Hello to all. I am very much a newbie to the whole 3d printing scene so please be gentle with me and I apologise for any silly questions.
I am in the UK and am considering the purchase of a Bambu Lab A1 printer with the AMS. This will be my 1st 3D printer.
I suppose first of all is the A1 a good choice?
Can you tell me what the minimum footprint is of this combination, i.e. the minimum desktop size required to house both the printer and the AMS and allow full operation?
Can you supply both the physical desktop size required to support the printer and AMS and what additional space is needed for the print bed to move if for example the desktop is against a wall.
I have looked on the web site and cannot find this information. On this forum I can see this question has been asked for the A1 mini but not the A1 ( or at least if it has been I cannot find it)
Additionally I have looked at some of the videos on this forum and have been surprised at how noisy the A1 printer seems to be (remember I no experience of 3d printer and some of this videos may have been of faulty units). So my question is can the A1 be located in the same room as my PC etc which I spend a lot of time working on and with or, because of the noise do I either need to wear ear defenders (used to this after 20 years of working with military fast jets) or locate the A1 in a different room.
I know that everyone’s tolerance of noise is different.
I am on my second printer. The first is an Ender 3 V2. I have made some modifications and improvements to it over time.
The overall performance of the A1 with AMS is amazingly better than my Ender. It is almost silent compared to the Ender. I would not run it in my bedroom, but it is not loud. I will try to remember to get my DB meter out next time I print.
The space I have the printer located in is 29 inches deep and just over 36 inches wide. I have a small UPS next to the printer. The bench should be very sturdy.
Here is a picture of the space. It’s a bit messy right now:
There is a Roly Automation laser engraver next to the printer. (orange box)
Get some Bambu filament; it will simplify your life if you can get it. You can get other directly supported filaments like eSun, Polylte, and PolyTerra. I have to adjust the settings for the brands of filament I already have. Not hard, but it’s extra work you do not want to do as a beginner.
You can print a mount to put the AMS on top of the printer.
Watch the video on the A1 from Brian Vines (BV3D) as another baseline.
Bob,
Thank you so much for your post and the information contained therein.
I was surprised at how deep the required space needs to be. I assume that the print bed extends past the main body of the printer at the maximum rear extension of the Y axis? I will have to pay closer attention to YouTube videos to confirm this.
If it is the case perhaps I could reduce the required space by having a space around whatever the printer is standing on.
I have seen the mount that can be printed to mount the AMS on the top gantry of the printer that looks a bit unstable to me. I note that Brian Vines is conducting a test where he is printing the same model with the AMS at the side and then on top to see if there is any difference, so I will have to look out for the results of that.
Can the AMS be positioned on the left hand side of the printer all the images I have seen have it on the right?
Just to clarify what you said are you saying that without the shelves above and behind the printer the back edge of the printer could be against the wall and in which case the depth required is actually the depth of the printer, whatever that is? Or would it being against the wall restrict the Y axis of the printer bed?
I am in the middle of printing a ams lite mount conversion, I will post when complete. but to immediately answer your question and taking the minimum distance recommended by assembly instructions, i would suggest 4sqft or for the rest of the world, .4sqm, when on a flat surface.
Bambu provides the print files for a vertical mount of the AMS lite on the Z tower, though I would not advise it as the AMS lite can weigh upwards of 10lbs and thats a lot of weight swinging back and forth.
Hi and happy new year
I’m also interested by the new A1 after 5 years with my Ender 3 pro. And I found on the wiki Bambu some information regarding dimensions and footprint of the printer and AMS. Unfortunately I can’t copy the link.
Hello and happy New Year to All.
Thanks to @Nipale for the steer.
I found 2 references to the space required on the Bambu Lab Wiki Faqs at:
" A1 FAQ | Bambu Lab Wiki "
They are about two thirds down the page:
I took a screenshot of the relevant part of the page and have uploaded it. Hopefully it will be readable. If not go to the link above and search for :
" What is the overall space requirement X, Y, and Z for the A1 + AMS lite?**
@bobfa Watched the video, very interesting. I could see a difference in the back of the Wobble Tower on the left side on the screen between 7:12 and 7:21 in the video. On the left hand side of the back of the tower there is an intermittent vertical mark all the way from the bottom to the top. However, assuming that in all case the items printed with the AMS on top as stated at 8:16 in the video is on the right it appears that the “defect” is on the one printed with the AMS on the side! The line might be because of the lighting or reflection but in any case is fairly insignificant.
I think given that I have enough space I will, initially at least, have the AMS at the side.
I wonder if it is worth printing out just the bottom brackets (Z-axis Stiffeners) to further stabilise the printer, even without the AMS on the top.
Still not ordered one, seen reports of a few issues regarding A1s having been delivered, here in the UK, with noisy fans that have needed replacing, so might just wait to let the current batch pass through the system. In the meantime I will clear a suitable space for installation!
As always thanks for you assistance, any thought much appreciated.
Hi there,
Does having the AMS in the desktop position make the filaments harder to change than having it mounted at the top of the printer or are you referring to mounts that change the orientation of the AMS whilst still leaving it on the desktop?
I know many have already responded but I will also throw my hat into the mix, I have owned the A1 for about a week now, and compared to my custom built Ender 3 clone(Running high speed LDO motors) this machine is near silent. I love both and they both serve their purpose but the A1 is substantially quieter than my custom printer.
