I’ve had a trouble ticket open since mid-October for my P1S, and haven’t been able to print since then. The printer is fairly new. I had an earlier ticket when the tool head crashed into the front right z-assembly damaging the toolhead cover/fan which got replaced.
In October I had what appeared to be a nozzle clog, which I couldn’t seem to clear and opened the ticket. During the investigation I managed to get one failed print which came out only about 27% as tall as it should have been, which seems to indicate a Z-axis problem. After going back and forth with support they suggested that the problem was heat creep, and that I should open the door and the top glass when printing PLA.
However I never got another print. Plastic was being extruded, but the printer failed to lay down a first layer. I tried with both the stock nozzle and with a Panda Revo. Then the stock hotend seemed to give up the ghost, first complaining about the thermistor and then an open heater. Support asked me to use a multimeter on the connector on the cable from the hot end, but I don’t have any probes small enough to get in there. The Panda Revo was still heating up though.
But now the problem had morphed into to bed leveling failure. Support asked me to try to follow the procedure to press the linear bearing back into place documented here
No matter how hard I pressed the bearing wouldn’t budge. Support asked me to send a video showing how I was doing this along with recent logs. I did and they came back saying that the logs showed nothing, and asking me to video another try at calibration. After struggling to get everything back together I saw the following
I tried to level it as best I could by turning the printer on it’s side an turning just the one screw, but when I ran the calibration no joy. Here’s a link to the video
Yeah… about that… the technical term is… “it’s broken” or a more refined term is FUBAR. You really have only two options, send it back for repair or do a complete teardown of the print bed and then move onto the lead screws. Personally, with that amount of bend, it’s clear that one of the Z-Axis lead screws was moving while the other is not. At this point, if it were me, I likely wouldn’t even attempt a repair as you’ll never get the lead screws back into precision alignment, they really need to be replaced with that amount of bend in the plate. Just ask for an a repair RMA and be done with it.
One question though, when you saw the plate start to bend, why didn’t you just pull the power cord immediately? Or did you do that and it was just too quick?
First, have you been baking in that printer. The back looks like a dirty oven.
Second both guide bearings have come out. Moving the z just made it worse. I really can’t understand why you would run calibration with the bed needing tramming (or actually just the bearings seated) so badly. The left was out, I’m not 100% sure how it got so wild. The left bearing was out when you took the vid.
What you need to do is follow this vid. It will show you how to seat those bearings correctly. Yes, it can be done.
I can’t tell if any damage was really done. The bed wouldn’t have moved calibration or not. Have you ever lubed the z screws? Cleaned the guides? I don’t want to offend you but that’s a funky dirty looking printer. Given the sounds the poor thing made I’d check the belts and at least re-tension them.
In short, seat the bed in the bearings. See if it needs tramming and follow the wiki for that. If it looks level don’t mess with it just yet.
Check the belts and tension. Lube the Z and the upper guides. DON’T lube the carbon rods, but clean them with alcohol.
Pull the extruder and clean it well. If needed put a little grease on the bearings for the big yellow wheel. If you’ve never replaced the PTFE tubes, then do that as well. Wipe down the inside of that poor printer.
Do you print with the door closed? I see you’re using the sliding top riser. What filament are you printing?
If you’ve done all that maintenance before then I apologize, but it just looks like it’s been neglected.
Crikey, that is well out of alignment. Any calibration you attempt at this stage is likely to do more damage than good, watch a few more Matt Armstrong video’s to get an idea how to align things up before turning on the ignition maybe a few Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie videos too.
I missed the back of the printer.
What have you been spraying in there. It’s obvious from the run marks that liquid has flowed down that back panel. Behind that panels are all sorts of electrical connections.
That is bad and whatever and whyever you hosed it with WD40 or some other aerosol, that’s a no-no.
The only liquid that’s gotten anywhere near is the dabs of Bambu supplied grease for the lead screws. I have cleaned the bed with IPA, but that wouldn’t leave any residue. So those spots are a bit of a mystery.
This printer was new in late July. it has not been abused. I haven’t done many prints, almost all with PLA one with ABS and one with PETG.
I’m extremely frustrated and disappointed. This is my third FDM printer. The first was an Anet A8, the second an Elegoo Neptune 2. Both lasted quite a while until I eventually killed them with upgrades.
I bought the P1S, biting the bullet on making that price class jump, based on recommendations from several friends.
The only upgrades have been adding a Panda Revo, which I would swap back and forth with the stock hot end until the Bambu Lab hot end crapped out, and a TZ3.0 hardened steel extruder gear I bought from Amazon when I thought that it was the cause of the apparent “clog.”
And to add insult to injury, I can no longer log in to this forum except from an upstairs machine. I’m disabled and going upstairs is a major expedition. If I try on my iPad or MacBook it keeps sending me to register and then saying the account is already taken, putting me into an infinite loop. Right now I’m us9ng screen sharing on the iPad which is a suboptimal experience.
@Rick_DeNatale I’m sorry you’ve had such trouble. I’ve purchased many many more of these than the typical user and I have only had one serious failure which was addressed quickly. The P1S is a very good machine, you didn’t make a poor choice, and I also wouldn’t blame yourself. Asking an untrained customer to make a repair is a poor choice in customer service. 3D printers are now used by more folks than hacker/maker/hobbyists and they have to consider that. When all else fails, depending on your credit card company, you may be able to reach out to them and explain the situation with your written communication. When they call Bambu they have more bargaining power, and if Bambu is unhelpful to them they may credit you back. All the best to you. I promise you, you’ll love it when it’s up and running.
I’m quite familiar with the video showing how to reseat the bearings. I told Bambu support that it didn’t work. They asked me to send this video showing my attempt.
Note that the Bambu Lab video is an X1 not a P series. I was also confused since all of the panels are removed in that video. I never figured out how to do that, but I mistakenly removed the screws for the logic board cooling fan.
They then requested that I try another calibration, and after I replaced the back I saw that the lead screws are out of sync.
it’s the same procedure, the angle is different because the side panels are still on, so it’s not easy to see where I"m pressing but I’m pressing all around the bearing. The video was at least my third attempt and I was pressing with all my might.
BTW. I did attempt to remove the side panels, but the first step is to remove the glass door. After I took out the four screws from the hinges I found the hinges seemed to be glued to the door and bailed on that.
They’re not glued in, it’s just a tight fit.
I can see the sides being off would aid in visability but it’s not necessary.
With that plate as skewed it’s going to be difficult to get them seated. I would think that removing the Z belt from that screw and turning it then will help level it more. You shouldn’t need to take the belt off the printer, just off that spindle, turn until it’s level, then they should seat easier.
It’s hard to describe because I’m not hands on. When you moved the one Z you threw it off, now theres a force pushing the z rods apart. With that the bed isn’t going to move.
Try moving the screw with the belt off of it, whichever side is highest or further away from where the back screw is. That is one that hasn’t moved so it’s the best option for getting an eyeball on it.
Whereabouts are you located? There are technically-adept Bambu users here and there who may be willing to help out. Just general location, no specifics.
You really have only two options, send it back for repair or do a complete teardown of the print bed and then move onto the lead screws. Personally, with that amount of bend, it’s clear that one of the Z-Axis lead screws was moving while the other is not. At this point, if it were me, I likely wouldn’t even attempt a repair as you’ll never get the lead screws back into precision alignment, they really need to be replaced with that amount of bend in the plate. Just ask for an a repair RMA and be done with it.