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How Long Will a UPS Run a 3D Printer?

A UPS can run a 3D printer for up to 5 hours, depending on load and capacity, with a 1,500 VA 900 W UPS able to run a 100 W 3D printer for 2 hours or more.

Written by:
Ben
Last updated:
11/11/2023

A power outage can ruin your 3D print, even if the loss of electricity is temporary. For that reason, you might consider a UPS as a backup for your 3D printer — but a UPS won’t run a 3D printer forever. So, how long will a UPS run your 3D printer, and is that enough to finish your prints? 

A UPS will run a 3D printer anywhere from around 10 minutes up to five hours, depending on the load and the unit’s capacity. A 1,500 VA 900 W UPS can run a 3D printer drawing an average of 100 W for 2 hours or longer if the unit isn’t powering any other device. 

Any 3D printer’s run-time using UPS depends on many factors, including the battery size and the type of model you are printing. Also, a heated bed has a massive impact on the real-time power requirement of a 3D printer. So, let’s look at a few examples of 3D printer runtimes using UPS and discuss the power requirements of a 3D printer

3D Printer Run-Time Using UPS

A 3D printer’s run-time using UPS primarily depends on these three main factors:

A UPS’ current condition or quality will also influence a 3D printer’s run-time. However, the quality of your UPS is challenging to quantify, and accounting for unquantifiable variables will make calculations a non-starter.

The Effect of UPS Capacity or Size on a 3D Printer’s Run-Time

Let me first use the example of the APC SMT1500C Smart-UPS, available on Amazon.com. This sinewave UPS battery’s total power backup is 1,500 VA or ~1,000 W.

Not all 1,500 VA UPS units have a power factor of ~0.7. Some brands or models may have a lower power factor.

This APC SMT1500C Smart-UPS delivers the following run-times for different loads or wattage requirements:

Average Total Load or Power RequirementTypical Run-Times of APC SMT1500C
100 watts2 hours and 52 minutes
200 watts1 hour and 24 minutes
300 watts51 minutes
400 watts33 minutes
500 watts (Half Load: 490 watts)23 minutes (24 minutes for 490 watts)
600 watts17 minutes
700 watts12 minutes
800 watts10 minutes
900 watts8 minutes
<~1,000 watts (Full Load: 980 watts)7 minutes
Runtime of UPS with different watt usage

Suppose you own a Prusa 3D printer that uses the 24V 240W PSU, such as these models:

  • MK3
  • MK3S
  • MK3S+

The maximum power these 3D printers can draw is 240 W. However, the average or consistent power requirement is much less than 200 W. 

A fully-charged APC SMT1500C Smart UPS can deliver a run-time of approximately 1 hour and 24 minutes for a Prusa 3D printer with a constant load of up to 200 W.

If the average power requirement is 100 W, this APC SMT UPS will run a 3D printer for up to 2 hours and 52 minutes. Of course, the APC SMT1500C UPS shouldn’t power devices other than your 3D printer to have this run time. 

These expected run times are directly proportional to the UPS capacity, irrespective of brand or model. But the expected run-time varies among UPS manufacturers and their models. 

The bestselling CyberPower CP1500 Intelligent UPS has a maximum capacity of 1,500 VA or 900 W. The power factor for this CyberPower UPS with AVR (automatic voltage regulator) and LCD is 0.6. 

CyberPower’s run-times for the CP1500AVRLCD are:

  • Full load (900 watts): 3 minutes
  • Half load (450 watts): 12 minutes

The APC run-time for 400 W and 500 W is significantly longer. So, you are unlikely to get a 3D printer drawing 100 W running for 2 hours and 52 minutes with the CyberPower UPS, although the model has the same capacity as the APC SMT1500. Still, CyberPower will run for a while.

Since 100 W is ~10% of the CP1500’s battery capacity and full load, the run time will be longer than the 12 minutes for 450 W. Conservatively, you can expect a 3D printer to run 1 hour with a CP1500 when it is fully charged and without any other load. Expect less than 1 hour at 200 W.

Using a UPS with Creality Ender 3

Some printers can draw more power than 200 W, such as the Creality Ender 3 S1. The maximum power rating of 270 W doesn’t mean the Creality Ender 3 draws that much constantly. The mean power draw is substantially less than 200 W, but there will be spikes during 3D printing.

On the other hand, if you have a much smaller UPS, your 3D printer run-time is likely to be only a few minutes. The APC BE600M1 UPS 600 VA is unlikely to deliver 1 hour of run-time for your 3D printer. 

The CyberPower EC850LCD 850VA or 510W may not last half an hour, and the CyberPower CP350SLG 350VA or 255W will run for a few minutes.

Conversely, CyberPower’s PR3000LCD UPS 3000VA or 2700W can last much longer than 1 hour.

The APC SMX3000LVNC UPS, with its 3000 VA or 2700 W capacity, can run your 3D printer for up to 2 hours and 27 minutes with a constant power requirement of 200 watts. 

The run-time will be up to 4 hours and 28 minutes if your 3D printer draws an average of only 100 watts.

The Power Requirements of a 3D Printer, Filament, and Model

3D printers’ power consumption depends on many factors, including the following:

  • Filament
  • Heated bed
  • Hotend
  • The complexity of your Models
  • Settings

A Prusa 3D printer has the following average power requirements for different filaments when you print at 20 °C (68 °F) or room temperature:

  • PLA: 80 watts
  • ABS: 120 watts

ABS needs higher temperatures for the heated bed and hotend or nozzle, so it requires more power. Likewise, if you use a dual-extruder with two hotends and nozzles, your 3D printer will draw more power than the typical 80 W to 120 W.

If you are printing in cold ambient conditions, the heaters for the bed and hotend will draw more power. Thus, the 3D printer run-time will be shorter in colder conditions than in warmer ones. 

A hot day is likely to make the fans work harder, but this spike in power consumption will be less than that of the heaters.

To put all these numbers into perspective, a desktop computer has the following power needs:

  • Startup: ~60 watts
  • Operating: 100 watts to 200 watts
  • GPU-intensive functions: More than 200 watts

Therefore, if you know your UPS run-time for a desktop computer, you can expect 3D printers to work for a similar duration. 

Resin 3D printers have a significantly longer run-time using UPS. A Formlabs Form 2 draws an average of fewer than 65 watts. Thus, you may be able to run your resin 3D printer for over 5 hours when using a UPS like the APC SMX3000LVNC UPS

Conclusion

How long a UPS will run a 3D printer depends on all the factors I have shared in this article. If you have a powerful 1,500 VA UPS, you can run your 3D printer for one to four hours. Don’t use any power stations with lithium batteries, like Jackery, as a UPS alternative for your 3D printer.

Written by:
Ben
Last updated:
11/11/2023

About Ben

I started 3D printing since 2013 and have learned a lot since then. Because of this I want to share my knowledge of what I have learned in the past years with the community. Currently I own 2 Bambulab X1 Carbon, Prusa SL1S and a Prusa MK3S+. Hope you learn something from my blog after my years of experience in 3D printing.