Get Refills and Spools separately, or jump ship to Other Brands

Bambu Filament and Accesories
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Hello Folks,

I have an P1S and an AMS.

I have a Bambu fulfillment center locally (here in the country). Meaning delivery times are very short (2 -3 days) and shipping is free when ordering more than a few spools.

So the problem is a common one: PLA Basic and PETG HF with spools are sold out for quite a while now. But refills are more or less available.

I do not have any empty spools. (I have always purchased Bambu filament on spools.)

I could buy refills and empty spools. The price delta between Bambu filament purchased on spools and buying refills and spools separately is 11 EU (ie. it costs 50% more to buy them separately instead of buying filament on the spool.)

Options:

  1. print own spools. I don’t find this attractive, as it requires filament and quite a bit of time. It’s a bit self-defeating. It would make sense in a pinch yes, when you just need a spool, but not when you need 10 spools.

  2. get something other than Bambu filament. Issues possibly: a) AMS compatibility, and b) Good printing profiles (however, I read that these days, that isn’t a big issue depending on what brand of filament you get.)

So, looking at option 2): having only ever used Bambu filament, and being in Europe, I see that Prusament is an option for evidently very high quality filament and good Bambu profiles from an EU company with fast and affordable shipping.

Then looking at problem 2a): either re-spool (not an option, since I don’t have empty Bambu spools) or modify the AMS to increase compatibility with non-Bambu spools. I have read about the AMS Hydra Pro Mod, which keeps the use of the RFID readers and maintains support from Bambu Labs. Sounds great.

Looking at the total extra cost of buying only Bambu filament refills along with separate spools compared to buying Prusament and the cost of an AMS Hydra Pro Mod to take away any issues with non-Bambu spools, it’s roughly the same (amazingly Prusament is more expensive than Bambu PLA on a spool, but that doesn’t count right now, as you have to buy the spools seprately.)

I would like to hear your ideas on this choice and using non-Bambu filament on non-Bambu spools with an AMS (and I don’t have Bambu spools to re-spool onto). Thanks.

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If you can muddle through for a while eventually you’ll have too many empty spools. At first I printed a couple of extra spools because some filament I needed was only available as refills too.

Even trying to not get extra spools, sometimes refills are sold out so I have to buy spooled filament. I’d bet most others have the same issue - now it’s too many spools.

Similarly, I save the RFID tags to use them with other filaments. If you keep buying Bambu filament eventually you have a collection of those too.

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As MZip said, print a spool and use refills. In time you’ll have all the spools you need.

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Yeah, in time I will have too many (Bambu) spools, I hear you guys.

Keeping RFID tags is smart, right. As long as they match the type (PLA Basic, PETG… HF these days) then it’ll work. The color however might be wrong? Guess it doesn’t matter.

I was looking at the MasterSpool as a possible universal spool should I want to try non-Bambu filaments. Those seem useful (and evidently used by a German filament supplier Das Filament), which also seem to provide profiles for their PLA, PETG, and TPU line for Bambu printers, so maybe it doesn’t have to just be Prusament.

So, these are all just considerations, and I have sofar printed 100% Bambu PLA and PETG of various types, and have a spool of ASA and TPU now to try out. And I just want to get more PLA colors, and have no spools.

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I label my RFID tags with the color/type so they can even show close to the proper color in Studio. So far Hatchbox prints well using Bambu PLA settings just fine but there are probably others that do too.

If you are going to reuse RFID tags, either put two per spool so where the reader antenna is doesn’t matter, or you can get by with one as long as it’s on the same side of the spool as the reader.

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Sounds like you need to print more. :smile:

Every time I bought an AMS (four), it came with four empty spools. I sometimes use them to rewind filament from 3rd party paper spools, but I still have them everywhere. :smile: On top of that, I save my empty 3rd party plastic spools. They’re multiplying like rabbits, I tell ya. :joy:

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This is the heart of the problem at Bambu, and it is totally inexcusable. In a world awash in filament, there is zero excuse to be stocked out of anything. This speaks to their squeezing their supply chain to the point where there is no resilience, and shortages are a direct symptom of this abuse.

While one might forgive supply shortages from a Chinese company squeezed by low-margin products, Bambu has zero excuse given they charge a hefty 50-70% premium for what is often a subpar product, as has been posted recently across their filament catalog.

To answer your question, break out of the Bambu walled garden, and you will be forced into another world of wonders and better experiences. In my case, I wasn’t presented with that choice. Shortly after receiving my P1P, Bambu was stocked out of all major colors in both spool and refill. In fact, my first experience printing the skins for my P1P required me to buy PLA black from a third party. Given that I dreaded the notion of going off-script, I feared the worst, such as a bad warranty-voiding experience. But you know what? Bambu did me a favor. Once I learned that the Kool-Aid they were pouring was really swamp water, it opened up a whole new world of better service and quality at a 70% discount. Now, that may not seem like it’s worth it, but consider this value proposition: if for every 2 spools you purchased, you were shipped 5, would you take that offer?

I’ll admit the Amazon marketplace here in the US appears to be a far better bargain than in the EU, but I believe there are similar bargains to be had in the EU. I mean, hell, Prusa products would have been at the top on my list if they had distribution in the US back when I first purchased my P1P and you folks in Deutschland have them at your doorstep, why not give them a try.

BTW: I just checked Amazon.de for filament prices and I take back what I said about US being more bargain-oriented. There are a whole batch of quality choices, from, ESun, Sunlu, Overture and ERYONE and whole host of filament companies that passed my own test and they are available from 10-14€ which is directly competitive with the $11-15 costs we see for the same product given exchange rates of today August 1, 2024. So there is no excuse not to branch out.

https://www.amazon.de/s?k=pla+filament+1.75

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Why would you want do the hydra mod? There are a bunch of 3rd party filaments that work just fine in the AMS as is.
I regularly buy Sunlu PETG, which is around 11-12€/kg when you take at least 3 (or was it 4?) spools.

extrudr works fine.
dasFilament.de also is said to work fine and has great quality.

Here is a list of filaments where users report their experience with lots of other filaments:

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My AMS come with three semi filled spools.

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You’re right. The X1-C did come with samples for the first AMS. I tried to forget about those. :flushed: The next three were filled with empty spools in random color. I heard they are now suppling black spools. Mine were all clear or white.

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Thanks for that link, that is the info I’m looking for.

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My AMS came with two 1/4-filled spools, one of PLA Basic Green and one of PLA Basic Orange, which I used right off the bat and filled back up (my friends with Enders thought the 19 minute benchy in orange was crazy good), and one spool of PLA support which is waiting to be experimented with and used. Sofar the one part with supports that I printed used PETG as a support, which worked, and I never touched the PLA support spool.

Yes, Das Filament is here locally and hearing about their quality and seeing their very resonable prices makes them even more interesting than Prusament. (Some) Das Filament PETG, as well as (most) Prusament PLA and PETG does not fit in the AMS, says the list. What a mess.

So, as that nice list of spool compatibility shows, it’s very hit or miss if it fits. The Hydra mod would take care of that, allowing every single 1kg spool from every brand to fit in the AMS, because it increases the supported width and diameter of the spools. That’s what it says, I have as yet not left the walled garden. I’m looking over the wall though. :wink:

Seriously though, it does seem that if an AMS user wants to try non-Bambu filament without rolling the dice, s/he is gonna need to either respool and have a setup for that in whatever form, or modify the AMS to use all types of 1kg spools, in whatever form that is done. Or, very carefully choose the brand and specific filament on a one-by-one basis and hope nobody changes the documented spool type. :face_with_peeking_eye:

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I’m almost always printing PLA and sometimes PETG. My go-to filament is always eSun, Duramic 3D, and Eryone. I’ve tried many others like CC3D, Elegoo, and Creality. While the names may be popular, their quality didn’t reflect the hype behind their names. Sunlu is decent - not perfect. I use 80% exclusively eSun PLA+ now. It almost always has no issues. Almost never needs flow rate adjustment. But, best to run a calibration for every spool as you should with every new filament spool. I’ve seen variations in Bambu Lab PLA filament, where one printed magnificently and the other printed like hot garbage - and yes, both were completely bone-dry!! If you do run cardboard spools, keep an eye on them, I’ve had first-hand experience with warped cardboard spools binding up the rubber rollers in the AMS and destroying them, as well as failure to feed/retract, leading to AMS jams and extruder jams.

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My go to filament is Sunlu and Jayo, both work perfect with the Bambulab Basic PLA and never had problems with them.

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I wouldn’t overrate individual ratings there. Everyone can write in that list. If most entries for a filament are positive then I wouldn’t worry about one or two reports of not fitting spools. Many better manufacturers also specify the spool dimensions, so you can check if it fits based on specifications.

It just sounds like you need to do the hydra mod if you want to use anything but Bambu filament and that is definitely not the case. Many spools are just fine.

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An alternative suggestion, in case you’re considering a second AMS. I’ve purchased two AMS units separate from printers, and both have come with 4 empty spools (3 normal and one high temp).

If you already plan to buy a second AMS, pull the trigger and your extra spool problems will go away, at least for a while.

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Yes, another AMS is looking very interesting. Buying the P1s + AMS Bundle does net you only three spools instead of 4, so getting the AMS separately does come with the bonus of 4 empty spools.

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That is an interesting point, because looking at that list, it does it does indeed suggest that many other-branded spools don’t fit in the AMS. I understand that cardboard spool are an issue, and possibly using a spool protector to keep the edges of the spool from deteriorating is a solution, but that wasn’t my concern here (because there seems to be a solution), it was the physical size of third-party spools that I trying to take into consideration

I think the consensus is

  • Many third-party spools do work in the AMS
  • Some spools don’t
  • If they don’t fit, respool or get the Hydra mod
  • Filament quality can be just as good or better than Bambu
  • The only way to know: try.
  • Don’t be afraid to try a different brand! You might find something better, it just requires some time and patience though to discover
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And if you save and label your Bambu RFID tags, you can just tape them on filament spools that print well using the Bambu settings. Bonus if you have tags for lots of colors.

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Hey I’m just about to buy P1S but don’t know should I buy filaments with spools or can I just use the one I get with the printer and when I use all the filament on 1 spool I can just buy refills and insert it to the empty spool or is that not possible?

Ty!