For anyone struggling with their A1 Mini, switching to Orca instead of BambuStudio might be worth considering, especially for calibration. After switching to Orca, I found that the calibration process significantly reduced the frustration I experienced when starting with 3D printing.
1 Like
What calibration I should do with Orca?
I have the same issue, im now at -0.005 and with every filament i get a diffrent first layer, thats bullshit!!!
I agree seems like a filament issue that you face
1 Like
Have you tried a different nozzle? It appears as though their tolerance on nozzle differs slightly which seemingly affects the first layers too
1 Like
SOLUTION.
There are several solutions in the posts above, none of which worked for me. But I found a solution for my A1 and A1 mini that both developed this problem. I changed my slicer from Bambu Studio to its big brother Orca Slicer. Orca is almost identical but has several calibration settings Bambu Studio does not - notably the ability to adjust the z-offset. Changing the g-code in Bambu Studio does nothing due to the A1 seriesā autocalibration.
In Orca Slicer select the printer default presets (the box next to printer selection in the Preview tab). In the next window set the view to advanced. In the General tab there is now a setting for z-offset. Bambu Studio does not have this setting.
Orcaās default z-offset is 0.00mm. Increasing the value increases the nozzle distance from the print plate. After a bit of trial and error I found that the new z-offset should be +0.2mm for my A1 mini and +0.35mm for my A1. Your settings may differ.
Good luck, I hope this solves this very annoying issue with the A1 series for you.
6 Likes
Had the same issue with my A1. I decided to strip the toolhead to see whats what and found the four screws behind the heater was loose. Tightened them and everything is back to normal, getting top quality prints again.
2 Likes
Thanks for the advice it really helped.
On my A1 mini the solution was not the Hotend.
On the backside of the Hotendblock are 4 Screws. After 500 hours of printing each of them were loose.
Can you recommend what experiments/tests you did to figure out what Z-offset worked best for you?
I used this 56mm square 56mm Square.stl - Droplr
1 Like
Do you know if its possible to set z-offset per object in orca to run many tests as once? Or did you set it once per project and have to print a bunch of times for many tests?
I donāt think you can. I just did 5 rounds of different heights. Youāll also need to do it again for different filament types 
1 Like
I tried printing a .2 layer full plate out of hunch and even making z-offset .05 as recommend to stop nozzle hitting by someone else made the layer lines tear apart when peeling from the plate. When I removed the z-offset everything peeled in one layer. Looks like I donāt need to mess with this 
.
In the end I did fix the problem. It was a combination of a new out of the box, non-BambuLabs hotend and replacing Bambu Slicer with Orca Slicer. Orca Slicer has a z-offset adjustment that Bambu Slicer does not. I came to the conclusion that Bambu Slicer would always set its own z-offset no matter what I told it to do. BambuLabs Support recommended A1 Bed Tramming, which I did not do since Orca slicer and the new hotend fixed the issue. Good luck, I know how frustrating this issue is.
Iām curious which non-BambuLabs hotend you got? I purchased a few on aliexpress just to have spares cheap ones and not to solve an actual problem. They have removable tips and tell you to tighten them after heating them to 200C and give you two metal tools to do it with. One tool seems to hold the tip and let you turn it, the other seems like it has no use I couldnāt figure out how to use it to help. It seems impossible to fully tighten them because beyond some weak amount of force it starts turning the entire hot end instead or something like that. The other tool seemed like it could be to hold the hot end to keep it from turning, but I couldnāt figure out how to actually do that with experimenting.
Hereās a picture of the ad for the ones I got:
I purchased this one on Temu. It was high quality and I am very satisfied. I cannot post a link, but this is the exact title. The seller is Fanyuey:
Bambu Lab A1 Mini 3D Printer Hotend Kit with Hardened Steel Nozzles 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8MM - Compatible with A1/A1mini - For 3D Printing Enthusiasts - Upgrade Your Printing Experience
I donāt mess around with changing nozzles - the hotends are inexpensive enough for me to forego that hassle.
I looked and its clearly the same one I have, even if you donāt change the nozzle mine comes with instructions about tightening it before use. Did you not have to figure out how to do that?
You can handcraft G-code. I modified one of those level tests with all the little squares. So each square prints out at a slightly different Z level. But you have to do it by hand. I donāt think thereās an automated easy way to do it.
1 Like
Hello 2025, i have the same problem, i just reseat the printer to fabric settings, after finish the reseat, i take it off the hotend with hardened steel nozzle 0.4 and putting it back again and the problem disappear after tht