In the latest batch of black PLA refill rolls that I received (bath VE041B2221), there have been two major issues in most of the 80 rolls in the order.
The inner edges cardboard spool is very rough and pushed inward. The plastic spool won’t push on easily and in many cases I have had to use an X-acto knife to trim it to fit.
Instead of the filament being folded into the end, it is taped onto the cardboard spool. This means that when a spools runs out, the tape is pulled into the PTFE tube or the feeding funnel of the AMS. Sometimes I can go in with tweezers or needle nose pliers and pull it out. Other times I have to remove the feeding funnel from the AMS and push it through backwards with a 1mm metal rod.
I’ve had the same problem as well. It makes it very difficult to load the spool. I’ve also noticed they are taping the end of the filament to the spool. This does not work with the “Auto Refill” AMS function.
“Just use our filaments designed for our printers! Never mind bunged up roll cores that you have to fix before you can use them, and sorry we changed the filament on you to different colors and print parameters without telling you. Your perfect prints are our number one priority!”
Some of my refills are wound so there is a gap on either side when added to the spool.
This leads to the filament falling between the gaps as it is used and sometimes getting stuck as the pressure is too much and the friction stops it being freed.
I have had both issues with a batch (6 rolls) of Bambu “Charcoal Black” refill filament.
Gap on sides: A few had a big gap on the sides so the filament drops down the sides and stalls the AMS feed causing the print to stop. I fought this for several rolls until I figured out a solution. After loading a new refill spool and removing the four keeper straps, press down on the center of the roll spreading apart the roll toward the spool sides. You can hear the filament making a crackling sound as you do this. Do this while rotating the spool and go around the spool twice. I do this now on all refill spools and it fixed that problem.
Inside end of filament taped to the spool cardboard tube. This just will not work with the “auto refill” function on the AMS… which I use a lot. This seems like a short-sided change that is a total quality failure by (Bambu). How can Bambu offer AMD with the auto-refill function but then break that function by taping the inside ends of a filament spool?? I have finished the 6 rolls of filament that had this problem. I have just started using rolls from a 10 roll batch I bought from Bambu. We’ll see if it also has this problem. I hope not.
If the taped inside-end “feature” is the new norm for Bambu filament, I may have to move to another filament company. That said, my new (Feb 2024) Bambu X1C and AMS have been close to flawless after 1600 print hours.
Jumping in here. I’m seeing issues with the refills also. The cardboard tube won’t fit on the spool. Tape at the end of the roll. I’ve also noticed on a few rolls of the black PLA basic that it just seems dirty - like it was dropped on the floor of a factory and then spooled up.
I’m having same problem. Black refills are garbage. Won’t go on the spool. Filament wavy and not spooled straight. Taped on and jams when I try to use the AutoRefill. Must be why they are on sale at $15. I would be highly not happy if I paid $24 for these. I’m going back to Hatchbox. Never any issues with them.
I really wish Bambu would figure out that shipping problem filament is a huge black eye when the whole point of RFID is to make printing uniform high quality. Even if it’s just the spooling in some cases.
People stock these filaments. People buy them in bulk. Problematic filament is the gift that will keep on provoking very critical reviews, angry posts about filament quality, etc, even long after the problem filament issues are resolved (assuming they are trying to resolve them).
I already don’t buy black or white from Bambu any more. Been stung myself. I wish Bambu understood the damage they are doing to their business that was built around printers that take the hassles out of printing. Swapping in bad filament spoils the advantages and costs customers.
I ordered a few rolls of PLA Basic in white LOT(?) VE032J0621 (Refill) for a project that I wanted to start now.
Instead, I’m now struggling to get the filament onto the spools. What a pain…
The color doesn’t seem to match either, the white looks more like a slightly grayish color.
Bravo Bambulab, I’m really impressed… not…
There is a way to identify the tape problem before using the filament. If the filament is taped, you cannot see the end of the filament on the inside of the spool core. If it is pushed through, it is clearly visible.
At least then you know in advance what to expect…
I just contacted bambu support about this, they’ve asked me on 3 separate emails for the order numbers and how many rolls were affected, which I’ve told them every time, I’ve provided them pictures and descriptions of exactly whats happening. Now they’ve just asked me to turn on machine recording and purposely jam my printer with the tape so they can see a video. They know this is an issue and they’ve even addressed it. But they are making me run around it circles
They apparently switched to tape to secure the filament to the cardboard hub but somehow didn’t initially communicate proper techniques to whoever winds the spools resulting in the especially poorly applied tape as shown by steffankrautz above.
But I’ve now had a few spools with “properly applied” tape and the tape is still a problem. It leaves visible adhesive residue on the filament and is hard for the tape to let go of the filament.
To be fair I have not let my AMS grind its gears to try to pull the tape free. I use edge cutters to nip the filament at the tape once the spool is low enough. But I’ve tested the pull of the captive bit by grabbing it with pliers and the let-go force is high and you can feel and see the adhesive residue on the filament where it was in contact with the tape.
To be fair again, this on spools that I’ve dried so they’ve been baked in my filament dryer. That tends to help “set” tape adhesives but is a necessary step to get good prints.
@SupportAssistant - the tape method is still problematic and still causing problems. Even if the tape properly lets the filament go at end of spool, the adhesive residue eventually gets purged through the extruder if users don’t cut that tail off like I do.
It’s infuriating, I run all black filament in big prints so I need the ams to automatically switch to a new roll. I’ve had 10 rolls in the past 4 months all from different orders, I don’t dry my filament I just throw it in the ams and the tape still sticks to it. My ams is useless because I have to either stand there and cut it like you said, or wait till I get home from work and pull the tape out of the ams and continue the print.
I get things like these happen, but making me jump through hoops when they know the issue is what’s grinding my gears. I guess I will be sending them a video of the tape being sucked in because they don’t believe my pictures
