Problems With Bambu Lab Refill Rolls

Bambu Filament and Accesories Filament
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This is about bambu filament not working in a bambu system. But thanks for your input I guess? It was very helpful

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Some of us see a problem and complain.
Others see a problem and find a solution.

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I have had 2 rolls that have unwound themselves from the back end off the reel, causeing major issues.

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You mean, watch your machines so you can snip the filament before the tape gets sucked into the AMS or stops your print until you fix it so it can “auto-load” the next spool?

What would be your solution to this?

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My view is, I pay for something I expect it to work.

It isn’t my job to fix something that doesn’t work.

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Same here for refills, we are trying to be environmentally aware and reuse empty spools but I won’t buy them at home anymore and I instructed our purchasing not to buy refills until this issue is resolved. Tape is one big issue but they are also so poorly winded, I Had print jobs stuck just by dug in filament in very loose spool. Come on! BambuLab! You drop the ball on this one! I know you got very busy but your quality issues are not going unnoticed.

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So I see I’m not the only one, nothing but issues with the recent delivery. Sounds like a company that cannot handle the demand. What’s the consensus on a replacement brand of filament

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I use Overture. Not had a single problem with tape (as they don’t use it) or badly wound spools.
Is it a refill spool?

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I had a similar issue with the BBL White PLA having the gap, which caused a tangle. The taped end on the cardboard caused the AMS lite to get stuck near the end. I had hoped that buying OEM filament and running it on the AMS would make run outs a non-issue.

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Looks like someone else was tired of the tape issue and built a solution. I’m going to have to give it a shot…

Look on makerworld for AMS Saver Snag Cutter by Hexavalent

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I have this exact same issue with 2 rolls of black basic pla I just received. Both rolls had the inner cardboard crushed / tapered inward to the point it was impossible to get the refill onto the spools. One was wasted trying to get it on and it fell apart. The other I used an exacto knife to trim off the tapered part of the cardboard and finally got it on. No idea yet if Ill have issues with jamming or if its really on straight. I have not had issues with the refills before. They look like one end of the cardboard sat in water or someone hit it with a hammer and crushed it. Maybe something heavy was laid on the top while being shipped. Really sad that a 5 cent piece of cardboard ruined a 20$ spool of filament. If it happens again Ill have to consider other filament brands.

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I ran across this model to help with the problem of the inner edges of refill cores being bent in. Bambu Spool Buddy by Functional Print Friday - MakerWorld

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The issue im having with the refill spools is the filament is getting wedged between the spool and the filament and jamming my maching mid print. it happens every 30-40 minutes on every single print.

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When loading up a refill spool there is a step to massage the filament down to get it to spread and fill the full spool width. That is specifically to eliminate the gaps on either side of the filament bundle.

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@Josh-3D Printed spool helps to stop this as you can tighten the spool so the filament doesn’t do this.

Being a heavy user of Bambu’s refills, I did find them kind of tedious to work with after awhile. There’s variations within the winding, and the overall width can be slightly different. To make sure you don’t have jams, you really have to work the filament to get it to fill the gaps once in the reusable spool.

With mine, I use a screw type design so that the width of the spool has some variability. This helps a lot with the Bambu refills. You don’t have to work the filament nearly as much because you can just clamp it down. Additionally, my spool includes a groove for the filament so no filament clip is needed. A lock ring version is now available too, giving the options to lock the two halves together.

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I have followed the directions to “massage” the filament after loading it into a spool. I press down pretty firmly yet every spool for the last probly 10 spools has jammed probly 5 times or more. I feel like if I press any harder im ganna damage the filament lol.

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You’ve gotta massage it even more! Work it deep. Ugh. I have carpel tunnel syndrome, and it just hurts my wrist on days that I change a lot of refills. I’m not sure how firmly you’re pressing, but my gut reaction says it’s not enough, haha.

I’m not kidding though, it really strained my wrist. Thus…

Jon is correct. My spool design was built to try and address the issue. It’s meant to clamp down around the refill, so that slight variance in width between refills will be less likely to cause an issue.

That doesn’t mean it’s perfect. You’ve still gotta massage it a little (But not nearly as much and as deep as you would/should with the official style bambu spools that are a fixed width.) They’ve gotten better with their winding, but you’ll still find spools that wont be as ideally wound, thus the need for a little massaging still.

The thing about massaging it on an official spool. You have to push deep down, so that towards the core it’s getting pushed out. This can be strenuous with certain winds. Other winds it’ll feel mushy and loose, and you’ll question if you’re doing anything at all.

Before I built my own spool, I recall once I used toothpicks arrayed around the edge to fill the gap, to keep the filament from falling in. That’s how much of a variance I’ve seen in width on those refills.

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