Considering a second and/or third AMS for my X1C
Love to hear positive and negative experiences for those who have done this and any advice.
Thanks in advance for sharing
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I frequently found myself needing needing 5 rather than 4 spools. After a while, that was enough for me to invest in a second AMS. Not have had any issues with that other than those caused by myself by putting incompatible TPU or moist BVOH in them.
I do not expect to get a third though as print times and poop of course go up drastically with each additional roll in a print.
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Thanks for input… Just seems so practical… load and go … I am in same situation 5 , 6 different… just slows down the momentum… Thanks
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I’m too considering a second one. Not for multicolor but just for having all most used materials and colors at hand with a click. With just four slots, I’m still switching spools too often.
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I agree that 2 AMS units is a good number, took me hours when I got my X1C that 1 wasn’t going to be enough for a lot of the multi-color desgns out there. But this is also an opportunity to stack the units next to the printer instead of one on top. It is so nice to be able to lift off the top glass when you’re swapping hot ends, doing maintenance, or removing stray poop. There are designs around to stack the AMS units.
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I don’t even do multicolor (I usually print functional parts in black, white or grey), and I bought a 2nd AMS out of sheer laziness. I just love to have multiple filaments available without getting up from my computer (currently my AMS units are filled with PLA, PLA+, matte PLA, PETG and ASA).
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I purchased a second AMS for my X1C 3 months ago, installation went smoothly, and everything has worked flawlessly since. I rationalized the purchase as buying spare parts for the 1st AMS, but in reality, my overall process flow is so much smoother now. I can perform maintenance on one AMS while printing from the other. While I don’t do a lot of multicolor prints, I do print clones by object frequently using multiple colors. I am very happy with the purchase, even though I was concerned the X1C would soon be obsolete. Could I have done without? Yes, but the overall experience is worth the extra AMS, as well as the peace of mind that I know I have a working backup AMS in the event of a major problem.
The maintenance aspect is great point . Now just went down rabbit hole looking at printable stacking options.
Do I lose big points if I said to myself… hmm miter/table saw and few screws and I am done in 30 mins … or hrs and hrs of printing … thanks for input
Not at all, I have a woodworking workshop as well so like you I could do whatever I want. However a lot of people in the 3D printing hobby don’t also have a woodworking hobby.
I would highly recommend a cheap, amazon or local bigbox purchase off a Microwave stacker.
Even fully loaded with 4 spools, an AMS is very light and a cheap $20 or less Microwave stacker, that expands and easily is high enough to allow access to the “bottom” AMS is easier (and I feel cheaper) than printing one if you rather not print one. Plus i find it usefull for side acess for tools etec.
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I too am using several AMS units for convenience rather than advanced multi color prints. I actually have four of them but would really be fine with a single one. It’s great in theory - among many possible configurations are “one AMS per material”. I also have a Sunlu S4 (normally loaded with four colors of TPU) so in total 20 spools ready for printing.
Alas, despite that, I ALWAYS have to shuffle spools around before any print, as Murphy’s law dictates that the color I need for my next print, unless it happens to be black, is never ever among the 20 at hand 
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My second AMS arrives in the next couple of days (fingers crossed).
I doubt I will use it to obtain 8 colours most of the time, I will likely use it to gain 5 or 6 colours occasionally. Most of my models are aimed at the average user, they have 4 colours.
I will use it for these reasons.
- Accessing more than 4 colours
- Accessing 4 colours from a pool of up to 8 colours so I don’t have to switch as often (many projects have me printing 20+ models from around 7 colours
- Accessing 4 colours with 1 or more spools added as duplicates of those 4 in case of filament run out on big jobs
- Laziness, sometimes you just can’t be bothered with putting away the filaments at the end of a run.
One annoyance I have found, particularly coming from the A1 mini & A1 to a P1S, is in the U.K., most filaments are supplied on cardboard spools. This requires a lot of spool adapters. There are many out there, but, they don’t always have the correct size when you print a popular one. So, I have designed my own to fill the gaps. I will likely upload them in case others have the issue.