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Multiple printers

Have more than one printer? 3DPrintForge is built for fleet management — you can monitor, control, and coordinate all your printers from one place.

Adding a new printer​

  1. Go to Settings → Printers
  2. Click + Add printer
  3. Fill in:
FieldExampleExplanation
Device serial number (SN)01P...Found in Bambu Handy or on the printer's screen
IP address192.168.1.101For LAN mode (recommended)
Access code123456788-digit code on the printer's screen
Name"Bambu #2 - P1S"Displayed in the dashboard
ModelP1P, P1S, X1C, A1Select the correct model for the right icons and features
  1. Click Test connection — you should see green status
  2. Click Save

:::info Printer capabilities 3DPrintForge automatically uses the correct configuration per printer brand and model. Bambu Lab printers use FTPS for file access, while Moonraker/Klipper printers use HTTP API. See Architecture for details. :::

:::tip Give printers descriptive names "Bambu 1" and "Bambu 2" are confusing. Use names like "X1C - Production" and "P1S - Prototypes" to keep track. :::

The fleet overview​

After all printers are added, they are displayed together in the Fleet panel. Here you can see:

┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐
│ X1C - Production│  │ P1S - Prototypes│  │ A1 - Hobby room │
│ ████████░░ 82%  │  │ Idle            │  │ ████░░░░░░ 38%  │
│ 1h 24m left     │  │ Ready to print  │  │ 3h 12m left     │
│ Temp: 220/60°C  │  │ AMS: 4 spools   │  │ Temp: 235/80°C  │
└─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘

You can:

  • Click on a printer for full detail view
  • See all temperatures, AMS status, and active errors at a glance
  • Filter by status (active prints, idle, errors)

Print queue — distributing work​

The print queue lets you plan prints for all printers from one place.

How it works:

  1. Go to Queue
  2. Click + Add job
  3. Select file and settings
  4. Select printer, or choose Automatic assignment

Automatic assignment​

With automatic assignment, the dashboard selects a printer based on:

  • Available capacity
  • Filament available in AMS
  • Scheduled maintenance windows

Enable under Settings → Queue → Automatic assignment.

Prioritization​

Drag and drop jobs in the queue to change the order. A job with High priority jumps ahead of regular jobs.

Staggered start — avoiding power spikes​

If you start many printers at the same time, the heating phase can cause a significant power spike. Staggered start distributes the startup:

How to enable it:

  1. Go to Settings → Fleet → Staggered start
  2. Enable Distributed startup
  3. Set delay between printers (recommended: 2–5 minutes)

Example with 3 printers and a 3-minute delay:

08:00 — Printer 1 starts heating
08:03 — Printer 2 starts heating
08:06 — Printer 3 starts heating

:::tip Relevant for circuit breaker size An X1C draws approximately 1000W during heating. Three printers simultaneously = 3000W, which can trip a 16A breaker. Staggered start eliminates the problem. :::

Printer groups​

Printer groups let you organize printers logically and send commands to the entire group:

Creating a group:

  1. Go to Settings → Printer groups
  2. Click + New group
  3. Give the group a name (e.g. "Production floor", "Hobby room")
  4. Add printers to the group

Group functions:

  • View combined statistics for the group
  • Send a pause command to the entire group simultaneously
  • Set a maintenance window for the group

Monitoring all printers​

Multi-view camera​

Go to Fleet → Camera view to see all camera feeds side by side:

┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐
│  X1C Feed    │  │  P1S Feed    │
│  [Live]      │  │  [Idle]      │
└──────────────┘  └──────────────┘
┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐
│  A1 Feed     │  │  + Add       │
│  [Live]      │  │              │
└──────────────┘  └──────────────┘

Alerts per printer​

You can configure different notification rules for different printers:

  • Production printer: always alert, including at night
  • Hobby printer: alert daytime only

See Notifications for setup.

Tips for fleet operation​

  • Standardize filament slots: Keep PLA white in slot 1, PLA black in slot 2 on all printers — job distribution becomes simpler
  • Check AMS levels daily: See Daily use for morning routine
  • Stagger maintenance: Don't maintain all printers at the same time — always keep at least one active
  • Name files clearly: File names like logo_x1c_pla_0.2mm.3mf make it easy to choose the right printer