Prusa3D Enhanced Safety Features for Revo Hotends with Community Support

Prusa3D has written an article discussing the Thermal Model Protection system. The system, introduced in the 3.12 firmware update, quickly identifies and addresses unexpected heating issues in the 3D printer. It aims to stop the heating process within 10-12 seconds to prevent any potential damage. The system monitors thermistor readings and compares them to a predefined thermal model pattern. If any irregularities are detected, the printer displays a “THERMAL ANOMALY” warning and deactivates the heating. This ensures the safety of the printer and alerts the user to any potential issues.

However, the question arises: what happens if the 3D printer is heavily modified? Prusa analyzed over 150,000 measurements to create the thermal model for their stock MK3S+ printers. But since the printers are open-source and users are free to modify them, it wasn’t possible to test every single modification. The Thermal Model Protection system may throw errors for heavily modified printers, but it’s important not to disable the safety features. Prusa recommends contacting their support team for assistance in such cases.

The Revo hotend, made by E3D, is a popular alternative to the stock hotend of the MK3S+. Although it’s a third-party modification, Prusa wanted to ensure its compatibility and safety. Due to limited resources, they turned to their community for help. Community members measured temperatures and fans under specific conditions, providing valuable data for the development of the thermal model for Revo hotends. With the community’s assistance, Prusa was able to create an experimental firmware update and fine-tune the thermal model for Revo hotends.

Prusa continues to prioritize safety and reliability in their firmware updates. The collaboration with the community has been instrumental in improving and expanding the features of their printers.

Source: Prusa3D.