My brand new A1 failed the initial calibration as well. It gave me an error regarding the B motor. I opened a support ticket and they got back to me within 24 hours. Not too happy because it was only a couple hours old. Did the troubleshooting that was requested. Turned out that it was the Z-motor that was bad.
I had to make a hard choice here to either perform my own warranty repair or initiate a return. I opted for doing the repair myself – with Bambu supplied motor. The repair went easier than I thought it would. I’m quite sure that a return/replacement would have taken longer. I know the pros and cons. I know I saved Bambu a lot of money by fixing it myself. Not everyone would want to do this, but for me it seemed like the path of least resistance. The silver lining was that I now have a very intimate knowledge of teardown and rebuilding of my A1. Actually quite satisfying.
I had exactly this issue. Thought the black fixings were part of the alignment housing. Once I removed them the calibration continued.
Thankfully you clarified the situation. As a newbie there were too many complex solutions when the actual simple answer is “remove black transport clips on z axis bar”. Thanks Deepz…
Apologies for not being 'here, been quite the past few months to say the least.
Never would have thought SO many people would have encountered the same problem, and unfortunately I never was too sure what exactly caused it to go away even while trying to capture every step I took.
I would still like to know what the fix may have been and hopefully it can be documented somewhere as it appears to be quite pervasive.
I’m glad though I hung in there, and hope all yours begin working ASAP as my experiences with my A1 and A1 mini have been flawless thus far.
Also setting up a brand new A1 printer. I’ve had others, but this is my first Bambu. Had issues with initial calibration. Z axis bar goes down and senses the print bed just fine, but then travels all the way up and tries to break itself past the upper limit. (Before anyone asks, yes the black removable brackets were removed, this was actually in my instructions, but saw it mentioned here sever times). Tried shutting off and restarting once, same issue. Shut it off and left it for another night. Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!
Many thanks for this! I had exactly the same problem - no mention of the brackets in the Quick Start guide, or anywhere else until I found your posting.
I suffered this after I did the camera mod and rerouted the camera cable.
I read what people were saying about the USB C not connected properly.
I unplugged and replugged all including the USB C which was showing a little bit of chrome until I pushed it well home. I’d say it was my error which is now fixed. The camera mod is a huge improvement by the way. This A1 had been brilliant until now and now the issue has disappeared it is once again.
Success: I encountered the same issue setting this up for my kids on Christmas morning. I followed the suggestion to disconnect the usbc, motor connectors and camera connector on the bottom of the printer. After disconnecting and really carefully reconnecting it got everything seated nicely, powered it on and it worked.
The first time we assembled it the usbc connection did not feel good. When I removed and reconnected them I went as far as to remove the usbc connector from its housing, when I plugged it in without the plastic housing I was able to get a connection that felt good. I disconnected it again, put it back into its housing and reconnected it with the housing, it felt better this time too. After reconnecting and powering everything on it worked fine.
From my experience the root cause of my issue was the housing holding the usbc was causing mid-alignment, this is a design problem with that housing. No one should have to deal with that issue. That said once I did all this it worked great.
Same issue; failed the Z-axis calibration test 3x with a horrible grinding noise… .
No indication in the instructions to remove / “unbolt” the black brackets and figured that most be blocking any movement of the x-axis arm from traveling vertically.
Undid the two screws on each piece - and then removed them and re-ran the tests.
Still having this issue.
My A1 is brand new. I made 2 prints then had the Z axis failed error.
Reset the device checked all the cables, changed nozzle and beds. Downgraded and updated firmware nothing works.
Now I a stuck! It fits through the Calibration tests and it freezes on this screen every time. Tech support has not helped after a ticket was made 1 week ago.
Count me in as another user facing issues right from day one. I can’t calibrate the printer due to a z-axis issue (the screen reports the problem, and you can hear grinding at the top). Yes, I followed the setup instructions and removed the black brackets. On top of that, I can’t update the firmware—it fails instantly at 0%, even with a perfect Wi-Fi connection and Handy successfully connecting to and controlling the printer.
This has been a very frustrating first experience. A brand-new product shouldn’t require troubleshooting right out of the box.
After waiting a month for my A-1 printer, I’m also getting Z-axis error and can’t due the firmware update. I have done everything discussed in this forum. I issued a ticket which says can take 3-5 days for a response due to the Christmas rush. Maybe if everyone issued a ticket, they would realize there is a problem. If anyone has a suggestion, please let me know. I am grateful for any suggestions. It’s so frustrating!
Same issue here.
Did ALL things I read above and still Z axis error. I have an open ticket with Bambu since 3 weeks! They answered me once telling me to change the extruder unit and I did it with no success (45 €!!!). Reported and still waiting for an answer. What’s frustrating is that Bambu’s support is unexistent!!!
I just received my new A1. Same problem above. The instruction manual didn’t mention that the two plastic brackets locking the z-axis (the horizontal bar with the hot end in it) had to be removed. They are on the rear side of the printer, and each has two silver screws. Remove them and the black plastic pieces, and the horizontal bar will be free to move up and down.
No need to update firmware or anything else. That alone allowed my calibration to continue.
I’m very close to issuing a chargeback with my credit card company. Tech support is almost non-existent and it seems they cannot determine the problem, despite many of the same reports.
About halfway up the z-axis posts on the back side, there is a black clip screwed to the post. I know it’s confusing because it looks like it is supposed to be there. You need to unscrew the two screws and remove the black plastic piece on both of the posts. Once removed calibrate the printer again.
Let me know if you need a photo and I will send it later. I am at work now.
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