Can anyone help get a definitive answer on what the input voltage us for an x1. I can not reach the technical side of Bambulabs when writing a ticket as it requires a serial number of a machine. Since I am only wanting to buy I can only reach sales. Sales says the units are built country specific e.g 110/60 hz for the USA and 220/50 hz for say Germany. Looking at ever other 3D printer on the market they all come dual voltage. That is the can be plugged in anywhere. Perhaps someone knows how to contact the tech side or could contact tech for me. I just think sales is clueless. For certain they are not going to elevate my ticket to the tech side. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Their spec sheet is written in such a way as to say the units are dual voltage.
The printer itself doesn’t care, other than that on 220V the bed temp is limited to 110C and draws much more current than it does on 110V. The only difference is the power cord.
That is my understanding as well. But to try to convince their sales department is quite hard. I would presume all those living in countries with 220 voltage have the same bed temp and current draw. Not a lot I can do about that. I do not think Việt Nam will require the country to 110 for me. Then too our electricity is quite cheap. Thanks for the feedback @holmes4
The printer does not draw more energy for the heatbed in 220v countries. It draws 4x the amount per time unit, resulting in a fast heating of the heatbed.
I should not have said “current”, but “power”.
It draws both more power and current.
The doubling in voltage (Volts) causes the resistor (the heating element) to draw double the current (amps) as well, resulting in a x4 power (Watt) draw. But since the power just heats up the bed faster, the resulting energy (Watthours) is roughly the same.
OK - I see that now. I understand I=E/R but didn’t think it through. I do note that the 4x power draw is causing problems for some people who have battery-backup UPS systems powering their printer, and many can’t handle that load even for a short time.
Its about 1000W here at max, about 250 for US.
Formulas are P=V²/R and I=V/R
This is the latest excuse from Bambulabs sales department
“ It is not a matter of it being a dual power supply, there are other considerations such as - There is no 110/220v click switch, which is required by law in some jurisdictions. In some countries for example - In Germany, you are not allowed to do work on power supplies, this must be done by an electrician. This is why it is not able to be shipped.
I am sorry but I have no control over what can and cannot be shipped. It has been declined and the situation has not changed.”
Have spent an entire career in the military and transferred my personal belongings to include all types of electrical appliances and never been policed by a company like this one just to be able to buy a product. I suppose everyone who buys one of their units must seek their permission to have work done on it or do work yourself. Not sure what the push button for 110 is…. Perhaps a circuit breaker.
I see no technical reason for it not working with your countries power settings, but they might be correct that your laws have some requirements the printers or power supplies from Bambu cannot fulfill.
For their statement about Germany, I can attest you it is true. If we all would follow that law here, we would not even be allowed to put on our own ceiling lights without the help of an professional and certified electrician. And all electric devices sold need a CE certification for electric safety. Maybe there is some similar thing in your country and they simply aren’t allowed to sell it there yet.
But they are selling it to an American and it is to be shipped to an American address. It was my mistake to ask them about voltage requirements after first ordering the unit.
As for Vietnam they have no requirements for anything, manufactured or. As it pertains to repair work. Indeed anyone with a screwdriver and side cutters can be an electrician.
like told Bambu had I purchased it and been transferred to a different country what would they do…. Make me return it or get permission from them to have it worked on. Seems a bunch of nonsense to me. It is being shipped to a US address, just leave it alone. Oddly I can buy it on Amazon and that would be fine.
Can’t you simply order it from the shop then to your US address without any hassle. I mean, without involving their sales department in any other way then simply buying and paying?
I was always under the impressing you wanted it to be sent to an unsupported country.
That is what I did. Ordered and paid for it with a US credit card for shipment to the USA. As an afterthought, since I was going to ship it to Vietnam, I asked if it was dual voltage. That is what opened the can of worms.
It seems the sales staff could not find this in their FAQ. But it certainly has started a firestorm. That all US units were shipped as 110 was their first reason. Their second was obtaining parts or service. All seemed rather silly excuses to me. I suspect many can not run down to their neighborhood Bambulabs retailer and get parts like they can with an Apple Product. I suspect the vast majority must place an order and have it shipped. Just as I would. Moreover, I suspect most repair their own units and do. It take it in to an authorized repair facility. But I will just reorder under someone else’s name and have it shipped to the US address. From there I will not say What I will do with. Maybe a boat anchor.
But print your boat first! And post the pics of the support personal please if you send back the printer stating that it was good at printing, but did not work as a boat anchor as advertised!
I imagine they have some rules against making boat anchors. I think it better to play it safe and just not tell Bambu what I intend to do with the machine. Gets them all confused. Would have never thought asking about voltage would cause such an issue for a dual voltage machine. But then they insist it is not dual voltage. Maybe they should inform the powerfully it is not dual voltage input.
Well, its a sales department. Technical stuff is not a requirement to work in sales. In my last job, our sales own sales guys sold stuff we had no clue about, stuff that was technically impossible and all kind of ■■■■just to get a sale. I am honestly surprised they didn’t just tell you “Sure sir, our printers can do everything, they will even survive as boat anchors and look even pristine after that!”
@thrawn. Can not disagree. However, having been the top sales person in my country for many years we were taught that to be good sales people we had to know our product inside out. Indeed , we were tested on product knowledge. I would think the input voltage might be an easy thing to master. Especially when it is dual voltage. Easy answer would be “ our system will work wherever you go”. But there certainly are many, like you said that will say anything you want. Seems like these folks just are intent on. It selling. The gentlemen’s last comment to me was if you want to order for delivery to a US address we can sell you a unit. Da… look at the order. Last I knew Texas was a US state and the delivery address and credit card payment were from
The same US address. I think they are convinced I should not own a x1 Cabon.
Sure, there are quite a lot of decent sales folk too and I fully agree a good salesmen should be half a technician, at least for more complex technical products.
Sadly these persons seems to be in the minority, though the really bad sales guys you want to sell you everything are also gladly not the majority, but many just lack the knowledge to make good judgements.
I think that is more or less the case you had, some sales person you did actually wanted to help without just looking at the sale, but with a lack of knowledge about the technical details.
And well, Texas was part of Mexico ones, maybe they need an updated map…its just been a bit more then 150 year, that is basically yesterday for many non-american 