I bought a Bambu Lab A1 (without AMS) three days ago and set everything up with the standard settings. At first, everything worked great. I successfully printed three objects.
However, I am now experiencing issues where the prints constantly string and do not hold their shape properly. I have already performed a factory reset and tested the preloaded sample prints, but the issue persists.
I am printing with PLA+ on the Texture Plate. To rule out filament issues, I have already tried a different PLA filament, but the problem remains the same. The printer automatically uses a temperature of 220°C for printing.
I searched the forum and found some discussions about stringing issues, but none of them seem to be as extreme as what I am experiencing.
Does anyone have an idea what might be causing this or how to fix it?
A brand new roll can be wet right out of the bag, so it’s completely possible for that to be the issue. I would recommend a filament dryer with a fan, I typically also toss my desiccant packs in there as well every time I dry something to keep them fresh. I’ve never done testing but I typically work under the impression that when I get a roll, the desiccant pack is already used up and needs to be refreshed
With the Bambu filament, I’m getting the same result. It looks like only part of the filament is being extruded. I have already removed the nozzle and cleaned out all residues. During the last print, I also noticed that the printer’s nozzle is at least 1 cm above the build plate but continues to operate. I’m currently recalibrating the printer.
Yes, I have already tried that. I have now printed a test bed template. What do you think of the result?
I also contacted the seller because I personally find it strange that I already have to manually level the entire bed after just a few successful prints.
I have now manually leveled the bed, but the error still persists. However, I noticed that during printing, it constantly makes filament cutting noises, and the part I’ll call the “eye” briefly moves back. That doesn’t sound normal to me. Could the issue be that it’s not able to push the filament through properly, or how should I interpret this?
When something prints properly or a printer works properly and then doesn’t - when nothing has really changed otherwise - is a strong indication of filament moisture having gotten too high.
As moisture content increases in filament, you’ll more and different effects. The water is being vaporized in the print head which causes molten filament to be extruded unintentionally. At first surfaces look a little doughy but the steam can get bad enough people have said here that they can hear little pops and hisses and prints can see all sorts of issues from not sticking to print beds, corners lifting, and little blobs of filament spewed out over their models.
You can calibrate some of that out but it’s calibrating out a variable issue. Another spool could need calibration too and the trick is finding settings that work for all levels of moisture which may be a tough job.
There was a post here not too long ago where a person started seeing moisture issues so they put the filament in a container with desiccant and the drying over a longish period was enough to get them printing again. Big caveat - that’s a very slow way to dry filament. Heat is really needed to get the water out efficiently.
@plad452 gave you the best answer. Try drying your filament before changing up your printer settings. There’s times when adjusting the printer various ways may be appropriate but if you didn’t change things before prints started going bad, odds are good if you dry your filament you might not need to adjust your printer.
There could be filament stuck in the extruder, try doing a cold pull or extruding it from the control menu using PLA. Or you could have a faulty heat sensor.
I was able to fix the issue. The hotend was still partially clogged, which prevented the filament from flowing properly. I used three different filaments and later checked the recommended printing temperatures on the manufacturers websites. As far as I can tell, I had set everything correctly.
I inserted a needle into the nozzle from below and was able to remove a small blockage.
