In this article we'll explain everything about the SimplyPrint feature "Staggered Start".

What is Staggered Start?

Staggered Start helps print farms or hobbyists with more printers than they care to admit they have, from overloading their power and blowing a fuse when starting too many printers at the same time - with the added bonus of Download Staggering too, in case your internet connection begins to struggle when too many printers download files.

The Staggered Start feature allows you to create stagger groups - with either one group for your entire farm, or a group for example per location or room, in case the power draw limits might not be shared across all your printers.

In each stagger group you can define;

• How many printers can heat up at the same time?
• How many printers can download files at the same time?

This allows you to safely start your entire farm - all your printers - in one go, without worrying about the printers crashing while heating up.

Who needs this?

You need this feature if the power draw from heating up all your printers at the same time is not something your power at the farm or at home can handle. Your power will still need to be able to handle all your printers running once the printers are heated up - but staggered start makes sure that only X amount of printers heat up at the same time.

How does it work?

The feature works by you defining one or multiple groups for Staggered Start, where you set a limit on how many printers can heat up at the same time.

So, let's say my farm can only handle 3 printers heating up at the same time, I would set the max to 3. But I have 20 printers, and I want to start all of them at once - like via the 1-Click Print SimplyPrint feature: I start them all, and instead of watching the power go out, now only 3 printers heat up at the same time. As one printer finishes heating, the next starts, until all pending prints begin.

While a printer is waiting for other printers to finish heating up, it will show in a "Pending start" state where you cannot send new prints to the printer, but you can cancel the pending print. preventing it from starting. If you cancel one pending print, the next potential pending print in line will assume its place and the queue will continue.

Does it work with the app and API?

Yes! No matter how you start prints - if you have Staggered Start groups, the print start will be staggered.

How will I know how many printers can heat up at the same time?

If you've been looking for this feature, you most likely already know the answer to the question; "What's the limit for me? How many printers can heat up at the same time in my farm?".

You may have a solid enterprise setup where you don't have any problems running all printers at the same time, but many print farms starting out in their basement, office or bedroom may not be as lucky.

The limit will vary based on where you live, which printers you have, the materials you use (as different materials require different nozzle and bed temperatures). We have made a simple "Heating limit calculator" guide to help you - but know that this is just guiding numbers.

In the calculator you can select whether you're based in the US/North America, or EU/the rest of the world. You can set your circuit breaker rating (amps), and select whether you have small, medium or big printers. Based on your selections, we will give you an idea of how many printers we recommend you, at a maximum, heat up at the same time.

But, the best test is probably "trial by error"; try heating up 5. If that fails, do 4. If that fails, do 3, and if that's the sweet-spot, you've found your heating limit!

How to set it up

To set up Staggered Start, simply navigate to;

• SimplyPrint Web platform (https://simplyprint.io)
• Go to "Settings"
• Go to "Staggered Start"; https://simplyprint.io/panel/settings/staggered-start

You can see how to set it up in this demo;

We hope this article was helpful and explained everything you needed to know about our Staggered Start feature - and if not; feel free to reach out via our live-chat in the bottom right corner.

Updated on: 08/09/2025