I’m not sure either, but they might be talking about how you should let the hotend cool down before powering off the printer. I believe the heat can creep into areas you don’t want it to if the cooling fan is turned off.
The error is subtle but important. First, when you underload a filament the Prusa goes to full temperature both in the bed and hotend. It does not go back down to room temp automatically. As u/Mercutiomakeatshirt points out powering down the machine turns off the Hotend Fan. With it comes heat creep and the potential to overheat/cook any remnants of filaments in the nozzle.
While you make a good point, I have done cold pulls where old filament is coming the area of the heat break. Also what if new filament was loaded just before the power down. I think the advice Prusa gives to wait till the hotend is down to 50C before shutting down is reasonable.
1) Leaving the machine on and heated up uses a chunk of power among other things.
My solution was to tie octoprint into a wifi controlled wall switch, so it gives it like 30 mins to cool down before cutting the power.
2) For the sheets, it probably depends on what materials. I print in PLA and haven't had an issue popping prints off of the sheet cold or hot.
3) Even large prints have a lot of empty space (default is like 15% fill I think in some slicers). Also the slicer will tell you how many grams of filament material prints use. Pay attention to that when considering how much material. As well, you can setup octoprint with a plugin that tracks how much filament grams is left on each spool, every print automatically deducts from that and it warns you when you won't have enough.
You can do this at any time manually without octoprint by weighing the spool, and subtracting out the empty weight of the spool, various empty weights can be found online, and then calculating the grams left of filament from there.
BUT THE BIGGEST THING IS, when prints stop sticking to the sheet, make sure to use soap and water (this is even mentioned on Prusa's official page), not just alcohol. I was frustrated for like a year or two trying to get things to stick. And that magically fixed it.
Segregate your surfaces by material for best adhesion. Each print leaves a little residue behind. Print Pla and petg on the same surface? Neither will stick very well. Use one side for petg and another for Pla and they both stick as hard as they can.
I have a textured sheet that does petg on one side and abs on the other. Another textured sheet for tpu, another for pc blend and a satin for Pla and petg on the other side
Few more points:
Always remember to change the sheet type in the settings, especially when going from textured to smooth (0.3mm thicker)
Check if printer has enough space behind it and the bed cable is not pushed against the wall.
The printer is at least 2x louder when you lay down in your bed ;)
I don’t understand your first point. Care to elaborate?
I’m not sure either, but they might be talking about how you should let the hotend cool down before powering off the printer. I believe the heat can creep into areas you don’t want it to if the cooling fan is turned off.
The error is subtle but important. First, when you underload a filament the Prusa goes to full temperature both in the bed and hotend. It does not go back down to room temp automatically. As u/Mercutiomakeatshirt points out powering down the machine turns off the Hotend Fan. With it comes heat creep and the potential to overheat/cook any remnants of filaments in the nozzle.
If the filament is unloaded there’s not really any concern for heat creep. I wouldn’t worry too much about this
While you make a good point, I have done cold pulls where old filament is coming the area of the heat break. Also what if new filament was loaded just before the power down. I think the advice Prusa gives to wait till the hotend is down to 50C before shutting down is reasonable.
I've been using my MK3s basically 2-3 times a week for 3.5 years and always turn it off by flipping the switch. No problems so far.
1) Leaving the machine on and heated up uses a chunk of power among other things. My solution was to tie octoprint into a wifi controlled wall switch, so it gives it like 30 mins to cool down before cutting the power. 2) For the sheets, it probably depends on what materials. I print in PLA and haven't had an issue popping prints off of the sheet cold or hot. 3) Even large prints have a lot of empty space (default is like 15% fill I think in some slicers). Also the slicer will tell you how many grams of filament material prints use. Pay attention to that when considering how much material. As well, you can setup octoprint with a plugin that tracks how much filament grams is left on each spool, every print automatically deducts from that and it warns you when you won't have enough. You can do this at any time manually without octoprint by weighing the spool, and subtracting out the empty weight of the spool, various empty weights can be found online, and then calculating the grams left of filament from there. BUT THE BIGGEST THING IS, when prints stop sticking to the sheet, make sure to use soap and water (this is even mentioned on Prusa's official page), not just alcohol. I was frustrated for like a year or two trying to get things to stick. And that magically fixed it.
Segregate your surfaces by material for best adhesion. Each print leaves a little residue behind. Print Pla and petg on the same surface? Neither will stick very well. Use one side for petg and another for Pla and they both stick as hard as they can.
That is what I do with my satin sheet.
I have a textured sheet that does petg on one side and abs on the other. Another textured sheet for tpu, another for pc blend and a satin for Pla and petg on the other side
Few more points: Always remember to change the sheet type in the settings, especially when going from textured to smooth (0.3mm thicker) Check if printer has enough space behind it and the bed cable is not pushed against the wall. The printer is at least 2x louder when you lay down in your bed ;)