So, here’s where it gets a little weirder, but maybe makes sense?
This is the model I am printing: GRIDFINITY Universal 55mm Spool Holder by captainkeytar - MakerWorld The only change I made was to remove the adaptive layer setting, felt it was kinda pointless for a utility print.
I need a few of these, so after printing one to be sure it worked for me, I duplicated the model to print 2 on a plate. When I print it two at a time, it failed three times, roughly between layers 45 and 55 (.4 nozzle, .2 layer). I have never gotten a successful 2-up print.
If I print just one on a plate, it has succeeded every time (4 so far). All but the most recent print have been single color.
All I can point to now is that at layers 45-55, there’s a lot of retractions, that’s where the wire feed holes are.
Note that I had printed a single one of these successfully first, before the fails, and before doing any adjustment of speed/temp. (Pure stock filament profile)
All prints have been via the AMS, and sliced as being from the AMS. No temperature changes during the print, I normally print this filament (PolyTerra) using the stock BL profile for PolyTerra.
And I definitely am looking at switching to the external spool if/when I run into this problem again. But not sure I’ll be printing any more of this particular model again soon.
I just purchased 4 rolls of Bambu PLA Matte and have had nothing but problems with it. It just stops extruding out of nowhere, at random places, with all sorts of prints. I tore apart my extruder and found a LOT of PLA “dust” filling up the extruder teeth, which must be what is causing the slipping. Cleaned it all out, and had the same fail with PLA Matte on my very next print.
After reading through this thread, I backed off the idler screw by 1-1.5 turns and slowed my print to silent mode, and my next print is still going strong. Not a great solution, but it at least seems to be working. I think I just need to stay away from the matte.
Your comment got me thinking.
I looked at the ends of the filament where it had been engaged in the extruder before being unloaded, and there are definite “cuts” in the filament from the extruder gear. So, it appears that the extruder is literally chewing up the surface of the filament, and so if there’s a lot of retractions… chew, chew, chew until there’s nothing left to grip.
So, I’d say the tension is definitely too high for Matte PLA.
And so, when I adjust the tension screw, I noticed is “stuck” a little when I loosened it. So, I turned it back… The tension screw had been set as tight as it could possibly go from the factory. WTF Bambu?
I haven’t had an issue yet…
As far as it being a “generic setting”? Cranked all the way to one extreme should never be a normal setting. There should always be room for adjustment in either direction.
Every single time I comment in this thread, it happens again. It was a little “lesser” this time though. While it got stuck feeding, and “air printed” half the print, when the print was done, it unloaded without assistance. And the “bite” out of the filament where the gear spun on it seems maybe a little shallower?
Not one single issue any time I’ve run from the external spool though, so friction in the AMS Lite tubing does seem to be a component of the issue.
Definitely going to need to open up the print head soon, there’s got to be a fair amount of debris built up in there by now.
I am effectively giving up on PLA Matte. It’s not entirely the printer’s fault on this, not much at all, really.
Filament issues: Matte PLA is just softer/weaker/more friable than regular PLA, by a very wide margin. I’ve seen more than one article on print strength showing Matte PLA prints having 25% or less of the strength of regular PLA, and significantly less layer adhesion as well, making it one of the weakest filament types available. (It might be stronger than printing with chocolate.) My own experience is in line with this. Prints have been more fragile, especially on the layer lines. I’ve had side-walls of Gridfinity bins split a small handful of times. Matte PLA also tends to warp more than regular PLA, which has been a causative factor in a few of the layer splits I’ve had. Prints are also especially subject to chipping and denting on corners. Add to this that Matte PLA is extremely fluid when extruded, showing significant corner deformation even when printed at lower temperatures…
Printer issue: filament gets damaged by the extruder gear, causing feed failures.
This is apparently not 100% restricted to the Bambu printers. I have caught references to similar issues with other printers.
I have not had this happen (yet) when using the external spool, only when using the AMS Lite, so resistance in the feed definitely seems to be a contributing factor.
I really love the look of Matte PLA, but my experience with it just makes it not worth it. I’ll continue to use what I have on hand for prints not requiring strength, and not having thin walls, but only from the external spool. After that? I might buy some for specific cosmetic purposes, but I will not replace it as regular stock.
@dnsmayhem Disclaimer needed “Your results may vary”.
Ive never had a problem with Matt PLA. But then I don’t use Bambu Lab matt filament. I print lots of star wars models, matt grey is a staple.
One thing I found helps with silk and matt filaments is backing off the extruder idler tension a little. I don’t know if you can do this on the A1? It’s only possible after modding (drilling the toolhead) on the P1/X1 but is worthwhile, and actually necessary for putting TPU reliably.
In my case, the issues are primarily with PolyTerra Matte.
Certain colors do seem to have more issues than others though.
Worst is white, but I’ve also had issues with green, red, purple.
I haven’t had it happen yet with black, and I’ve run a lot of black.
I haven’t purchased any gray, so no experience there. For gray, I’m leaning toward PolyLite CosPLA, since I’m looking to do painted props in the future.
I recently purchased the A1 mini with 2x PLA matte filament.
Now that I have read these problems here I have become very reluctant to use this filament.
I had numerous failure to feed filament errors on my A1 with AMS Lite, so I purchased an A1 Mini without AMS, thinking that would solve the problem. It didn’t, so I re-engineered the filament path so it comes straight down from above, not routed through the Teflon tube. Weeks later, zero problems with it.
BTW, I used a Creality spool holder with a digital scale (not needed, of course) and ball bearings, which probably aren’t needed. Initially, I worried that momentum of the spool advancing might unwind too much filament, leading to tangles, but this hasn’t happened. Nevertheless, if I do it again (for my A1), I’ll use a simple spool holder (dowel rod or 3-D printed) without a bearing. Bambu should consider offering such a setup in addition to a wall-mounting bracket for the AMS Lite, a space hog that adds more oscillating masses as the printer moves rapidly.
Guys please help me. My a1 mini do not feed filament on some model.
I tried to increase temperature to 230*, decrease max flow rate to 12 mm3/s…
Printing on default profile Generic PLA 0.2 Standart.
Thank you for any advice.
Video
youtube .com/watch?v=bJMF8pZcHHw
Btw, any errors on screen, such happened on some others models too.
I have a couple questions. Have you tried changing the nozzle? I sounds like a partial clog. Also what slicer are you running on the laptop? it could be that your feed rate is to high and your building up to much pressure in the extruder. Are you using flow control?
Thanks
M1
I am using Bambu Studio for slicing.
I have only one nozzle, the default (0.4) one.
Are you using flow control?
I am not sure, which parameter it is. But i tried to decrease volumetric speed, calibrate flow ratio (choosed #5 (1.029)). Decrease cooling, decrease and disable retraction, disable wipe while retracting… nothing help)
Hopefully this helps someone else, but manually pulling each and every one of the AMS filaments back a bit and making sure no filament was stuck between the hot-end side of the PTFE tubes and extrude allowed my printer to push the filament from the AMS to the extruder successfully. It seems like filament had gotten stuck in the AMS printer hub.
This happened for me with multiple prints. A1 Mini would start clicking and printed air. Finally checked my filament roll (some generic PLA, not bambu). It was rolled so tight that printer didn’t have enough power to pull it from the roll. I loosened the filament on the roll every now and then and had no issues since then.
I’m having filament feed issues with all PLA types Basic and Matte from Bambu (A1 Mini without the AMS list, just the standard spool holder that comes with the printer) when the spool is getting below roughly 300g of filament left. The spool is wobbling back and forth because of the huge difference between the spool’s inner diameter and the post that the spool sits on. Are there any models out there that can be printed to adapt this so that the spool stays straight and doesn’t wobble?
It reduces the wobble enough to eliminate the feed issues I had when the spool was getting below 300g. I could use a spool until it was empty with this and had zero feed issues. Very happy!