USA customer. I bought an A1 in December and used it a lot until early February when the heat bed issue erupted. I put in my ticket on Feb 7. Since then, there have been two updates to the ticket that now basically says soon. It is mid-May. I’m about ready to just write the A1 off as a bad purchase and get something else. I like the idea of Bambu and want to like their printers, but it is now 6 weeks past when the new beds were supposed to arrive. I have stuff to print. The printer was very nice for the five weeks I was able to use it. It’s just been in my way for the last thirteen weeks.
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Yep, i’m considering moving on to another brand, my situation is different to yours though, at least my A1 was refunded but Bambu failed to refund me for the unused hot ends i returned and are just ignoring all my messages regarding the issue, i followed Bambu’s instructions to the letter and included the hot ends within the A1’s box.
It’s not that there is a lot of cash at stake but it’s the principle that pi**ed me off.
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That’s wild. My 5th Bambu printer arrived last week. My first A1 and it has been printing flawlessly. It will be a nice companion to my two P1S combos, an A1 Mini Combo, and an A1 Mini single. They have all performed exceptionally well since the first one arrived at the beginning of this year.
I presume you know the issue the A1 had with some of the heatbed cables?
If so then just do I visual check of the cable and see if it is defective.
If not then just use the printer, but keep an eye on it. Nothing to really stop you from printing.
My advice would be to buy a P1P.
If you need multi color prints buy a P1P with an AMS.
BL’s strong suit was (and still is) their core XY line.
When they released the A1 line those of us that already had X1s or P1Ps were shocked, and most of us are still shaking our heads.
Part of the reason I decided on the repair was that I had bought extra hotends and figured it would end up being a hassle to return. In mid-March I bought a few rolls of Bambu filament with spools in anticipation of getting back to work…
While I used it, I really liked the A1. I’m sure it will be fine again once they finally send the new heatbed. In the meantime, it looks nice sitting in the corner gathering dust.
I agree but I decided to stay with the A1 since I had also invested in some spares. I almost sent the A1 back to buy a P1P. Unfortunately, I ‘almost’ sent it back. I’ve also thought about just buying a P1P and keeping the A1 but I really don’t need two printers right now.
Yes. I assumed that since BL asked us to stop using the printers they might know something more about the issue (like possible internal damage) so I stopped using it. I’ve thought about just going ahead and using it a dozen times but now that it has been sitting so long waiting, it is almost a matter of principal at this point to expect the long overdue new heatbed rather than taking a risk with a potentially faulty part.
Try using the chat on the support page, ask for a live agent. I hadn’t heard anything and reached out that way based on another post on the forum. Next day I had a tracking number and just finished installing the replacement bed last night.
That said, my cable wasn’t kinked, so I just kept printing, never had an issue.
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Thanks, I’ll give that a try but truthfully at this point I’m so fed up I may just get something else anyway. A great printer is only great while it works. I appreciate that BL stepped up and took ownership of the problem, but this is terrible customer service, and that matters as well.
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Yes, I’m looking at getting a TINY TINA 2 to mess round with because why not.
I’ve had a lot of ups and downs with my X1C, but when you look out there there’s not much else that gets close for performance/price. I would say stick it out and get your A1 working because once you get BL stuff in the sweet spot there is little better out there.
I know a few people returned their printer and just bought a new one, so not sure if that’s viable for you?
It’s not the first time for this kind of questions on this forum. There is nothing wrong with buying another brand. If you are ready, go for it. It’s your money, no one else on this forum has a say on how to spend it. There shouldn’t be any arguments to have.
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Well I bought my A1 around the same time as you did, I opted for the 120.00 coupon and I refused to just let my printer sit. I rewired the bed with better stuff than the original. I created a part that to replace the grommet that you have to destroy in order to get the cable apart and uploaded it so that others could repair their machines. I have used the A1 non stop until the new bed arrived about 3 weeks ago. Now I actually have a spare heat bed that works flawlessly, but since I had to install the new one in order to get the coupon, I have done so and sent the photos in. ( I have yet to receive the coupon yet). In all reality I believe anyone who has been in this hobby for any amount of time could have done the same mod I did.
As a owner of 5 different brands of printers I can tell you this as a fact, the A1 is my goto printer for most stuff now. I own 2 Ender 3’s heavily modded, a Elegoo Neptune Pro 3, Flashforge, and a Voxelab resin printer.
No disrespect to my buddies that own Prusa’s 3’s and 4’s but my A1 prints look better. The Elegoo is an awesome printer but it has it’s own qwerks. The biggest issue was people thinking this was a plug n play machine. That’s really never been the case. This hobby allows for great satisfaction if everything works. But it will also create great frustration if it doesn’t. There are so many things that could go wrong it will drive you batty, especially if your not willing to learn from your mistakes. I can’t tell you how many kilos if filament I’ve wasted on a print that fails due to a improper slicer setting, bed adhesion or even power issues. Then there is bad filament, nozzle clogs, Bowden tube failures the list goes on and on.
But with tuning and work this hobby can generate great satisfaction, seeing something you’ve designed come off the build plate and look exactly like you designed it is awesome. There is nothing better. When the A1 was introduced it was ground breaking for the price point. Yes, there are going to be issues with any new technology, I knew that going in and that’s just a given. But what I really think happened is social media people in order to get views over dramatized the issue, the community over reacted and Bambu paniced. Sometimes I even think some of the posts on social media might have been faked.
So the answer to your question “Is anyone else just ready to buy something else” I’m always looking for an upgrade. But what your really asking is any one else ready to get rid of there A1. To that I say a big fat NO!
Seeya
M1
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I think you really hit on my frustration. If I had sent it back, I could already have a new one or switched to the P series or even X series and been printing again back in February. This just seems to be dragging out and somewhat haphazard in deployment.
I would have already bought something else if I hadn’t used the A1. It is a really nice printer and a good ecosystem. I did finally set mt Ender 3 S1 Pro back up when I just had to get a few prints done but it is drudgery compared to the A1.
I thought about self-modding the printer but decided against it because I didn’t want my mod to end causing me to not able to do the official mod. I’m sure I would have done a hack job that would have messed up something. I kept saying; It’s only another month, it’s only another week or two, …
I really like the printer and hopefully it will print as well after I mess with it as it did before. I guess I really just wish that there was something a little bit more definitive with the recall. Some people have had their heat beds for weeks, some are coming in, others, like me, no word. For all I know I could still be waiting in July.
The Bambu A1 mini is in my opinion the world’s best 3d printer! If there are refund issues shipping issues I am sure that Bambu must just be understaffed. If you ever think of replacing Bambu, shove that thought into the back of your mind and forget about it forever! Patience is key.
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It’s a miscommunication then. The phrase “want to like their printers …” typically means one now wants printers other than “theirs”. Looks like I wasn’t the only one who read it this way either.
No harm, no foul.
I can recommend X1C. Most of the time I print PLA and PETG. But it helps to know that when I need to print high temp filaments I have the machine to do so.
Well, you can try other known (copycats) brands but the disappointment would be bigger. Fiddling with the printer would be your new hobby, instead of printing.
Then you have Prusa. I can work but it’s very expensive, and it’s a slow printer with less features, basically kind of meh at this point. Or just build a Voron, since it’s better than a Prusa, but that’s expensive as well.
I just can’t find something that’s better than A1, in the realm of bedslingers or in this price range.