Pause button integration

Hello, today i was thinking about the idea of having a physical pause button to pause the hole printing process, is it possible?

Hi tigox,

the physical part would be rather easy to implement by using one of the free digital IO pins, but you’d need a firmware that supports it. Pausing a print from SD card is integrated in the code for some LCD panels, but apart from that?

Cheers,
kuraasu

So is there any known way to pause a print being made through repetier on windows?

Hi tigox,

there are several ways. You can schedule a pause in the G-code, or pause the print manually (the Run button should change to “Pause” after starting the job). Note that the latter pauses Repetier Host; the printer will stop a few moments later, after the commands already transfered to its buffer have been executed. For some movements (short segment length), this will take only the fraction of a second, while for long segments (e.g. linear infill) there may be a delay of a few seconds until the printer actually pauses.

The scheduled pause is also fairly easy: just add “%pause” in the appropriate line in the G-code editor. When Repetier encounters such a pause, the printer will pause at the exact location defined in the G-code (e.g. at a layer change or a certain position within the print), heating elements stay on, and a small pop-up windows appears with an according message and un-pause button, just like when pausing manually.

Note that the hot nozzle will quite quickly melt the plastic at its location, so you either have to reposition it manually when the pause starts or add a non-extruding path in the G-code before the scheduled pause. This way, you can make sure that the head will stop in a safe position (e.g. outside of your print) automatically. Depending on the next move after the pause, it may be necessary to position the head back at its intended position.

What’s your intention? Debugging? Changing the filament mid-print?

Cheers,
kuraasu

There’s a pause button in Repetier and a “Run on pause” script is also provided in the g-code editor where you can put some commands like a G1 command to move your object away from the leaking extruder. When you hit the resume button, Repetier moves you object back to the exact place it was when pausing.