It’s probably too early to know the A1s’ long-term reliability, but is anybody using them for print production (PLA and PETG only, obviously)?
I have been using an A1 mini as part of a small farm that includes old I3 clone printers for about 4 months now and absolutely I absolutely love the A1 mini. I am now in the process of adding an A1 and another A1 mini to start replacing all of the old machines.
Pro’s:
-Bambu has some of the hottest printers on the market and this will probably drive innovation with 3rd party add ons beyond what other manufacturers normally see. It’ll also help keep them in business long term so there’s a good chance that new machines, parts, support, etc will all be available as you grow.
-Both the A1 & mini are a great value compared to many other machines out there. At $250 and $400, these machines can print their worth in a very short time and are super easy to install and get running quickly.
I like the idea of a Prusa MK4 but the kit that you have to take time to assemble costs $800…
-Bambu just released “Multi-device” functionality in their software that helps monitor up to 6 printers as I believe they will look to expand print farm compatibility. It’s still a little basic IMO, but I think a great first step.
As far as issues, I haven’t had anything outside of normal slicer tuning needed to improve my prints. They are fast, quiet, and have greatly improved the quality of prints compared to my old Anycubic I3 Mega’s.
Feel free to ask specific questions.
Hey BC. Thanks for the detailed reply; I really appreciate it. The reason I ask is that the usual thing to do is to buy P1Ps, but the price difference is big, especially with a multicolor setup (4 colors, that is).
How many do you have?
I have 5 marlin-based printers, the 1 A1 mini that I’ve had for 4 months, and I just got my first A1 yesterday that has been great so far. With any luck I’ll be getting my 2nd A1 mini today.
My plan is to have the Bambu’s run main production while I try to figure out if I’m going to keep limping along with my old printers before the holiday season. I’m hoping that the A1’s are so much better than the old ones that it’s not a question of if but when I go all in on Bambu’s.
I only plan to print PLA & PETG so an enclosure is not necessary for me. The core XY machines are able to handle a little faster acceleration but I have been super happy with the quality on the A1 bed slingers so far.
I have:
1 X1C combo. Cover all needs
1 P1S For one color, any material
1 A1 mini For prototyping and easy nozzle diameter change.
So I was just about to pull the trigger on another P1S with AMS, but I’ve found that the A1 mini prints are almost as fast and as good as the P and the X if the prints are not tall, and I could not find posts about people using the A1 series for farms because I think is too early to tell. $559( A1 combo) vs $959 (P1S Combo or P1P + AMS ) is hard to ignore.
Oh nice, then you already know a lot about the printers already.
I don’t use AMS so I can’t give feedback on AMS vs AMS LITE but a lot of people worry about the open air design of the LITE causing filament moisture issues. In my opinion though, if you’re running a farm then the filament probably won’t be exposed for long enough to cause an issue.
Hopefully someone else running multiple A1’s will chime in, but I don’t see how it could be a bad investment if you’re planning on printing PLA & PETG and already have 3 Bambu machines.
Thanks for your reply Haase0815. I think STLFlix doesn’t do mass production, but they definitely use the A1s more than most users. I’ll try to reach out to them.