Long print times - Pausing print overnight
TL;DR - Have there been any recent updates that make the pause/resume print functions more reliable?
I just got the i3 mk3s+ as my first “real” (read: not a cheapo one from Amazon) printer and I’m loving it so far. But I’m wondering about pausing longer prints overnight (like 8+ hours, because I’m trying to be a responsible adult with a sleep schedule). The trouble is, the majority of threads that I can find on extended pauses are from a few years ago, and they all seem to be fairly hit-or-miss on if it works or not.
I’m not currently using anything like Octoprint for monitoring/remote control, and from what I’ve read remote stoppage with Octoprint can be a bit iffy anyway. It seems like the best way to pause prints overnight and resume is just printing from the SD card and…crossing your fingers when you hit pause at night/resume in the morning.
SO, I’m looking for peoples’ recent success/failure experience with pausing a print for an extended period of time and then resuming. Like, are there any settings I should keep in mind, or an absolute max amount of time? Do I turn the bed off completely or leave it running? Stuff like that. Preferably via SD card as that’s what I’m currently using, but I’m totally open to suggestions as I’m still fairly new to this! Thank you!!
RE: Long print times - Pausing print overnight
I use OctoPrint but I don't see why that would make a difference compared to printing via SD. I had to remotely pause a few prints because auf detachment of small objects until I was home to remove the debris and exclude the object's area from the print before continuing. I am using the build in "pause print"-function, so it should be the same printing from SD. Pause duration was less than a night but around 2 h (might be a bit longer in one instance). Bed heating needs to stay on to avoid part detachment due to cooling. You need to remove oozing filament during extruder heating when continuing. Due to the oozing there is a little imperfection where you continue printing (underextrusion) but it's really just a few millimeters (try to pause your print while printing infill to minimize the problem).
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RE: Long print times - Pausing print overnight
If you turn the bed off you're setting yourself up for disappointment. This will allow the model to come loose. You may be lucky, but more likely not.
On the other hand, there's no reason your prints should interfere with your sleep schedule. I do 24+ hour prints all the time and sleep very well 😇
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RE: Long print times - Pausing print overnight
Posted by: @robin
I am using the build in "pause print"-function, so it should be the same printing from SD.
That's what I was wondering! I think the thread that mentioned problems with it was from like 2014, so it's totally possible they could've fixed the issues with it by now. Something about how Octoprint paused it at the time didn't turn everything off, or something like that. Anyway it was old, so 😅
If you turn the bed off you're setting yourself up for disappointment. This will allow the model to come loose. You may be lucky, but more likely not.
That makes total sense to me. Most of the things I read mentioned turning off the bed and then preheating it again in the morning which DID seem like asking for trouble, but again I'm fairly new to this (previous printer didn't have a heated bed at all) so it's good to have the confirmation.
Thank you both!!! ✨️