BL offers a downloadable cable “brace” or will send you one.
Here is why this is NOT a fix.
These are straight pieces. What it does is move the flex point from the edge of the bed to further away. This means the cable has to bend MORE when the bed is at the extreme end of it’s movement than it does with the factory build. So all this does is ensure the issue will occur somewhere else on the cable.
An old printer I had developed a similar issue, but in that case the break was different and just killed the heatbed. The solution was not a straight piece to hold the cable, but a curved piece that prevented any sharp bends from occurring in the cable as the bed moved.
What the cable actually needs is some kind of strain relief like this, not something that will cause a sharp bend further up the cable. Springs installed around cables by a factory are an example of strain relief as they prevent a tight kink occurring during use.
Still learning how to do design or I’d work on a strain relief myself, but wanted to point this out to end users, and to Bambu Lab
Yeah this was being discussed within minutes of the release of the “fix” 3 weeks ago.
Since then Bambu Lab have recalled all printers so they are well aware the fix was inadequate and not going to solve the issue.
The true issue is the wires used within the cable are poor and over time strands will break causing the wires to heat up and melt the shielding and possibly cause a short. The poor quality/melting has been shown by several users here and on facebook /reddit who dissected their cables. Of course mishandling and rough transit could speed up the failing of the cable, but the point stands, the cable is not a suitable spec to supply the current required heatbed, especially since the cable is constantly moving with the bed.
Yea, you’re right, it’s not a fix, at least not a permanent one. The reason why they decided to recall the printer later on. Well, at least this temporary fix is trying to avoid that sharp flex point, since it’s exactly at the entry/exit point. The cable is naturally bend and it’s easier for the flex if it’s further away from the entry/exit. At least for people that do not push their printer against the wall. I’ve seen so many people sharing pics of various problems but the first thing I’ve noticed is that they push the cable against a wall, which is something I wouldn’t do to A1.
For me, there is an ironic part to this. The heat bed cable runs UNDER the power cable on my A1 from the way I plugged the power cable in. I did that during setup because I didn’t like the kinking that occurred. This causes a smooth curve on both ends as the bed moves back and forth. Have no signs of any issues with the cable. (And I didn’t kink the cable during assembly either)
The real reason its not a fix is that the bent cable was never the root cause of the problem, and that’s why there is a general full recall.
I believe the fault is simply inappropriate cable spec, or a bad batch of cables that they cant pin down to specific serial numbers. A few people have taken their A1s apart and the cables are melted or showing signs of melting/damage inside the unit itself. That’s not going to be caused by a bent cable on the outside,.
I wouldn’t even be surprised if the eventual new heat bed comes with a new AC power board for us to replace, or some sort of board in the heat bed itself.