@TerboSpaghetti I’m new to printing but I’ve done 4 days of troubleshooting to get a string free retraction tower. I’ve talked to a few other A1/A1 mini owners and scoured the internet. There are discussions here and there about the mating surface between the hotend and the hotend heating assembly being not very good. I finally got some good results after applying high temperature thermal paste between the hotend and the heating assembly mating surfaces.
Today I finally printed a string free retraction tower on Basic PLA at 235c and an almost string on Tough PLA.
I have applied a bit more paste now after inspecting and see that the whole mating surface was still not making contact. I also noticed that hotend heating assembly appeared to be slightly crooked. Loosening the screws and making a bit of and adjustment and then retightening them down seem to have fixed that.
I opened a ticket on the 19th because the printer kept trying to print right off the side of the print bed on the included sd card files. I appended my print quality issues such as stringing but haven’t heard back yet. I have managed to get in some spare parts though that I ordered on the weekend that did not help.
I was trying to measure the hotend heating assembly/nozzle with my Fluke thermal couple but I couldn’t even get a reading in the right ballpark.
Check:
Anyway definitely something seems wrong with my unit as other people’s units seems to print flawlessly. I’ve learned a lot since the 19th as this is my first printer which is probably helpful but definitely hasn’t been super enjoyable printing anything haha
Edit2: Mind you this is with the hardened steel 0.4mm nozzle currently. I swapped it out for the normal 0.4 as part of the process yesterday when I got it. I am guessing this might have to be higher temperature than the stock 0.4 nozzle
Hi @parawizard, nice to see that you got your unit running. At least somewhat.
I’m surprised to see them not responding for a whole week. I hope they will reply soon and send you a replacement heating assembly.
I checked all my units, and I am happy to say that mine are all right, but it sucks to see you suffer with it…
I hope you can soon enjoy your printer to the fullest extent.
It might be worth clicking through their AI Chat to get to the live chat with a real human being. If I remember correctly, the chat hours should start in two hours.
Just search for “live chat” in the forum, and you should find a detailed description of how to get there.
Might try that. Was going to just order a new heating assembly anyway. I’ve printed over 50 test files now with different settings and after checking things. Still can’t solve stringing completely on retraction test with like 20h dried Tough PLA
Maybe a new heating assembly will fix it. Maybe it won’t. Maybe I’ll get a P1S or something else entirely.
Holy ■■■■, you really went all in with drying PLA that long.
I think the quick swap nozzles are a good idea, but how often are you going to swap the nozzle. But I’m also not the intended target group for the product. So, I might be wrong on that one.
I totally agree with Chris on this, the movement is done once per print on layer 3 if I’m not mistaken… I do not know if I’m referring to the same thing… But once happened that in the middle of the print, first layer, the head was going to the left on the poop tray, it was doing it continuously, the issue was that I did not had any alert, nothing, I had to understand it for myself. It was not tangled, but it was putting a lot of force on the extruder. Now I know why is it pooping mid print That was just one time, solve it changing the slot on the AMS for the spool - no it was not Bambu Filament. So this was the “almost bad”. The A1 is a great printer, it may be that I took the winning card, but I do not have complains, just good stuff. I have an Ender 3 V2 and a Flsun Q5 for 4 years now… The A1 puts them to shame on every level, considering that I’ve upgraded the ■■■■ out of this 2, Klipper, Direct Drive, but they are not even close the precision, speed, technology loaded on the A1. I do not know about the A1 mini, but the A1 “it just works”…
Hey guys…
I just got my new A1 printer yesterday did all what the manual says exactly as they instructed it… did the update and calibration…Until I started to print 1st time it went crazy did all those loud noises and it seemed wanted to excessively auto home then went from front to the back of the bed dug the nozzle onto the build plate also on that warning sign to leave space part back right corner it rubbed it and started to melt the plastic…then tried to factory reset it then that Resonance x Axis issues started to come up is this some sort of a joke right out of the box… we use a lot of Bambu printers at work we have 2x P1S and A1 mini its a great printer if it works properly I don’t want to touch it since its absolutely brand new… I shouldn’t have to do maintenance right out of the box in my honest opinion now its scares me to turn it on and do more damage to it. just kind of disappointed due to its my wife’s
Christmas present to me and save up for months for it! It also took the fun of having to own one
Whats your suggestion please guys
Sounds like you got a bad one, every manufacturer makes a bad one at some point. I would immediately submit a ticket and if I did not hear back from them within about 7 days I would file a claim with my credit card company to move things along.
For me, and this is just my opinion, a problem right out of the box is not a big deal, but when you start talking about the nozzle digging into the plate and melted plastic, that is a sign something is really wrong. Even if fixed I wouldn’t want a brand new printer with something melted on it.
I disagree.
That’s like saying that I need to buy a used car so I can learn the headaches of having to continually fix it. At the same time, not having a mechanic that knows how to work on your car.
That’s how buying the E3V3 was for me. I always thought I was handy and skilled until I started working on that. Each forum would tell me that I just need one more part to get it to run smoothly. After spending $200 in six months to fix a $200 machine, I realized that it was a waste of time. I bought the P1S and realized the potential of this industry.
I haven’t had an aneurism, but several fits! I started with an ender 3 v2 about 2 year ago, and I love tinkering. And did I ever get to tinker! I’ve done several “upgrades” and mods, but printing well, consistently, is a battle on it, but I have learned a lot about 3d printing and what not to do. I’ve had my X1C for about 4 months now, no matter what filament or what I want to print, it does it, and does it well. I think everyone that gets into 3d printing should start with something along the lines of ender 3 - “here’s you a box of parts. make this into a printer, successfully print a benchy, then you get this bambu printer as a prize”.
That was just one time, solve it changing the slot on the AMS for the spool - no it was not Bambu Filament. So this was the “almost bad”. The A1 is a great printer, it may be that I took the winning card, but I do not have complains, just good stuff. I have an Ender 3 V2 and a Flsun Q5 for 4 years now… The A1 puts them to shame on every level, considering that I’ve upgraded the ■■■■ out of this 2, Klipper, Direct Drive, but they are not even close the precision, speed, technology loaded on the A1. I do not know about the A1 mini, but the A1 “it just works”…