Bambu Lab A1 3D Printer

[Chris Savage]

I recently picked up this printer and now I am getting rid of my Creality Ender printers! That's how much I love this thing! Not only did it work right out of the box with minimal setup, but it is FAST and supports 4 colors using the AMS system and I can even run prints remotely using an app on my phone!


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Here is my first print, "Benchy". Not very complex, but in color and good quality for the first print. I'll post a more in-depth review on Savage///Circuits in the future (and after I use it more), but I am very impressed after the experiences I had with the Ender 5 and Ender 3 S1.

[Jeff_T]

Nice printer Chris, I have looked at it in the past and it gets good reviews. Love the two tone benchy.

[vampyricblood77]

Looks much more simple the the older systems that look more complex, these new printers have less components and parts to worry about.

[Chris Savage]

Nice printer Chris, I have looked at it in the past and it gets good reviews. Love the two tone benchy.

I need a better photo...Benchy is actually three-tone.    The bottom is black, but at the angle of the photo, you can actually see the bottom. I will post a better photo after I get home.

[Chris Savage]

Looks much more simple the the older systems that look more complex, these new printers have less components and parts to worry about.

It is simpler in many ways and more complex in others. Of course, the ways in which it is similar are the pros. That is to say that things like the auto-leveling, vibration reduction, calibration, etc are all automated. So you spend less effort "dialing in" your printer. It's also cool how it handles changing colors all by itself. In fact, if you're using less than 4 colors, you can put two of the same color on the spools for prints that may use more than one spool (no more running out).

The ways in which it is more complex are really things I hope not to have to worry about, such as the guts of the extruder and the guts of the AMS. There are a lot of little plastic gears that I hope last a long time! It would be tedious to have to deal with those tiny / complex parts.

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And here it is...three-tone Benchy.

[Chris Savage]

Yesterday at work I was reminded that I should print off some utility prints that help with the printer. One popular item is a "Poop Bin" or, "Poop Management System". I decided to print this, "A1 Purge Waste Bin" and have the ability to do this remotely. So I selected this model, selected the white filament and clicked print. About a half hour later I received an "error" notification. Somehow the filament wasn't feeding. It literally only got the first few layers done.


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Nothing I could do remotely to fix it, so when I got home, this is what I found...somehow this spool is wound incorrectly. It was quite a hassle to get things going again. The filament was actually kinked and jammed the AMS.


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After fixing the issue (or so I thought), I started the print again. This kept happening despite my sincerest attempts and so I had to sit next to the printer for 2-1/2 hours to keep advancing the spool to avoid it jamming up again.


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After all was said and done, this is the waste bin itself.


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The second print is a deflector that directs the waste into the bin, instead of firing it off to the left as it currently does. Note that this part is printed in gray, so it used a different spool and did not jam as the white one did. I just thought I would share this little mishap to give you an idea of the issues that can pop up on you. This one isn't even related to the printer itself.

[Chris Savage]

So, I printed this overnight. 12+ hour print. An organizer and I am making two more, one in black and one in white.


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This was where it was at when I went to bed at 1:30AM.


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This is the bottom. This unit will stack on certain other prints from the same author.

[Chris Savage]

I decided to print the black version next and started it around 11:30AM, at 11:48AM the power went out and this is where it was at. Meh, looks like another overnight print since I had to leave before the power came back on.

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[JKnightandKARR]

Lol Isn't 3d printing FUN when issues arise??

[Chris Savage]

Lol Isn't 3d printing FUN when issues arise??

Yes, but in the interim, I'm getting some nice stuff out of this unit. I need to get back to my CAD software so I can start printing the parts I need. Up to now I've just enjoyed printing remotely and having it just work. 

[Chris Savage]

2 of 3 organizers done, except drawers. The gray drawer frame is printing now, then I can print the drawers.

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[granz]

They look really nice, Chris.

Were you able to salvage the one which had the power failure, or did you have to trash it?

[JKnightandKARR]

They look really nice, Chris.

Were you able to salvage the one which had the power failure, or did you have to trash it?

Advantage Elegoo, it's really nice that should that happen, i can restart it as long as i don't move any axis.

[Chris Savage]

Advantage Elegoo, it's really nice that should that happen, i can restart it as long as i don't move any axis.

I too can recover from a power loss. However, I had no idea how long the power was going to be out for (it was over 8 hours), I had to leave, and it had only done a few layers, so I shut it off, along with all my power strips in case of a surge when the power came back on.

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All done! (except for the drawers)

[granz]

I too can recover from a power loss. However, I had no idea how long the power was going to be out for (it was over 8 hours), I had to leave, and it had only done a few layers, so I shut it off, along with all my power strips in case of a surge when the power came back on.

So, you just threw it away, and restarted from scratch?

Have you looked into a UPS? Or do print jobs take too long, and would burn through the battery of the UPS? I know that an eight hour outage is pretty long, would a print job burn out the battery for that? But it might help for shorter outages.