1 Topic by AJdoodler

  • AJdoodler
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  • Registered: 2014-01-22
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Topic: Emergency Stop Button

For those of you that hate having to plug and unplug your printer every time you want to turn it off or every time there is a failed print; I have documented how to install an emergency stop button on your printer.  I used the polycarbonate enclosure I made to hold the stop button.  If you do not have a case I am sure you will be able to print a mount for it.  The build documentation is attached let me know if I left out anything.  A BOM is also in the document.

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2 Reply by adrian

  • adrian
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Re: Emergency Stop Button

Theres also the emergency stop soft-button in Repetier-Host that achieves the same thing using the stop gcodes etc. Top right hand corner - "Emergency Stop"... it resets the printer and reconnects...

The soft-button works fine except if your printing standalone, where you'd have an LCD, which come with the stop buttons wired up anyway.

3 Reply by COASTER19

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  • Registered: 2013-03-08
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Re: Emergency Stop Button

I have a less obvious kill switch in the form of a power strip with a foot switch underneath the desk with my Solidoodle.  I have to say I have found it useful many a time...

4 Reply by AJdoodler

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Re: Emergency Stop Button

Both of those also work just fine.  I found the soft switch to not always work and I wanted something to instantly kill power to the faulty printer.  I also have multiple things plugged into the same power strip so killing the entire strip messes other things up.  This just seemed like a cheap and easy fix.

5 Reply by agentsmith

  • agentsmith
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  • Registered: 2013-06-14
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Re: Emergency Stop Button

My SD3 power supply is controlled through a Raspberry Pi and a relay to the AC power.
I did it this way to be sure the PSU is completely switched off.

I might connect an Emergency Stop button to the connnection between the RPi and the relay, killing power with no hazardous voltages and with thin wires. But as the PSU contains some capacitors there might be 1/2 second delay from when you kill AC power and the printer actually stops.
The solution AJdoodler is ideal in this case but since you carry DC power you need bigger wires, the longer the bigger, to compensate for losses. Am I right?

6 Reply by AJdoodler

  • AJdoodler
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Re: Emergency Stop Button

The signal a RPi will send to a relay will only be about 3.3VDC so you do not have to go too large with the wire AWG.  I put the emergency stop between the PSU and the control board so killing the power appears to be instantaneous.