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power consumption

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by collin, Sep 12, 2014.

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  1. collin

    collin New Member

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    So my electronic bill the last couple months has been double last year at this time. I don't believe this is the cause, but long term idleing on my printer might be the source. After a 10 or 13 hour print theres a very good chance I'm not at home or im asleep. This results in the printer idling for in some cases upwards of 8 hours. Could this be causing the spike in power use? Am I crazy?
     
    #1 collin, Sep 12, 2014
  2. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    The 12v DC power supply is rated at 360watts maximum.

    With the bed at high temp (100c+) and extruder at 200c say, the power would be about 120W + 30W = 150W. Add some motors running and the total could be 200W+ while you are actually printing.

    But if the printer is idle with nothing being heated or motors moving then power drawn should only be a few watts keeping the Arduino ticking over.

    Unless you had a very, very low power bill before I can't imagine your bill would double. But long hours of actual printing would bump up the bill.
     
    #2 Ziggy, Sep 13, 2014
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  3. Qhuy

    Qhuy New Member

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    Keep in mind that there are some auto off after finish your print designs for your RoBo3d Printer.
     
    #3 Qhuy, Sep 13, 2014
  4. RokleM

    RokleM Member

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    There is practically no power draw (10-12w when idle with the fans and LED's running). If you have a heated bed, it can run up to 150w while running and back down to 50w or so when the bed isn't warming. So no, it's not the printer.
     
    #4 RokleM, Sep 13, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 13, 2014
  5. SteveC

    SteveC Well-Known Member

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    Did you buy a Tesla over the last year? ;)
     
    #5 SteveC, Sep 13, 2014
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  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    They don't impact your electric bill as much as you might think.

    4 cents a mile dude...and we do not have the cheapest power.
     
    #6 mark tomlinson, Sep 13, 2014
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  7. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    Is that voice of experience? :)

    Collin, like others have posted, actual power consumption when printing is very low, on the order of a single light (either a room light or night light depending on your settings, but still about a light bulb's worth).
     
    #7 Printed Solid, Sep 13, 2014
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  8. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    If you run your bed at like 100C you'll be pulling around 12-15A. If we assume 15A that's ~180W. On 120V it pulls around 1.5A, at 180VA. If we just assume it's equivalent watt hour that's .18KW/h, ~5hours per KW/h. I think we pay around $0.15 per kw/h, which comes out to about $0.03/hr.
     
    #8 Mike Kelly, Sep 13, 2014
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  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Per my electric bill :)
    I have a TED (energy detective) on there so I can pretty well break out what is getting used when and where.
    What the solar is generating, what each panel is using, etc.
    If they ever start charging us variable rates based on time of day (like commercial) then I guess I'll have to get creative. Right now mine is close to Mikes at around 15 cents a kWh.
     
    #9 mark tomlinson, Sep 13, 2014
  10. rogwabbit

    rogwabbit New Member

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    My power consumption went up the month following my 3d purchase, but it's attributed to running the A/C in the garage more often now since that is where I have the printer. :)
     
    #10 rogwabbit, Sep 13, 2014
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  11. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    Same for me. Running AC / Humidifier / Heat in the different seasons is much more significant than the printer.

    @mark tomlinson , my comment around voice of experience was asking if you own a Tesla?
     
    #11 Printed Solid, Sep 13, 2014
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  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes, we have a 2010 Roadster Sport. Not nearly as nice as the Model S. As soon as the main car (an Audi) dies, I am replacing it with another Tesla. I have over 50k trouble free (and gas free) miles on that thing and their service team is da' bomb. They just rock.
     
    #12 mark tomlinson, Sep 13, 2014
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  13. lemuba

    lemuba Active Member

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    #13 lemuba, Sep 13, 2014
  14. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    I have measured. I wasn't guessing.

    It's about as much as an incandescent light bulb. Between 25W and 150W depending on what you're printing with. ABS with a hot build plate is going to be closer to 150. PLA without a heated bed is going to be closer to 25.
     
    #14 Printed Solid, Sep 13, 2014
  15. lemuba

    lemuba Active Member

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    More intersting would be the consumed kw/h after 6-12 hrs. for e.g. ABS and PLA.
    Thats what this devices are showing and enable you to calculate the real costs for the consumed energy....
     
    #15 lemuba, Sep 13, 2014
  16. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    That's what I'm saying. I did exactly that, with the exact thing you linked to. Any of the bells and whistles around cost that it output are only meaningful for your utility rate.
    A 3D printer costs about as much to operate as an incandescent light bulb.
     
    #16 Printed Solid, Sep 13, 2014
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  17. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The computer I have attached is drawing more power than the printer.
     
    #17 mark tomlinson, Sep 13, 2014
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  18. lemuba

    lemuba Active Member

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    Then take a Raspberry PI and Octoprint with max 2 Watt consumption on the computer side...
     
    #18 lemuba, Sep 13, 2014
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  19. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I have (had at this point) one of those. I was not really happy with it so I later repurpsoed that Pi to the BarMan :) (OK, I have other Pi boards, but still). If you like that it is a very workable solution. I just wanted the power of the attached workstation. I remote desktop in as needed to control it and the webcams give enough monitoring feedback. More to the point I am a power hog. I am not a Green Peace member :D
     
    #19 mark tomlinson, Sep 13, 2014
  20. collin

    collin New Member

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    omg you have a tesla!! I've never even seen one.
     
    #20 collin, Sep 13, 2014
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