I bought some Creality hyper PLA spools and working to make them compatible to AMS. The spools tend to work as is but I want to add a spool ring.
Here is what I’m finding
Diameter too large - ring hits closed cover
Diameter too small- ring hits plastic housing of stock AMS (between rollers)
Ring too wide - since the cardboard is wide in order to get stiffness, the cardboard plus ring is too wide to fit in the left groove.
Overall width too wide or narrow- Haven’t seen an issue here.
I designed a ring that seems to work after modifying the cardboard spool some. I was surprised how tight everything needs to be in order for the AMS to function smoothly. I haven’t noticed any listings of cardboard spools that say AMS compatible probably because it’s difficult to achieve
You have a couple of choices, one you’ve found.
For too big there is a spacer available on MW that sits where the cover closes and gives you a little extra space at the top.
You can go all out and print the Hydra Mod for the AMS. A lot of work though.
I pull the sides off the cardboard spools one half, then insert a bambu half, flip it over, and remove that side and slide the second part on, rotating it to snap both sides together. Some spools you will need a spacer to get this method to work.
You could respool. There are prints for whole manual and motorized respoolers, as well as an attachment to a regular drill to respool. Take your time. The respoolers would be an option if you are going to do this alot, as it takes a bit of printing and hardware.
Lastly, of course is the external spool. Not a great option when you have an AMS.
Good luck.
Thanks. I’ve developed a decent respooler and it has two issues. I imagine all respoolers have issues.
You want to put a small amount if tension while spooling. This tends to flare out the side walls of the spool causing issues in the AMS. The other issue I found was the filament breaks and it’s a mess trying to fix a break.
I have not respooled on a plastic spool where the flaring might not be an issue.
Btw on these creality spools the two sides are round but not in plane causing the spool to wobble a bit in the AMS.
Doesn’t surprise me with the creality spools.
I’ve had pretty good luck with removing the sides and slipping a BL spool through the cardboard core. I’ve done it on Elegoo, Polymaker, and some spool I can’t remember the maker. Sometimes you need to print a spacer.
I mostly use BL filament anyway. I’ve had great results and I appreciate the RFID as well.
Hope you find something that works for you.