Plugin to resume printing from a specific layer

[KarlBaumann 0]

Hi!

 

I can't believe there still isn't a plugin for cases, when printing fails and has to be resumed in the middle of print.

How do you handle such cases?

 

After 2 day printing filament got stuck on the roll and printer kept printing without knowing that filament is not coming out.

[DivingDuck 105]

Yes, these kind of problems are a nightmare and I can understand your frustration.

 

This is  something that in the end a printer needs to handle. Cura or a plugin simply don't have a reliable information at what point something is going wrong. For this case you need something like a detection of filament movement, run-out sensing and maybe more, in addition a firmware that can interpret different situations and sensor information's and the possibility to store the position information when it happen. But this is only the half of the way.

 

There is maybe a chance when you can figure out on what layer this happen and modify your g-code to start from this layer again, but mainly those problems will happen somewhere within a layer and this will cause then additional implications. While a power failure is quite good manageable in form of having a good position information (but also can end in scrap when e.g. a heated bed cools down), these kind of problems are quite more complex. Maybe you can print it in two part's and glue them together.

 

Not saying this is impossible, but not easy to realize. It will cost money too as you will need more sensors what also make systems more error-prone. (...and in the end the print can end also as an unusable part)

 

[KarlBaumann 0]

Thanks for your reply @DivingDuck!

 

What would be enough for me is a very basic algorithm that

1. uses current extruder position (I would manually put it where it needs to continue);
2. finds this position in the .gcode
3. heats up the bed and the nozzle
4. tells printer to continue from this position

Does not sound like a rocket science to me..? 😄

[tinkergnome 927]

Well, most printers have to move to a reference (home) position as the first step.

How can be assured that this is possible without colliding with the (half printed) part? It will be very unlikely for the usual Prusa/CR-10 like printers (for example).

 

And you have to assure that any automatic bed leveling is skipped, some printers prime (and/or wipe) the nozzles somewhere and so on and on...

 

Such a plugin would need deep knowledge about the actual printer to avoid all pitfalls (and any possible damage to the printer).

I would be surprised if we see such functions in an open (non-proprietary) software anytime soon.

 

It would be indeed much easier and safer, if the manufacturer adds such functions to the particular firmware...

 

(just my 2ct.)

[KarlBaumann 0]

good point @tinkergnome!

 

I am not entirely sure about this, but I think if the printer wasnt turned completely off, it keeps the reference to the home (at least my CR-10s does) and does not need to perform auto-home again. 

 

 

 

[tinkergnome 927]

28 minutes ago, KarlBaumann said:

I am not entirely sure about this, but I think if the printer wasnt turned completely off, it keeps the reference to the home (at least my CR-10s does) and does not need to perform auto-home again. 

 

yes, maybe - but that's only one more point that a plugin would need to know to be able to generate a properly start script.

And it would not work anymore, if the reason of the interruption was a power outage.

 

Who knows - but it seems to be a pretty long list of things to consider, if a generally accepted solution is the goal... 🤷‍♂️

 

A quick hack would be: manual editing of the gcode file. If one knows all external circumstances it should be indeed no rocket science. 🙂

[peggyb 171]

the easiest solution is to print the rest and glue it together. If you manage to edit the gcode and resume the print, there will probably be a visual difference, as in a pause and resume. Try to find the spot where it failed in Cura and lower the model -z in the bed.