I don’t even know where to start. I’ve had my X1 Carbon for one year. I’ve taken good care of it and not really had any serious issues with it. The filament though is a completely different story.
Initially I bought filament on spools, because I needed spools. But then I started buying only refills. And it’s been an absolute nightmare. Honestly, I am pretty pissed off. Because I have spent thousands of dollars buying Bambu filament for the convenience of easily refilling spools and using it with my AMS, and it has failed me time and again.
The first issue is the way the refills are wound. This can be said for the regular spooled filament too but the refills are especially bad. They are wound like ■■■■. It’s ugly, messy, uneven and causes constant issues with my AMS motors which are now probably on their way out because of how much they’ve been stressed with this filament CONSTANTLY getting tangled. Filament is pulled off to the inside of the spool and prevents it from being pulled further by the AMS. This is INSANE. I have never had a problem with literally any other manufacturer of filament. I used to use a cheap Elegoo printer with their own filament. That filament was cheaper and just as good qualitry as Bambu, and it was wound PERFECTLY. I never had an issue - yet I pay a premium for Bambu filament and get garbage, every time.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the cardboard cores of the refills sometimes don’t even fit on the reusable spools they are made for. Trying to push them onto a spool makes a bunch of filament come loose - and even if that doesn’t happen it’s impossible to find the notch and match it to the notch in the cardboard core because of how impossibly tight it is.
At this point I have had well over 20kg of filament come on HORRIBLY wound spools or on cardboard cores that do not fit reusable spools. I’ve honestly had enough. If Bambu is not willing to improve the quality of their filament winding or the consistency of their products - I am selling everything that I own from Bambu and moving on. This isn’t a few years ago where other companies were playing catch up. There are many viable competitors out there, and many of them do filament better than Bambu.
Let me know if you feel the same or have had similar issues.
I’ve found it’s mostly about how you put them on the spool. I’ve never had filament come loose while putting them on the spool, are you sure you are keeping the plastic straps on until after you lock the spool? For the issue of it going in the empty space between the spool and the filament, it helps to sort of massage it in there so it fills all the empty space. I’ve gotten probably about 20 of the Bambu refill spools and have only messed up 2 due to improper installation, no problems with the rest.
Of course I am. I’m not an idiot, I’ve had this printer for a year. I am following all instructions and putting the refill on the spool properly. This isn’t an issue of even putting it on the spool. It’s the fact that these refills seem to be wound by a child. It’s all over the place and it causes severe issues with the AMS.
The refill installation instructions unfortunately do not mention massaging the filament.
It may sound weird, but giving the filament a thorough massage before cutting the straps but after spool locking does make a ton of difference.
Give some love to the filament. It’ll pay you back.
Have you put a ticket in and telling them about the bad spools?
I take it that you are happy with the printer itself? If the answer is Yes, then just use a different manufacturer of filament.
I have only ever used the free spool that comes with the X1C, most of the time I use Overture filament. Also used other manufacturers, I just have to make sure the spool fits in the AMS.
You’re right, 100% - they don’t. But why would you have to do that? Why couldn’t they just wind their cores properly and cleanly like so many of their competitors do? It’s almost as if they’re shooting themselves in the foot, offering an incredibly smart way of printing and managing filament while making it impossibly difficult to do at the exact same time I will try this next time. Thank you for your patience with my frustration and for offering an alternative.
Yes brother I have put in a ticket. They did end up replacing one of my rolls but honestly I can’t see the practicality of having to do that every time. I run a business and I don’t have the time to put in a ticket and wait weeks to get a response asking me to post photos and videos when this is happening regularly.
As for your other question - yes. I am relatively happy with the hardware, which does save a lot of time. However, the whole point that I bought it to begin with is the easy integration (allegedly) of their filament and AMS systems. Buying from another manufacturer is definitely an option. But that means I would need to spend more time dialing in that filament and that is something I don’t want to have to spend time doing - it’s the entire reason I went with Bambu to begin with.
Ok, so it’s there. But that still doesn’t explain why their filament is wound like ■■■■. If it was wound neatly, I am sure it would help to resolve a lot of issues. I guess my point was that if I can buy cheaper filament that is nearly as good, if not just as good quality from other companies for the same price that I can buy Bambu refills, then why would I buy Bambu refills? Well, until now the answer to that question is because I believed in the convenience and efficiency of using refills. But clearly they don’t care about the quality of their product like some other companies do. So… Guess I’m not buying Bambu going forward.
That massage trick is interesting, I will have to try that, meanwhile I have used my pastamatic spool winder to unwind and rewind the spools, it seems like they are would too narrow in my cases.
Don’t forget about how the tape on the end gets sucked up into the ptfe tube because the tape is too short or if its longer it still comes off the spool core. Good post and I totally agree they need to spend some time on this issue.
That equates to about 19.50 USD. In the US if you buy 4 spools from Bambu they cost 15 USD (23AUD) each. During the black Friday sale it was 13USD (20AUD) per spool if you got 8 spools.
I will try this next time. Thank you for your patience with my frustration and for offering an alternative.
