So I have read about the cardboard spool issue, would think Bambu would have seen this when desiging the new AMS but….. Yea I know all you Bambu flag carrying folks. maybe I should get another hobby but this is not my hobby, but I digress. So I have printed the spool adapters, several different kinds and well they all suck. I use Overture and Polymaker spools so what is the trick? Guess in the future I will just buy reloads and go that route.
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Depending on the spool, you can rip the sides off and use the core with the filament still on as a “refill”.
The other option is to respool onto a plastic spool. There are some great spooling solutions available, and some are automatic.
Lastly, there’s no way to “design for cardboard”, cardboard is fundamentally a problem for the AMS.
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Hi Truck’,
No flags here, but I’m not sure how the AMS design could accommodate the dust and bent cardboard issues effectively. Not that I’m a fan of all the extra plastic that goes into the “AMS compatible” spools, either (need more filaments available as reloads!). OTOH cardboard also traps a lot of moisture and deforms easier in vacuum bags… 
But it is what it is. When you say “adapters” do you mean the rings that attach onto the cardboard spool edges? I haven’t tried any of those.
I haven’t used a lot of different brands, but what I’ve done so far is break the sides off the cardboard spools and mount the core onto a reusable plastic spool (not my original idea of course, lots of references to that on these forums, MW, etc.). Either empty BL spools, or ones I print myself. Basically turning the cardboard spool into a BL “refill” style. This can also be a good time to stick some reused (or programmed) BL RFID tags in there… 
The Overture spools I’ve gotten fit right on w/out any adapter/spacer needed (including the important notch to keep the cardboard core spinning with the plastic parts). For some others, like colorFabb, I just designed my own (after looking at some ideas on MW). Don’t know about Polymaker specifically. Manufacturers typically publish their spool dimensions somewhere. This style adapter doesn’t really need to be as precise as the outer rim style, and of course doesn’t depend on the cardboard rims being in good shape.
Admittedly it’s a bit nerve-wracking getting the core onto the new spool w/out it all unraveling. I just do one side at a time, and so far no actual issues. The filament prefers to stick to itself and keep its spooled shape, not like a wound-up Slinky waiting to explode or anything. I suppose a badly-wound spool might have more issues, but OTOH this is a good thing to know about before trying to print with it… 
It’d be a huge help if the spools came with extra wraps around the filament + core itself, like the BL refills, but doesn’t seem like anyone does this. Could probably figure out how to add something like that, eg. a couple wire ties, before removing the sides, but so far hasn’t been worth the bother.
Longer-term I’m thinking a rewinder setup might be a good idea… for when a spool does unravel on me, or is badly wound from the factory (looking at you, BL), or I want to buy larger spools, etc.
Cheers,
-Max
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Thanks Good information. And I will say that, if the cardboard spool is out of roud or damaged I would not expect the AMS to run it. The spools I have are pristine. Yes the adapters I printed are the round ones that attach to the spool. So you tear off the side of the spool and use the existing center to load on a refill spool, Correct?
Exactly. The caveat is that the center cardboard tube ID doesn’t always match the OD of the plastic spool center, so an adapter/spacer might be needed. There’s also a small tab on the plastic spool which needs to engage with a cutout notch on the cardboard part, so they spin together. An adapter, if needed, is basically just a tube with a notch cut out for the plastic tab to fit into, and a tab to fit into the cardboard spool notch.
-Max
My unpopular opinion is that printing with cardboard in the AMS is not even a problem.
I have printed 4000+ hours using primarily cardboard spools and can honestly say there is no dust build up inside my AMS units. Genuinely never seen anything concerning in there.
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I’m with you on this one. I use Overture spools in my AMS and there is no visible dust buildup.
I did initially use the spool adapters but I saw others not using them so I tried not using them as well. If the spool edge was badly damaged I would put one back on, but not had to do so, so far.
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Hi
I’d like to add my two cents as well.
At first, I also printed with the cardboard spools loaded directly into the AMS; that worked fine with most rolls. Depending on the brand, some worked better than others, but you could say it worked with all of them. That was as long as I was printing something that didn’t require many roll changes.
But when I started using the H2C and, due to how I set up the printer and the AMS, the PTFE tubes got even longer, I ran into major problems pretty quickly. Because of all the winding and unwinding—and since the longer PTFE tubes made the process take even longer, it happened more and more often that the filament wasn’t winding up cleanly. This caused chaos in the AMS every single time.
My conclusion: Continuous printing from cardboard spools works quite well, but continuous winding and unwinding quickly causes problems, although this certainly also depends on the quality of the cardboard spools.
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And it holds a lot of water (as others noted). Makes drying filament take significantly longer.
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My favorite filaments are all cardboard, I’ve never cleaned the inside of the AMS, just a quick blow with my mouth, twice in 3k hours of printing, and a bucket full of poop. The adapters are basically useless because they hit the AMS lid. Unless a spool has taken a massive hit and is severely bent, there shouldn’t be any cleaning issues…
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I run the adapter on my cardboard reels. When I ran them straight in the AMS it wasn’t winding correctly. The adapters fixed that and it doesn’t hit the inside of the AMS. The ones I print are really thin, I usually get 2 spools out of a set of adapters before they break but they take about 7 min to build. Occasionally the spool shrinks to much from drying for the adapter to fit tightly, in these cases I use a couple drops of superglue.
It seems to me that the edges of the Polymaker and Overture carboard spools used to tend to fray over time. With the newer ones the edges seem to have been coated which greatly reduces the likelihood of fraying, which makes them work better in an AMS unit.
I have a problem with ABS Overture spools and the AMS2. It has nothing to do with the carboard. The spools are too narrow which the filament on a new spool to be too big in diameter. The filament rubs against the feeder unit. I can get it to feed but if it needs to retract…no joy until it has used a bunch of filament. Why ABS? It’s less dense than PLA so 1KG is actually more filament.
Not a problem for AMS HT
Something quick and easy that works well:
Run a bead of stretched electrical tape around the edges of the cardboard spools. Works a treat if you have a stubborn one.
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I also use them as well without a problem, in AMS 1. Only slight problem is when the spool is almost empty, cardboard is light and sometimes the spools will bounce up. You can solve that with a D battery in the hub to weigh it down a bit.
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This is from a post I made in a different thread. It’s the process I use.
“I like overture PLA. It comes on cardboard spools so I end up swapping cores to Bambu spools (see video below). The core hole and notch are a little oversized compared to BL but it has never caused me a problem. It’s easier for me than printing a spool edge ring, especially when the cardboard spools get beat up in shipping.
Edit: video link copied wierd but it works, not sure if it’s the process I used or if Youtube and /or Discourse are making changes again.
This is original thread
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I wouldn’t say they were useless, but mine (which were thin adapters) also hit the lid of the AMS sometimes, Especially if you used the locks of the lid.
I’ve been using Overture for quite a bit and never noticed them fray. OK. mine are mainly PETG.
I think you can try the electrical tape method. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDz4PyfK6aM
https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/comments/1dmdr6z/quick_hack_for_cardboard_spools_in_the_ams/
I find that too and use a 32mm 1/2 socket as I have them nearby. Works well.
I also find it does it with Jayo spools which are plastic but the downside is, there is no ridge inside for anything to sit in nicely without being able to fall out. There’s probably some kind of insert to aid this but I didn’t look into it.
Not locking the lid means getting a ton of humidity because there’s no enough pinching on the gasket, already been there