Hello, I want to turn my printer(a1 combo) on and off from my phone while I’m at work, so I bought a smart plug. Instead of using the power button on the back of the printer to turn it on and off, would it be harmful to just plug it in and unplug it while leaving the button on? I’m asking because I have no knowledge about this. Maybe if the button is off when plugged in, it prevents a sudden surge of high voltage and protects the device, or maybe it has nothing to do with it, I’m not sure. If leaving the button on doesn’t cause any issues, I would like to use the Wi-Fi plug to turn it on and off. I would appreciate it if someone with knowledge could help.
I’ve not done it, but have been planning to do the same, my only thought about it has been it would most likely be fine turning on, but I would not plan to turn them off once print had finished as the hotend fan carries on for a few mins I assume to combat heat-creep so when I do it and create a smart event to switch it back off, I would be planning to make sure it had returned to standby electricity use (ensuring hotend fan finished) before the smart event completes…Sorry I cant help, but these were my thoughts as I contemplate the same idea!
I’ve been doing that (switching the printer on and off via a smart plug) since I got my A4 mini half a year ago. I don’t see what difference it would make whether the power is cut via the smart plug or the power button.
Of course I don’t switch it off mid-print(*) and always wait until I get the notification that it’s done printing.
(*) Except that one time, when I had the smart plug in an automation to switch off everything when the last person leaves the apartment …
I am incredibly disabled and couldn’t live without smart plugs and smart lights.
All of my printers are on smart plugs, all voice enabled using Alexa.
I use them daily.
I recommend this quoted suggestion when you are up and running.
The logic is the same as if you used a manual switch to turn it on and off. Common sense.
I don’t see any reason you’d need to worry about shutting power off to the printer completely on a regular basis unless you have some specific concern.
Personally I just use the switch on the back to turn it off if I’m going to be out of town (but really that is not necessary)
When connected straight to mains, leaving the power button on is a small parasitic load that wastes a small amount of energy and exposes the printer to surges on the mains, lightning strikes, etc.
Turning off the button removes the parasitic load and helps protect the printer to an extent. Unplugging completely protects from line surges.
Making and breaking power using a remote switch is possibly more gentle on the printer than using the switch if the remote switch uses zero-crossing solid-state relays. Those only apply power when voltage is at zero so the equipment sees a gentle ramp up. If the switch uses regular relays where you hear a click, it’s the same as a mechanical switch where power can be applied at AC peaks where surge currents are big.
There is no problem when you use a smart plug. With a smart plug you can automate switching off the printer when print is finished or whatever you want. In my case the printer is switched off every evening at 22:00 when there is no printjob running. When the printer is running the printer will switched off after the print is finished. Homewizzard is used to do this.
The AC current goes through the switch to reach the internal power supplies. Doesn’t matter where the switch is in the electrical circuit. Doesn’t matter if there is more than one switch in the circuit. As far as this area of the circuitry is concerned, a switch is a switch. The power won’t be able to tell which switch turned it off…
The switch on the printer is just a mechanical switch and operates the same as the relay inside a smart plug so there is no difference to the printer which you use.
I did have a kasa/tplink smart plug fail in a way that powercycled the device it was hooked up to on and off every few seconds which wouldn’t be so great for a printer. Turned out to be a firmware problem, after that I’m a little more shy about putting them on a printer.
I have had two fail this way, each one hooked up to a 4-gang socket. Early models, newer ones have been far better. Thankfully, no printer on either of those.
Really weird clicking noise I later realised was the solenoid.
These days I use a 1-2-1 ratio.
Thank you all. My goal is simply to activate the power socket and turn on the printer whenever I want after arriving at work in the morning. Once the printer finishes its task, I’ll manually monitor it and turn off the socket after the printer cools down.
From what I understand, turning off the socket and turning off the printer from the back have the same effect. Thanks again!