What accessories do I print? I want side mount my “manual” roll of filament and go to back of the machine as little as possible. I have a current side mount with bearings, but it can go away.
What is the ultimate setup? Riser with LEDs? I need your sage advice! Hydra looks a little invasive to start out. But other less troublesome upgrades suggestions?
Bad advice is great as long as it is funny!
Dear mikeehuber,
I would like to thank you for starting this self-help group.
Unfortunartely, it does seem that you have not truly accepted your condition. While I would like to say that it can be easily resolved with a few days rest and a pill or two, I am afraid that your journey will be a long and arduous one. There will be successes, but be careful, temptation hides around every corner and strikes when you least expect it.
So, what is the diagnosis you ask?
Well, throughout the last 15-20 years we all joked that we buy 3D printers in order to print improvements for these printers.
Only … it was not a joke now, was it?
We spent countless hours designing print head fans, z-axis wobble de-couplers, print bed stabilizers, tube holders, brackets, hot end mounts, z-probe holders… all the while pretending that we truly only wanted to print our own stuff. Or at least what we thought was cool stuff from Thingiverse. Or at least just a cone, from that damn cool filament that would be so great if we could only get the damn stuff to…
I must confess that my first impulse before receiving my X1C 6 months ago was to browse through all possible mods to improve a printer that had not even arrived.
A printer that I had bought specifically because it was designed to at least minimize that distracting printer improvement impulse.
And me driven by the irresistible urge to make it better…
I only truly began to understand the seriousness of my condition when I tried to “improve” the AMS to printer path. While that did not go well, the experience was truly cathartic.
Since then, I have embarked upon a slow but therapeutic road following the teachings of the great YAGNI.
“You Ain’t Gonna Need It” has allowed me to finally find the courage to, well, just print all that cool stuff on Cults, Printables and MakerWorld. With all those cool filaments. And only print improvements that I truly and actually need 
Like some really crucial ones for the AMS. Just to avoid all that “Dry your filament Dummy” it does make sense to print some AMS front desiccant holders (2 for the front + 1 empty one to hold a hygrometer, taking care to choose a model with low overhang angles), of course also two for the back for when the initial desiccant bags are saturated, at least one for every spool + 2 to fill with weights for when the spools get too light to properly feed and a few for anywhere that there could be moisture in the house, the fridge and…
Oh dear. Another attack of Printers Disease. Still not fully over it. And denial is strong in this one…
You see, for when you want to use non-Bambu filament, you will probably want to have spool adapters, especially for those cute little 250g rolls to play around with. Much easier than any filament winders or multi-filament-on-a-single-spool adapters which need to be wound.
Ah, that helped. Temptation struck but after 3 months of self-therapy, I am much better able to recover.
Not even a y-splitter can tempt me now! It just does not make sense for my particular use case 
(yet) .
So, you see, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
You do however have to accept your condition and resist temptation until sufficiently proven to you that an improvement really makes sense for your use case.
Wishing you all the best in your recuperation,
Yours,
Eno
Doctor, Master, Sensei Eno
You are transcendent understood not only my root problems but also the very tone and method of my own enlightenment.
I admit I am tempted, nay pursued by the y-splitter, I can hear her Siren calls!
As far as drying, the formidable winter blasts of the forgotten north isle of WI remove all moisture from all filament and my very soul in due time.
Per your sage advice, Spool adapters will be my consistent thought as the package of my desire transits through to mire of FEDEX.
I feel sooo alone and desire your succor as my Ender 3 past, draws me to the depths of upgrade dopamine’s nirvana!
Your guidance is appreciated and inevitably ignored!!
Humbly your servant,
Mike
Side mount or dry box on left side (for the times you want to use TPU, or abrasive filaments) AMS on right side, as it’s annoying to have to take the AMS off the top when you want to do printer maintenance.
Get the A1 mini 4 way splitter and print an adaptor to use it as your splitter, it’s the best one there is.
I’d recommend printing one of the PTFE alignment pieces which go under the AMS tray and also one of the PTFE guide pieces for the extruder entrance.
And also some AMS feeder covers which take PTFE tube to help save the buttons from wear.
Other simple prints are PTFE removal tools and PTFE alignment pieces for where it enters and exits the buffer.
I won’t link specific models here but PM me if you want to know which ones I recommend, as I’ve tested a lot of them and some work better than others.
