A1 significantly louder than the A1 Mini?

Bambu Lab A1 Series Bambu Lab A1 mini
1

I’ve had my A1 for a couple of days now, and it’s just loud. I also have 2 A1 Mini’s and an X1C. The standard A1 is the loudest (for stepper motor movements), even louder than the X1C since the firmware update.

Could I be doing something wrong? I’ve run the calibrations multiple times, updates the the latest firmware, and tested all printers using the same models and almost identical settings (not too fast but not too slow). The standard A1 just whines extremely loudly on every movement.

Not really sure what else to try. The A1 and the A1 Mini uses the ‘under 48 dB’ phrasing in their marketing so I assumed they would be somewhat similar. The mini is just dead silent most of the time with the fans being the loudest part, where the stepper motors are clearly the loudest part of the A1.

The print quality is awesome on the A1, so it doesn’t feel like a hardware issue.

1 Like
2

sorry for a totally unrelated first reply, but how would you judge the printing quality of the A1 versus the X1C? As I have just decided to go for the P1S instead of the A1…
(PS random uneducated thought, did you maybe mount the AMS on top and does that somehow interfere with the sound cancellation?)

3

Definitely not worse so far. I think top surfaces come out better. Slightly more ringing, mainly on silk filament.

But honestly it’s just super close and I think playing with settings will help more.

And I love the AMS Lite way more than the regular AMS. The only downside is the enclosure, but filament swaps are just way more consistent.

4

thank you so much for the detailed answer, very valuable! I hope I will get my AMS to be consistent with swaps as well…

Regarding the noise from the A1 motors, I wish I could provide useful input to bring the thread back on topic. Is there any variation you can achieve in the motor noises? In order to find a starting point for optimization… (different materials, AMS mounted on top or not,… )

5

Well interestingly, I suddenly had a grinding sound on the z axis and I’m getting failed to home, then failed calibration. I restarted it and it had a firmware update ready.

It still made the grinding noise white homing, but at least it was able to home.

Running through the calibrations now. I wonder if I have an actual issue though.

7

only things i can think of is belt tension orr firmware version being different

8

Well I definitely have a major issue. “The resistance of motor-z is abnormal, the motor may have failed” is now a permanent message.

There’s no documentation at all on the z-axis so I’m stuck waiting for support.

9

So here is my experience with the new A1. I got one from Microcenter yesterday and assembled it. Got it all connected. First boot up and calibration (with factory software) went okay. Did not connect AMS Lite yet, used top spool holder. Got an update firmware prompt before I printed anything and updated firmware to v1.10.

Ok time to print - started the benchy from SD card. Bed heated to around 55c and suddenly the bed temperature on the screen started showing funny values like -20c , 0c and what not before finally giving a message on screen “Heat bed temperature malfunction”. Tired many times, same behavior (at least it was a consistent failure at the bed preheat step each time.).

Tried the calibration steps again, failed. Tried downgrading the firmware to previous version, reset everything - each time calibration failed.

Well, it was obvious by this time that it was the heatbed thermistor or wiring or something there that was messed up. So decided to not waste time and to go back to Microcenter. The took back the printer as is with the box separately after i showed them the pictured i uploaded here and simply asked - Full refund to your card or replacement printer :slight_smile: Well - I took the replacement, got the new printer home, assembled it , and this time - no issues - calibrated, and printed the benchy straight away!!! It’s been running since without any issues and while its just the second print in PLA (purge bucket obviously), here is what I have observed so far in comparison to X1C/P1S and mini. I fortunately have all of them.

Print Quality : So far I cannot detect a difference in the quality between X1C and A1. I know PETG/TPU will be fine already since A1mini prints them flawlessly (almost)

Speed: Same print on X1C 3hr37min vs A1 4hr21min. So I would say definitely slower than its core xy cousin.

Cost to print: Much lesser compared to a $1500 Pinter being used for PLA/PETG/TPU and some other filaments A1 can handle just as efficiently (just like MK4 from prusa) vs using a $399 printer to do the same. To compensate for production time if you are a factory (not a hobbyist like me) I would imagine you can just add an additional A1 to compensate for speed loss and still get the same output.

Swappable sheets between X1/P1 and A1 : Absolutely love it since I have a few fancy sheet surfaces i like to use!!!

Assembly: Remove 4 screws , install 10-15 screws using the same hex wrench, cut some zip-ties, connect the wires, filament tubes, spool holder and you are up and running. DO NOT FORGET to tighten the screw on the electrical connector gray plastic box with the usb-c cable, it is easy to overlook.

Noise: Oh so much quitter than X1/P1 but still, you will hear the fans and some noise. It not like a Bosch dishwasher (lower than 42db)!!!

I’ll post more if you want. My intention is not to review this printer in any way but rather share my experience. Happy printing.

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Ah I wish we could buy printers locally here in Australia. I can’t imagine my A1 being up and running or replaced for a few weeks at least with the back and forth with support, especially over Christmas.

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Couple of videos (sound on) showing the grinding. It’s much worse in person.

12

That sounds like a problem in the Z Axis.
I’m struggling with something similar, but in my case, Z axis doesn’t move at all.
Checking facebook and reddit, a lot of users are having the same problems.

13

For me it’s not grinding at all but how the driver drives the motor, that could be quieter. Apparently they were in such a hurry to start selling these printers that they didn’t complete them sufficiently. So far A1 mini has problems only with belt skipping in situations after cancelled prints or prints preloaded on micro SD card, carriage moves to the limits sometimes. Safest way is to restart the printer.

14

Ich habe auf meiner Seite Dämpfer dafür konstruiert die man darunter schiebt. Nimmt an wibraationsgeräuche ca. 75% zusätzlich weg.

Lg

I have designed dampers on my side for it that you push underneath. Takes away about 75% extra from wibraations noise.

Lg

15

Can you share your process for this?

16

Die homefunktion fährt immer so langsam.