run it on a battery (AKA: UPS)
Personally, I think you should use a UPS which can handle the maximum power rating of the PSU + 20%, so around 300VA
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…