This happened to me after 2-3 weeks of not using my printers. Since I travel for work and gone Monday through Friday I do what you do with my filament and wrap it up till I need to use my machine. Nice to know that I'm not the only one to have this happen to. Great Tip.
Great information, this already happen to me and my AMS. I was lucky though upon removing my spool the filament did break off but it left just enough filament for me to grab and pull out successfully without further ado.
For the AMS unit for it's enclosure there are plenty of mods/STLs that allow you to add extra desiccant throughout the unit which I use and have never really had a problem. I think the only problem most people will have with this recommendation is making it a habit to check before using lol. Great video and thanks for the content!
How long is filament good? I am having nothing but issues printing with the AMS not retracting the filament and erroring and not able to push the filament into the hot end. This is happened with my last 2 prints. A 1 day 10 hr. print took 3 days because I had to constantly fix the issues I mentioned above. I'm at my wits end. I did replace PTFE tubing inside the AMS after hoping this will help but I don't have my hopes up by any means.
Also, I know EVERYONE says wet PLA gets brittle, but do we know that for sure?When everything else in the world absorbs water, it gets non brittle. Dampen pretzels and they get non-brittle. Put macaroni in boiling water, non-brittle. So I'm not REALLY sure about PLA. Maybe CNC Kitchen has tested this. BUT what does make PLA brittle is exposure to IR light. Maybe the clear AMS lid was a bad idea. But does plastic block IR? I'm not sure.
It's a chemical reaction - PLA is hygroscopic - it absorbs water from the air (like silica gel) but it's not the absorption that causes the damage. Once absorbed the water breaks down the polymer chains in the plastic in a chemical reaction and that causes the brittleness. Think of it like plastic rust.
I do not own a AMS lite, but for the regular AMS you can clean the tubes without stopping the print. You just have to be quite careful when disassembling it, remove both screws in the AMS, unplug the PTFE tube that goes out and VERY gentily pull out the piece that holds the 4 spools making sure that you don't unplug the two connectors to the PCB. Then disconnect the PTFE tube and make sure you clean it up, then resume the print. Of course this is annoying, but at least you don't have to cancel the print...
Thanks for the video. I have an AMS light and I did wonder how it's possible to take the spools off. I see now that I really should be keeping them vacuum sealed along with the desiccant to keep them dry
To release the PTFE on the extruder on AMS lite, there are some printable tools to assist and make it quite easy. A problem I had was broken filament in the extruder, that blocked it and so the PTFE coupler "beoke" apart. I managed to get every small part and assembled it again, but as they are cheap instantly ordered a new one, to have replacement if this happens again.
Some brands are definitely more likely to break than others, but I find that some colours of eSun PLA+ are very susceptible to breaking in the AMS Lite if they’re not used for a few days. In the original AMS I try to make sure that there is plenty of fresh colour changing silica gel on the rear chambers and in boxes between each feeder and that seems to keep the filament in good shape for weeks if not months, (providing the gel is changed regularly as soon as it shows any colour change).
I have had this happen several times, and the printer wasn't idle for more than maybe 12 hours. I have used the spare part for connecting the PTFE tubes (the round piece with the 5 parts that connect to the tube, not sure what that is called) to release the tube on the 4 in one feeder end on the A1. I have needed to remove the (cooled) hot end and pull stuck filament manually. Thankfully, very easy with a Bambu Lab printer.
Hey Bryan, I did run in to this a few months ago after a a couple weeks of no printing. I did figure it out after it happened twice so I did exactly as your suggesting, cool and informative for all those that haven’t figured it out yet.
Just watched this video yesterday. Turned on my X1C tonight and heard a snap. In the process of taking the AMS apart now. Should have tried to pull them out first. Thanks for the great info.
Thanks for the tip! I have only had my A1 Mini for just over 2 weeks, and I don't have the AMS, so I am hoping that I don't have this problem. I am ofter swapping filament, and always put the roll I have removed into a vacuum bag, with dessicant beads, then use a small vacuum pump to remove as much air as possible, to try to avoid moisture getting to the filament. I will now also remember to try breaking the end as a final check too! 👍
hey Bryan great videos I have been learning a-lot from them as I a very new to 3d printing. I do have a question for you that I am having trouble finding an answer to, and that is why does bambu studio tell me that my AMS light must have all of the the same type of filament loaded? As an example it won’t let me print if I have 3 spools of PLA and one Spool of PETG loaded. Am I doing something wrong?
If u haven’t used filament for 6 months and I recently purchased an AMS/Bambu P1S(arriving Wednesday btw very excited!) I live in Ohio, extreme weather changes, I have a filament dryer (TBH not sure it works have had issues after drying but that is an issue for another day) check the ends of the filaments before loading? Or dry 1st? It’s mainly silk but I did notice the breakage off a roll when I was switching and reorganizing to get ready for my Bambu.. I mainly own silk .. until recently and they are still boxed and sealed plus I also invested in a filament storage kit which suctions air and seals the filament once opened (good investment or bad🤷♀️. Any other suggestions or recommendations please btw ur tshirt …AWESOME!
We got the ams light for my son for Christmas , We need help please ! We made about 10 prints everything went good! Then we are having bed adhesion issues and the had a the filament get stuck in the hot end . We have scrubbed the print bed Still having adhesion issues , any recommendations?? Thanks !!!
I got caught with this very problem with my AMS light. It happened 5 hours into a 6 hour print and I lost the entire print as I had to stop the print and then try to remove the broken filament from the extruder what a pain!!! I now check my filament regularly but your idea is a great tip thank you.
Myyyyy Gooodnesss! Yea, I have that filament "breakage" issue from time to time with my AMS Lite. Being a seasonal maker, I quickly came up with a resolution when it occurred, so no worries. Thanks for this awesome tip.
JUST GOT THE COMBO TODAY 1 OF THE INSERTION HOLE OF THE AMS LITE IS NOT ALLOWING THE FILAMENT TO GO THROUGH? I THINK THE MECHANISM INSIDE THE HOLE IS NOT WORKING? REFUND? REPLACEMENT? CALL AMAZON OR THE COMPANY?
Yep, it happen to me (AMS), but it happen at above the extruder! And it was a (almost) precision surgery just to remove the broken filament. Great video (I wish I saw this before).
Been there and done that. Had to completely take apart the printhead to remove it from the sensor arm. Such a small bit was jammed on sensor. That was the last time I used Bambu PLA-CF brand new from the package without drying for 12 hrs min. Has worked great since.
I've had this happen 3x on my AMS and it was definitely due to not using the printer (for weeks and sometimes months). I started unloading the filament (before I saw this video) after the 3x time it happened and have not run into this issue, since. In my case, the filament would snap inside the AMS tubes. I'd have to unload the AMS, take the AMS apart and then clear the jam...a real PITA!
I have this exact issue, but I started a new spool after clearing the extruder and reseating the tubes and it still does this… so annoying. No issues on my carbon.
It’s the filament getting wet and brittle because it’s sitting in open air. For any printer you should unload and package up the filament with desiccant after printing at the very least. Ideally vacuum pack it with desiccant and dry your filament every so often.
That's brilliant to mention. I had that problem twice in my X1ns AMS and second one was complete dusaster as small piece of filament snapped in that thing with magnets. Had to disassemble it to get that piece out and spent couple of hours to get magnets back in their slots as I hadn't any good magnet to place on other side. I was close to throw it out of the window and order a new one. And yes I used a roll in AMS slot I didn't use for few weeks and yes my AMS is full of desiccant modules. So I'm checking all a while unused filaments for brittleness before use in AMS
Hello from a few hours west of you! Love the T-Shirt! That one makes me twinge anytime someone says it. This is good timing as we're seriously looking at the Bambu A1 with the AMS light.
I tend to leave the full AMS loaded as I have the 2 internal silica boxes full and 3 more "up front" silica boxes in it. For my A1 and the AMS Lite, I never leave spools on it when it's idle. I put them into dry boxes (cereal containers with silica packs from new spools in them) when done with them.
I wonder why that tail-end goes brittle while the rest of the spool remains OK. Even after just a week I come back to my printer to find the PLA broken-off above the print head for no particular reason.
I've had it happen a couple of times on my A1/Ams Lite. I didn't have to turn off anything or cancel the print. You just disconnect the PTFE tube from the top of the extruder, pull the snapped off bit, reconnect the tube, and clear the error. The print resumes.
Actually I’ve had this issue with my ams. But I didn’t need to turn off my printer or cancel the print. I just pause the print and disconnect the tubes and cleaned them out and then reconnected the tubes and resumed the print.
You are so right about those AMS lite connectors not wanting to let go of the tubes at the print head. I had broken a ribbon cable on my A1 trying to get those out to remove a broken piece of filament from the hot end. Luckily the A1 recall happened right after so I just returned it.
Good work as always! Great shirt, but no puns? I dropped my toothpaste and now I'm crestfallen. I've been on the fence for a while about adding a Bambu printer to my collection, since I only have one printer that can do multiple colors; my Sovol SV02. But too many parts on the Bambu printers are proprietary, and the engineer in me (my day job) just cringes with design flaws that the situation that you describe can painfully point out.
I've had this happen with my AMS lite with my A1, my gold filament is super brittle it seems. I've not once had to cancel the print... I just disconnect get it set back up and the awesome litl printer just continues on with the print... now the times its happened to me I was in the room so everything was still hot and was able to fix in a reasonable amount of time but the print just continued on its way. I so far try not to cancel a print unless its a catastrophic failure, I just cross my fingers and hope whatever went wrong wont ruin the rest of the print... so far its been about 50-50
I don't "hot unplug" the AMS or AMS Lite because I seem to remember there being a warning against it somewhere. I could be wrong though. I might have gotten that impression from the note on the A1's front MicroSD card slot that says "cold swappable." Good to know unplugging and re-plugging the AMS units doesn't cause a problem!
@@BV3D I dont unplug the port just the filament & or tubes. I've had to do it only like 5 times and haven't had any issues. Could just have been lucky. I'm gonna go read up on that cuz I'll admit I don't remember noticing any label.. but I can see it for SD cards since thats kinda a normal thing or at least was, haven't used any sd cards in years and I've only left the one in the printer where it was.
I bought my 3d printer before any desktop AMS machines were available on the market, so I ended up installing a 3d Chameleon. It works quite well once it's tuned in. I've only had the filament break inside one of the tubes once in about a month of use. I think it had been idle for a day or two when that happened. At first I thought I had a clogged nozzle on my hands but quickly figured it out when I pulled the old filament out and tried to "rethread" it.
I've been waiting for the 3D Chameleon to mature, but it's an ideal dry box compatible AMS system, and I like its simplicity. I intend to use it with my new 3D printer when it arrives
Should have told me this 2 days ago before my printer set for 3 months waiting on the new heat bed just went through all that guess better late than never though
Great tips, however it's not totally impossible to recover from a snapped fillament mid print. I had a filament break on retraction 90% into a mutli-colour print on a P1S. It snapped in the Tool Head, just far enough back from the extruder to trigger the Run-out sensor. I was able remove the PTFE from the tool-head, heat a paper-clip and insert into the top of the extruder, and pull out the small bit of filament triggering the sensor. After that, I re-inserted the PTFE, hit resume on the printer, and it loaded the next colour. Print finished successfully after that.
Love the T-shirt! Irregardless is one of my pet peeves. Where can I get the shirt? And do they have one for my other pet peeve: Agreeance. As in “We’re all in agreeance on that”.
I came to the same conclusion as you, I have a mk4s with mmu3, and precisely that thing about brittle filament was happening to me, and I had problems because there were pieces of filament left in the system, and the The only solution I came up with is to unload the filament if it is not going to be used, I am about to buy a bamboo lab A1 and it comes with the AMS Lite combo, I certainly don't need the AMS Lite Since I have the mk4s with mmu3, which by the way I stopped using for a long time due to filament waste.
Yeah, that is one flaw in the Bambu A1 and Mini is that the way the tubes are held into the extruder. There are metal angled spikes that when you push the tube in you can’t pull it back out but the spikes can become bent and can be pulled out. BL needs to work on that.
I had one filament snap on the full AMS on a P1S early on due to using an old roll without drying it, and it wasn't stored in a dry box. The Lite, in my opinion, is MUCH easier to deal with and you don't have to pull it all apart (at least I haven't had to) to get a break out. The AMS on the other hand, I had to disconnect and remove the tray, then disconnect the PTFE tubes from the 4-to, and while using a good piece of filament push the broken one out while hold the gear disengage button. Yes, the tubes in the A1 series can be really difficult to get out of the 4-to-1, but printing the Bowden tube release tool makes it much easier (for both printers). What IS more common on machines is heat creep locking the filament in the toolhead extruder gear chamber. Several of those have happened on my P1S and even more on my brother's X1C. Partial toolhead disassembly needed for those.
Hello. I’m Lena. I bought the A1 mini. I could use some help please. I have a Mac book and I can’t seemed to connect the two together I know it’s my fault. Im missing something. Also I don’t understand how to use Bambu studio at all. I’ve made lots of prints using my phone But just don’t understand the Mac book. Please help me could you do a video on the Mac book.
"In the extremely unlikely event you aren't going to be using your printer for a few days" classic line! However I hadn't used my printer in a few weeks and I was getting unload errors at the end of printing a plate. I do not think the filament broke in my case because I just cleared the error, pulled on the filament in the AMS and resumed and it fixed itself. But I will certainly be pulling the filament out if I think I wont be printing in a while.
I had one brand of filament that as quite literally Snap City. The printer I was using doesn't have a reverse bowden tube so when the filament snaps the printer just keeps on printing as the run out sensor is above where the filament would break. Suffice it to say, he company replaced the spool, but the replacement was no better. Drying made ZERO difference. We've bought many different brands of filament and never had filament break like that.
I had my filament break in the lite several times. I never had to stop the print for that reason. For the standard ams it’s not much of an issue since they’re always broken anyways. They just look nice.The X/P series is very much locked to single material prints. The lite is much more reliable.
I have a similar problem, I got an error last night while printing and I can't unload at all. I've disassembled the extruder and there's nothing in there. There's nothing in the AMS, but it still things location 3 has filament connected somehow. :/ *edit* fixed - I manually set the print head to 250C, fed in a filament spool and manually pushed it until it got to the extruder. Then I pressed the down arrow on the extruder menu option and the old colour suddenly pooped out. I guess there *was* some solidified filament somewhere in the head. I'm gonna get a few spare tips in for emergencies, once the 0.2mm is back in stock.
I had this happen to me yesterday on my A1 mini. Finding the documentation was a little annoying on how to unclog. Thankfully i've been doing this for about 5 years now that i know how to unclog the printhead on various 3d printers. Its actually not that hard to do on a A1 or A1 mini. Put some Heat resistant gloves on (or in my case grab a needle nose). Take the cover off exposing the hotend, then carefully take off the silicon sock. After that open the clip that locks the nozzle into place and take the nozzle out. If there's any filament stuck in the nozzle just pull it out with the needle nose from the top side. Next step is to press down on the 4 in 1 hub and have one of the ptfe tubes uncouple so you have access to one of the holes. From there get a piece of filament and push it threw the open port until whatever was jammed in the extruder blasts out the bottom opening where the nozzle was. In my case it was about a 2 inch piece of pla from a really old pla spool that i had less than 100g's of filament on that i was trying to push threw the printer so i could get rid of the spool. Printer is now unclogged, reassemble the head and put the ptfe tube back in place. Finally snap the cover back on and reload your filament.
YUP! I have the AMS and if I don't use it for a week, I have a break in the filament. And have to take apart the AMS. Annoying as all hell. It is only 1 roll that breaks though. Same one every time. It's my black eSun PLA + The other rolls are eSun too but never break.
You can actually unplug the ams from the x1c while a print is paused. Had filament break and cleared it out and just plugged everything back together and hit resume
For the AMS itself, print the dessicant containers that go in the front of the unit, and print the replacement dessicant trays that go in the back. MUCH better drying capability than stock.
Duh! This has bitten me a couple of times on my X1C/AMS several times now. Dunno why it hadn’t occurred to me to simply pull it all back between print runs. (OTOH, I always think I’m going to get around to the next project waaay sooner than I do. Unloading the filament would be admitting defeat 😂)
I had this also at the A1 with AMS light mainly on a very old spool ... but because the printer creates an error ,,, and stops .. i was able to disconnect both sided of the bowden tube and get the filament parts out of it (it was not only one time broken). it just trries to re feed or get it out until you press the button on the screen I needed also a bit other filament to push it out Btw, the Extruder side disconnects better after you had this issue several times :)
Not really sure if this is a "Problem Nobody Talks About" but your solution is a good one, but a bit of a pain. For PLA, this is a good solution. Not really needed for other filament types too much. Bambu Labs needs to find a better AMS solution to this. Yes its going to happen, but taking the AMS all apart to fix this shouldn't be required. Those two AMS screws holding the black part in WERE NOT designed to be removed often.
Orrrrrr at least for the standard AMS just add the desiccant inserts. I live in Alaska which is actually one of the most humid states next to Florida and I strictly use PETG. If I leave it out for a week then I need to dry it again. Leave it in one of my AMS with desiccant and even 3 weeks later is is flawless. The AMS light is a problem though for sure with high humidity. I even have PLA print worse after 2 weeks out. So I pull it off my A1 when not using. It is why I have 4 different printed with the standard AMS since it offers better filament protection. I have had to disassemble the standard AMS a lot even mid print. I think I have a PhD in the AMS by now 😅
the AMS can be disconnected without cancelling the print. I did it just last week. Filament couldn't retract. I disconnected it. Disassembled it and removed the rogue filament, then plugged it all back in and clicked "resume". No problems.
FYI - I have unplugged the AMS units and cleared the issue then re-pluged. loaded each spool - wait for feed and 2nd feed to the multplexer on the printer. repeat for the next three and then hit continue print and all is well.
How about just every time You come back to Your printer after a while in idle do a procedure of like ~10cm filament jizz through the hotend instead of whole unloading thing?
This happened to me after 2-3 weeks of not using my printers. Since I travel for work and gone Monday through Friday I do what you do with my filament and wrap it up till I need to use my machine. Nice to know that I'm not the only one to have this happen to. Great Tip.
Regardless!, good tips. Do you know why just the ends, maybe a few wraps of filament becomes brittle? I find this especially with PLA
Great information, this already happen to me and my AMS. I was lucky though upon removing my spool the filament did break off but it left just enough filament for me to grab and pull out successfully without further ado.
Short and sweet, love it!
Good tip, thanks! I'm on day 4 with the AMS and I didn't stop printing since :)
For the AMS unit for it's enclosure there are plenty of mods/STLs that allow you to add extra desiccant throughout the unit which I use and have never really had a problem. I think the only problem most people will have with this recommendation is making it a habit to check before using lol. Great video and thanks for the content!
How long is filament good? I am having nothing but issues printing with the AMS not retracting the filament and erroring and not able to push the filament into the hot end. This is happened with my last 2 prints. A 1 day 10 hr. print took 3 days because I had to constantly fix the issues I mentioned above. I'm at my wits end. I did replace PTFE tubing inside the AMS after hoping this will help but I don't have my hopes up by any means.
Also, I know EVERYONE says wet PLA gets brittle, but do we know that for sure?When everything else in the world absorbs water, it gets non brittle. Dampen pretzels and they get non-brittle. Put macaroni in boiling water, non-brittle. So I'm not REALLY sure about PLA. Maybe CNC Kitchen has tested this. BUT what does make PLA brittle is exposure to IR light. Maybe the clear AMS lid was a bad idea. But does plastic block IR? I'm not sure.
It came to my mind too. Maybe that is why only the light exposed part gets brittle and not the entire spool.
We know that PLA gets brittle when hydrated since when we dry it it isn’t as brittle as hydrated
It's a chemical reaction - PLA is hygroscopic - it absorbs water from the air (like silica gel) but it's not the absorption that causes the damage. Once absorbed the water breaks down the polymer chains in the plastic in a chemical reaction and that causes the brittleness. Think of it like plastic rust.
@@mondotv4216 Yea I meant that OP’s question if we knew for sure was a question answered
The simplicity of this issue is insane as to how much of an aggravation it is when it happens. Love this and all your videos!
I do not own a AMS lite, but for the regular AMS you can clean the tubes without stopping the print.
You just have to be quite careful when disassembling it, remove both screws in the AMS, unplug the PTFE tube that goes out and VERY gentily pull out the piece that holds the 4 spools making sure that you don't unplug the two connectors to the PCB. Then disconnect the PTFE tube and make sure you clean it up, then resume the print.
Of course this is annoying, but at least you don't have to cancel the print...
Thanks for the video. I have an AMS light and I did wonder how it's possible to take the spools off. I see now that I really should be keeping them vacuum sealed along with the desiccant to keep them dry
This is brilliant advice ive just bought a a1 mini and just starting my 3d journey ,thank you very much
Now a new subscriber
To release the PTFE on the extruder on AMS lite, there are some printable tools to assist and make it quite easy. A problem I had was broken filament in the extruder, that blocked it and so the PTFE coupler "beoke" apart. I managed to get every small part and assembled it again, but as they are cheap instantly ordered a new one, to have replacement if this happens again.
Some brands are definitely more likely to break than others, but I find that some colours of eSun PLA+ are very susceptible to breaking in the AMS Lite if they’re not used for a few days.
In the original AMS I try to make sure that there is plenty of fresh colour changing silica gel on the rear chambers and in boxes between each feeder and that seems to keep the filament in good shape for weeks if not months, (providing the gel is changed regularly as soon as it shows any colour change).
I have had this happen several times, and the printer wasn't idle for more than maybe 12 hours. I have used the spare part for connecting the PTFE tubes (the round piece with the 5 parts that connect to the tube, not sure what that is called) to release the tube on the 4 in one feeder end on the A1. I have needed to remove the (cooled) hot end and pull stuck filament manually. Thankfully, very easy with a Bambu Lab printer.
Hey Bryan, I did run in to this a few months ago after a a couple weeks of no printing. I did figure it out after it happened twice so I did exactly as your suggesting, cool and informative for all those that haven’t figured it out yet.
Just watched this video yesterday. Turned on my X1C tonight and heard a snap. In the process of taking the AMS apart now. Should have tried to pull them out first. Thanks for the great info.
Irregardless of the amount of jokes in the video, the title doesn't lie :)
I literally just had to disassemble my AMS last night. Will definitely be following this advice from now on
Thanks for the tip! I have only had my A1 Mini for just over 2 weeks, and I don't have the AMS, so I am hoping that I don't have this problem. I am ofter swapping filament, and always put the roll I have removed into a vacuum bag, with dessicant beads, then use a small vacuum pump to remove as much air as possible, to try to avoid moisture getting to the filament. I will now also remember to try breaking the end as a final check too! 👍
hey Bryan great videos I have been learning a-lot from them as I a very new to 3d printing. I do have a question for you that I am having trouble finding an answer to, and that is why does bambu studio tell me that my AMS light must have all of the the same type of filament loaded? As an example it won’t let me print if I have 3 spools of PLA and one Spool of PETG loaded. Am I doing something wrong?
Great Tip. I will need to check mine. Printer has been idle for a few weeks.
If u haven’t used filament for 6 months and I recently purchased an AMS/Bambu P1S(arriving Wednesday btw very excited!) I live in Ohio, extreme weather changes, I have a filament dryer (TBH not sure it works have had issues after drying but that is an issue for another day) check the ends of the filaments before loading? Or dry 1st? It’s mainly silk but I did notice the breakage off a roll when I was switching and reorganizing to get ready for my Bambu.. I mainly own silk .. until recently and they are still boxed and sealed plus I also invested in a filament storage kit which suctions air and seals the filament once opened (good investment or bad🤷♀️.
Any other suggestions or recommendations please btw ur tshirt …AWESOME!
We got the ams light for my son for Christmas ,
We need help please !
We made about 10 prints everything went good!
Then we are having bed adhesion issues and the had a the filament get stuck in the hot end .
We have scrubbed the print bed
Still having adhesion issues , any recommendations??
Thanks !!!
Good tip!! I have my AMSs loaded with several containers of reusable desiccant beads. That helps a lot too. Not so easy with the lites.
I got caught with this very problem with my AMS light. It happened 5 hours into a 6 hour print and I lost the entire print as I had to stop the print and then try to remove the broken filament from the extruder what a pain!!! I now check my filament regularly but your idea is a great tip thank you.
Question. Can you print something using white PLA and black PETG or they have to be the same type? Thanks.
Myyyyy Gooodnesss! Yea, I have that filament "breakage" issue from time to time with my AMS Lite. Being a seasonal maker, I quickly came up with a resolution when it occurred, so no worries. Thanks for this awesome tip.
JUST GOT THE COMBO TODAY
1 OF THE INSERTION HOLE OF THE AMS LITE IS NOT ALLOWING THE FILAMENT TO GO THROUGH?
I THINK THE MECHANISM INSIDE THE HOLE IS NOT WORKING? REFUND? REPLACEMENT?
CALL AMAZON OR THE COMPANY?
Yep, it happen to me (AMS), but it happen at above the extruder! And it was a (almost) precision surgery just to remove the broken filament. Great video (I wish I saw this before).
Been there and done that. Had to completely take apart the printhead to remove it from the sensor arm. Such a small bit was jammed on sensor. That was the last time I used Bambu PLA-CF brand new from the package without drying for 12 hrs min. Has worked great since.
I've had this happen 3x on my AMS and it was definitely due to not using the printer (for weeks and sometimes months). I started unloading the filament (before I saw this video) after the 3x time it happened and have not run into this issue, since. In my case, the filament would snap inside the AMS tubes. I'd have to unload the AMS, take the AMS apart and then clear the jam...a real PITA!
I have this exact issue, but I started a new spool after clearing the extruder and reseating the tubes and it still does this… so annoying. No issues on my carbon.
I'm addition, my AMS Lite jammed with a very short piece in the 4-in-1, which need to be removed instead of the bowden tube. Thanks for the video.
It’s the filament getting wet and brittle because it’s sitting in open air. For any printer you should unload and package up the filament with desiccant after printing at the very least. Ideally vacuum pack it with desiccant and dry your filament every so often.
I saw a print for a tool that will help you remove the tube from the AMS Lite.
That's brilliant to mention. I had that problem twice in my X1ns AMS and second one was complete dusaster as small piece of filament snapped in that thing with magnets. Had to disassemble it to get that piece out and spent couple of hours to get magnets back in their slots as I hadn't any good magnet to place on other side. I was close to throw it out of the window and order a new one. And yes I used a roll in AMS slot I didn't use for few weeks and yes my AMS is full of desiccant modules. So I'm checking all a while unused filaments for brittleness before use in AMS
Hello from a few hours west of you! Love the T-Shirt! That one makes me twinge anytime someone says it. This is good timing as we're seriously looking at the Bambu A1 with the AMS light.
ALSO
HOW MUCH EXTENSION OF THE FILAMENT DO YOU NEED TO STICK OUT OF THE TUBES ... TO INSERT INTO THE PRINTER?
1" - 4" ?
Great tip, and yes I do as suggested, unload the filament from my AMS on a regular ish basis
I tend to leave the full AMS loaded as I have the 2 internal silica boxes full and 3 more "up front" silica boxes in it. For my A1 and the AMS Lite, I never leave spools on it when it's idle. I put them into dry boxes (cereal containers with silica packs from new spools in them) when done with them.
brilliant tip. Happened to me when i stopped printing for a a few weeks...
Simple good advice, thanks!
I wonder why that tail-end goes brittle while the rest of the spool remains OK. Even after just a week I come back to my printer to find the PLA broken-off above the print head for no particular reason.
I've had it happen a couple of times on my A1/Ams Lite. I didn't have to turn off anything or cancel the print. You just disconnect the PTFE tube from the top of the extruder, pull the snapped off bit, reconnect the tube, and clear the error. The print resumes.
Actually I’ve had this issue with my ams. But I didn’t need to turn off my printer or cancel the print. I just pause the print and disconnect the tubes and cleaned them out and then reconnected the tubes and resumed the print.
One benefit of living in a desert, I don't have dry PLA or keep it enclosed. 3 reasons not to live in a desert: June, July, August
Got my P1S on Friday, had to take the AMS apart today to clear the filament. Thanks Bryan for the tip now it shouldn't happen again.
It happens to me on both the AMS and AMS Lite. It is more frequent on the lite. Thanks for the tip.
Is this brittleness caused by humidity?
You are so right about those AMS lite connectors not wanting to let go of the tubes at the print head. I had broken a ribbon cable on my A1 trying to get those out to remove a broken piece of filament from the hot end. Luckily the A1 recall happened right after so I just returned it.
They are called collet clips and to remove them you push the clip down then pull tube at same time.
Good work as always! Great shirt, but no puns? I dropped my toothpaste and now I'm crestfallen. I've been on the fence for a while about adding a Bambu printer to my collection, since I only have one printer that can do multiple colors; my Sovol SV02. But too many parts on the Bambu printers are proprietary, and the engineer in me (my day job) just cringes with design flaws that the situation that you describe can painfully point out.
I took each mention of "Tip" as a pun, because it affects the tip of the filament 😆
But the great thing about Bambu is that you can easily get all the parts you need and they’re VERY inexpensive!
I've had this happen with my AMS lite with my A1, my gold filament is super brittle it seems. I've not once had to cancel the print... I just disconnect get it set back up and the awesome litl printer just continues on with the print... now the times its happened to me I was in the room so everything was still hot and was able to fix in a reasonable amount of time but the print just continued on its way. I so far try not to cancel a print unless its a catastrophic failure, I just cross my fingers and hope whatever went wrong wont ruin the rest of the print... so far its been about 50-50
I don't "hot unplug" the AMS or AMS Lite because I seem to remember there being a warning against it somewhere. I could be wrong though. I might have gotten that impression from the note on the A1's front MicroSD card slot that says "cold swappable." Good to know unplugging and re-plugging the AMS units doesn't cause a problem!
@@BV3D I dont unplug the port just the filament & or tubes. I've had to do it only like 5 times and haven't had any issues. Could just have been lucky. I'm gonna go read up on that cuz I'll admit I don't remember noticing any label.. but I can see it for SD cards since thats kinda a normal thing or at least was, haven't used any sd cards in years and I've only left the one in the printer where it was.
You're the man bro!
Building an MMU3 for my Mk4 - I'll keep this in mind, as I imagine it applies to any filament changing system.
I bought my 3d printer before any desktop AMS machines were available on the market, so I ended up installing a 3d Chameleon. It works quite well once it's tuned in. I've only had the filament break inside one of the tubes once in about a month of use. I think it had been idle for a day or two when that happened. At first I thought I had a clogged nozzle on my hands but quickly figured it out when I pulled the old filament out and tried to "rethread" it.
I've been waiting for the 3D Chameleon to mature, but it's an ideal dry box compatible AMS system, and I like its simplicity. I intend to use it with my new 3D printer when it arrives
This advice also applies generally to any machine with an extended reverse bowden, just without extra work of managing the AMS connections.
Should have told me this 2 days ago before my printer set for 3 months waiting on the new heat bed just went through all that guess better late than never though
Who cares about the AMS, where can we get the "irregardless" shirt?
I second this
I would also very much like this.
ir/less-pick one (could be a cool graphic too.)
I've had this occur in my AMS working with an older spool of PLA. Getting at the internal tubes is an adventure.
Same here, I now no longer replace the screws in the bottom plate of the AMS, so I can remove it easily. The weight of the spools keeps it in place
I don't have either of these printers but I gave you a thumbs up just for the t-shirt!
Love the shirt!
Thanks!
I use 4 filament dryer boxes with my AMS light. Works with no problem.
Great tips, however it's not totally impossible to recover from a snapped fillament mid print.
I had a filament break on retraction 90% into a mutli-colour print on a P1S. It snapped in the Tool Head, just far enough back from the extruder to trigger the Run-out sensor.
I was able remove the PTFE from the tool-head, heat a paper-clip and insert into the top of the extruder, and pull out the small bit of filament triggering the sensor. After that, I re-inserted the PTFE, hit resume on the printer, and it loaded the next colour. Print finished successfully after that.
Love the T-shirt! Irregardless is one of my pet peeves. Where can I get the shirt? And do they have one for my other pet peeve: Agreeance. As in “We’re all in agreeance on that”.
I HAVE BAMBU AMS. Hi Bryan. Hmm but why or snaps at the end... I had this issue twice...
This is real life for me. Such a good call
Great tip about snapping the tips off before loading 👌🏼
I came to the same conclusion as you, I have a mk4s with mmu3, and precisely that thing about brittle filament was happening to me, and I had problems because there were pieces of filament left in the system, and the The only solution I came up with is to unload the filament if it is not going to be used, I am about to buy a bamboo lab A1 and it comes with the AMS Lite combo, I certainly don't need the AMS Lite Since I have the mk4s with mmu3, which by the way I stopped using for a long time due to filament waste.
Yeah, that is one flaw in the Bambu A1 and Mini is that the way the tubes are held into the extruder. There are metal angled spikes that when you push the tube in you can’t pull it back out but the spikes can become bent and can be pulled out. BL needs to work on that.
I had one filament snap on the full AMS on a P1S early on due to using an old roll without drying it, and it wasn't stored in a dry box. The Lite, in my opinion, is MUCH easier to deal with and you don't have to pull it all apart (at least I haven't had to) to get a break out. The AMS on the other hand, I had to disconnect and remove the tray, then disconnect the PTFE tubes from the 4-to, and while using a good piece of filament push the broken one out while hold the gear disengage button. Yes, the tubes in the A1 series can be really difficult to get out of the 4-to-1, but printing the Bowden tube release tool makes it much easier (for both printers).
What IS more common on machines is heat creep locking the filament in the toolhead extruder gear chamber. Several of those have happened on my P1S and even more on my brother's X1C. Partial toolhead disassembly needed for those.
Thank you for the heads up.
Hello. I’m Lena. I bought the A1 mini. I could use some help please. I have a Mac book and I can’t seemed to connect the two together I know it’s my fault. Im missing something. Also I don’t understand how to use Bambu studio at all. I’ve made lots of prints using my phone But just don’t understand the Mac book. Please help me could you do a video on the Mac book.
"In the extremely unlikely event you aren't going to be using your printer for a few days" classic line! However I hadn't used my printer in a few weeks and I was getting unload errors at the end of printing a plate. I do not think the filament broke in my case because I just cleared the error, pulled on the filament in the AMS and resumed and it fixed itself. But I will certainly be pulling the filament out if I think I wont be printing in a while.
I had one brand of filament that as quite literally Snap City. The printer I was using doesn't have a reverse bowden tube so when the filament snaps the printer just keeps on printing as the run out sensor is above where the filament would break. Suffice it to say, he company replaced the spool, but the replacement was no better. Drying made ZERO difference. We've bought many different brands of filament and never had filament break like that.
Great tips! Thank you!
Big help, didn’t know. Thanks.
I had my filament break in the lite several times. I never had to stop the print for that reason. For the standard ams it’s not much of an issue since they’re always broken anyways. They just look nice.The X/P series is very much locked to single material prints. The lite is much more reliable.
haha love the shirt!
Thanks! 😊
Thank you for this great tip!
Love your shirt 😂
I have a similar problem, I got an error last night while printing and I can't unload at all. I've disassembled the extruder and there's nothing in there. There's nothing in the AMS, but it still things location 3 has filament connected somehow. :/ *edit* fixed - I manually set the print head to 250C, fed in a filament spool and manually pushed it until it got to the extruder. Then I pressed the down arrow on the extruder menu option and the old colour suddenly pooped out. I guess there *was* some solidified filament somewhere in the head. I'm gonna get a few spare tips in for emergencies, once the 0.2mm is back in stock.
Naaah.....mine breaks inside the extruder and that is very annoying + a big PITA to get it out.
I had this happen to me yesterday on my A1 mini. Finding the documentation was a little annoying on how to unclog. Thankfully i've been doing this for about 5 years now that i know how to unclog the printhead on various 3d printers.
Its actually not that hard to do on a A1 or A1 mini. Put some Heat resistant gloves on (or in my case grab a needle nose). Take the cover off exposing the hotend, then carefully take off the silicon sock. After that open the clip that locks the nozzle into place and take the nozzle out. If there's any filament stuck in the nozzle just pull it out with the needle nose from the top side.
Next step is to press down on the 4 in 1 hub and have one of the ptfe tubes uncouple so you have access to one of the holes. From there get a piece of filament and push it threw the open port until whatever was jammed in the extruder blasts out the bottom opening where the nozzle was. In my case it was about a 2 inch piece of pla from a really old pla spool that i had less than 100g's of filament on that i was trying to push threw the printer so i could get rid of the spool.
Printer is now unclogged, reassemble the head and put the ptfe tube back in place. Finally snap the cover back on and reload your filament.
YUP! I have the AMS and if I don't use it for a week, I have a break in the filament. And have to take apart the AMS. Annoying as all hell. It is only 1 roll that breaks though. Same one every time. It's my black eSun PLA +
The other rolls are eSun too but never break.
You can actually unplug the ams from the x1c while a print is paused. Had filament break and cleared it out and just plugged everything back together and hit resume
great shirt!
Thank you!
This guy looks like Adam Savage with a wig on! Love the video
For the AMS itself, print the dessicant containers that go in the front of the unit, and print the replacement dessicant trays that go in the back. MUCH better drying capability than stock.
Duh! This has bitten me a couple of times on my X1C/AMS several times now. Dunno why it hadn’t occurred to me to simply pull it all back between print runs.
(OTOH, I always think I’m going to get around to the next project waaay sooner than I do. Unloading the filament would be admitting defeat 😂)
I had this also at the A1 with AMS light mainly on a very old spool ... but because the printer creates an error ,,, and stops .. i was able to disconnect both sided of the bowden tube and get the filament parts out of it (it was not only one time broken). it just trries to re feed or get it out until you press the button on the screen
I needed also a bit other filament to push it out
Btw, the Extruder side disconnects better after you had this issue several times :)
I can’t get my AMS lite to work, it will feed it to the tool head. When it purges , it won’t let the tool head pull the filament through the ams
Thank you!
great tip, i've had to clear tubes before, not fun.
Not really sure if this is a "Problem Nobody Talks About" but your solution is a good one, but a bit of a pain. For PLA, this is a good solution. Not really needed for other filament types too much. Bambu Labs needs to find a better AMS solution to this. Yes its going to happen, but taking the AMS all apart to fix this shouldn't be required. Those two AMS screws holding the black part in WERE NOT designed to be removed often.
Orrrrrr at least for the standard AMS just add the desiccant inserts. I live in Alaska which is actually one of the most humid states next to Florida and I strictly use PETG. If I leave it out for a week then I need to dry it again. Leave it in one of my AMS with desiccant and even 3 weeks later is is flawless. The AMS light is a problem though for sure with high humidity. I even have PLA print worse after 2 weeks out. So I pull it off my A1 when not using. It is why I have 4 different printed with the standard AMS since it offers better filament protection. I have had to disassemble the standard AMS a lot even mid print. I think I have a PhD in the AMS by now 😅
Good tip and shirt. 5/5
the AMS can be disconnected without cancelling the print. I did it just last week. Filament couldn't retract. I disconnected it. Disassembled it and removed the rogue filament, then plugged it all back in and clicked "resume". No problems.
FYI - I have unplugged the AMS units and cleared the issue then re-pluged. loaded each spool - wait for feed and 2nd feed to the multplexer on the printer. repeat for the next three and then hit continue print and all is well.
I've seen more filament snap in or at the ptfe than in free air. Beats me why.
How about just every time You come back to Your printer after a while in idle do a procedure of like ~10cm filament jizz through the hotend instead of whole unloading thing?