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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
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.

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
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