I was cleaning up inside my X1C, and happened to notice what appears to be a hairline crack in the grey plastic baseplate. This is near the right side Z axis lower bearing. Should I report this to Bambu Labs and open a ticket? I don’t think it’s causing any issues at this time, but who knows how far it may spread? This printer is only 2 months old, and has about 200 hours on it.
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Definitely log a ticket and maybe draw a line across the current end so you can monitor if it grows further.
I opened a ticket on 12/27/23. It will be interesting to hear what they make of this. When I received the printer in October, there was no apparent damage to the shipping box, and the printer itself appeared to be in pristine condition. The printer has not been moved from its current location where it was placed upon unpacking it. Due to the lack of responses to this post, I am assuming this is a rather rare occurrence. I would encourage fellow X1C’ers to closely examine their printer base plate for hairline cracks.
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It’s been 6 days and I have heard nothing from Bambu Labs. Kind of disappointing to say the least…
I have exactly the same crack in the baseplate (the same position, the same size). Noticed it 2-3 weeks ago. I put a mark with a pencil at the end of the crack and it hasn’t seemed to grow since then (printed about 100 hrs during that time). But it makes me nervous a bit bc it’s unclear why it appeared and how it may develop further.
I got a reply back from Bambu regarding the crack. Their technician indicated that they did not feel the crack would pose a threat to the integrity of the printer. I agree, since I have not seen any change in the crack as far as width or length. They offered to replace the printer, or ship me 2 rolls of PLA Basic as compensation. It was also suggested the crack could be sealed with glue or epoxy. Since the printer has been working well, I opted to accept the 2 rolls of filament rather than risk getting a ‘dud’ printer. I’ve decided that I will use a ‘patch’ (a small square of plastic) epoxied over the crack to ensure is does not get any larger. If you try this, make sure the bed is completely lowered, as there is very little clearance between the bed and the baseplate, and you don’t want the ‘patch’ to be placed where it will interfere with the bed. I did flip the printer over and examine the bottom, there was no evidence of any other cracking.
Bambu also stated that my ‘repair’ will in no way affect the warranty of the printer.
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I suggest drilling a small hole at the very end of the crack
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That’s actually not a bad idea, provided I can see the end of the crack. It would need to be done very carefully, as there is a Z axis pulley directly under the crack, and very little clearance from the bottom of the base plate to the pulley. In addition, there is very little room to get a drill in there due to the proximity of the crack to the inside wall of the printer. Might be able to squeeze a Dremel in there.
Even a hot iron will do the trick!
**Yesterday, I also noticed a crack similar to the one in the photo. When I bought it two months ago, I am absolutely sure that it was not there. I discovered it during maintenance and submitted a ticket to the bambulab
As said earlier, the best way to stop a crack is drill a hole at the end. Drilling through plastic does not require much, a simple hand drill like this one will do https://www.amazon.com/KINGFOREST-Casting-Manual-Jewelry-Assembling/dp/B08NHJDWWW
If you cannot easily see the end of the crack just drill a little bit further to where you think is the end and if the crack develops it will just stop at the hole. Make that hole not too small 1.5 / 2mm should be OK.