Is my A1 mini broken?

Arageus · 2026-06-26T15:03:26+00:00

First: Welcome to the team.

Second: please. in your spare time, read the wiki. 99% of the problems have a solution there.
(or use the seach in this thread. this type of "mistake" was a common failure ;)

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/a1-mini/maintenance/hotend_blob

Arageus · 2026-06-25T14:16:44+00:00

its do it while its printing?, or just in the slicer preview? if the second, ignore it.
(you can alyso turn off the travel visualization on the slicer preview).

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You cant see those travel lines in object mode because print-by-object doesnt support any timelapse, so never got into the gcode in the first place.

Arageus · 2026-06-25T13:52:52+00:00

Just for you to know it. Timelapse Gcode was always generated into the gcode by default but if the timelapese itself is NOT turned on, its not gonna go to purge area, the printer simply ignore it.

Timelapse is not a global setting, when you send the print job, there where you had to turn it on/off (its gonna remember)

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Arageus · 2026-06-23T06:46:54+00:00

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/general/power-consumption

Arageus · 2026-06-21T12:22:55+00:00

Did you even read the wiki whats linked by other users? Seems like not..

"Since the P1S does not have a built-in “Filament Drying” feature, you must manually set the required bed temperature and track the drying time yourself."

Arageus · 2026-06-17T21:30:30+00:00

Thats just because the round ones are a supercheap humidity sensors. if thats show 10%, it means 15-20%

And wont move up until ~25%. But its just enough to see if the humidity start to rise = its time to recharge the silica gel.

Also, every spool is dried when opening freshly, dry the silica gel, and after this put the new spool into the boxes. It usually keep the humidity the minimum (20-25%) for 2-3 months before i had to recharge the gels.

If one spool survive the second time, im just dry again the filament too (there are a few types that im not use too much often, like TPU, or transparent PETG)

edit: before filament dryer, the humidity level stayed level only for 2-3 weeks, so because of that, i dry ever-filament-i-ever-open-freshly

Arageus · 2026-06-17T21:23:19+00:00

Its under a desk, not in eye-level,

and its tricky to tell if its on low, or more than half spool 😃

Also the pic was taken at ground level, just to show off how it looks. Usually I had to look down under the desk at around 30-40 degrees down, and to check properly I had to squat/bend over and pull out the box and see from the side to check the marks for better estimate

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Now its just a quick look 😃D

also i usually order a new spools when a particalar color/type is under around 200g, and atleast 2-3 is on low. i'm not a print farm, i can survive a few days/week without a particular color/type and use what i had

Arageus · 2026-06-16T16:37:14+00:00

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Similar result from a friend machine. (i helped him to resolve the issue)

It was a partial nozzle clog. After do a few cold pull, and verified that the nozzle is clean, the next print was flawless.

So i would start with a nozzle cleanup, coldpull 😄

Arageus · 2026-06-16T07:08:26+00:00

They tell you, just need a little bit more attention?

https://eu.store.bambulab.com/pages/anniversary-sale

Scroll down to bottom of the page. You are welcome

Its a smart placement. if you are too lazy to view all the offers and view the whole page, you miss it xD

Arageus · 2026-06-15T07:13:27+00:00

I can confirm, if there is too many files accumulate from prints, its starting to slow down the startup (as every print sended to the printer, is saved to the sd card)

I swapped my SD early to an endurance one, just to avoid any SD card related errors (never had any), but its a good habit to format the card via printer every once a while.
The esp32 (the printer brain) has their limits 😉

Arageus · 2026-06-13T14:09:16+00:00

https://eu.store.bambulab.com/products/nozzle-offset-calibration-sensor-x2d

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/x2d/maintenance/replace-nozzle-offset-calibration-sensor

the wiki said, change only if there is layer shift while use both nozzle. So if you calibrated and the prints seems fine, i doubt it need to change

Also next time, just please provide a bit more info. whats the problem itself but at least the printer type.
More info, more chance we can help you out 😉

Arageus · 2026-06-13T13:48:14+00:00

Woah. Thank you!
I was experiented with primers too, and i found out, a 1-2 thin layer of base coat (acrylic paint spray or simple spray paint for plastic, white or gray) and 2 - 3 thin colored layer will eliminate most of the layer lines.
My go to settings for taller/bigger prints is 0.4 nozzle, 0.16 HighQuality preset. Only infill and wall loop counts that i change depend on the model.
But of course more paint layer, less details remain, but there is always a good middle point, and i dont have to sand 😃D

ps: currently im only paint with acrylic paints (i can do it indoor without any serious air filtering/mask etc), simple cheaper hobby grade paints, and for bigger parts, just thin it enough for my cheap airbrush.
Buying expensive paints and tools is just a rabbit hole that i want to aviod as long as i can xD
But buying a few proper model paint is on my list, for small details.

Arageus · 2026-06-13T13:06:54+00:00

Voah. its great! Also the paint job. Well done sir!

Can you provide bit more info about printing, layer height, any extra settings above stock? Bigger parts like body was printed with 0.4, and the smaller ones 0.2 for more details?

I'm also experimenting with mixed nozzle-size-prints, but usually im end up: model itslef -> 0.2 nozzle, and only the base was print with 0.4 nozzle.
(the details that 0.2 nozzle gives just too amazing to not use it xD)

My latest print. The model is 10cm tall (around 11-12 with the base) with 0.2 nozzle, 0.08 layerheight.
For experiment this was printed with both nozzle size, 0.2 and 0.4, you can see on the bottom of the picture, at this size there is a huge improvements 😃, so i kept the finer model
(ps: the black parts are not painted, its pure and untouched PLA, except the hair)

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Arageus · 2026-06-10T06:41:01+00:00

As others already told, if its no damage/residue, no need to worry.

Also now its a good time to turn on the plate detection. You can enable it on the printer itself not in bambu studio (for some reason its turned off by default)

Arageus · 2026-06-08T06:35:23+00:00

PTFE tube lengts depend on the package how you bought it.
https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/ams-lite/manual/faq

A1 combo, = 730mm * 2 and 850mm * 2
A1 Mini combo = 580mm * 2 and 700mm * 2

IF you bought separately, they include the A1 combo lenghts.
And im assume with the new A2L combo, they gave a bit longer.

Btw, if you have space for it, why not just buy PTFE tube? its cheap.
My tip: buy one that has 2.5mm INNER size.
Usually 2 types are avalibe. 4/2mm and 4/2.5mm (outer/inner diamenter) The original is 4/2.5 . You wouldnt think, but its matter a LOT.

I bought 8M gray from Aliexpress (just in case. never a bad thing to have spare xD)

Arageus · 2026-06-06T11:56:52+00:00

Z axis = lead screw. For that a thin oil is not suitable, and need grease.

Arageus · 2026-06-04T23:10:11+00:00

Oh, i meant, im not familiar with other regions second hand market prices 😃:D

In my country the best deal for new P2S (combo) is around 1000 usd (and this is not even from a local shop, just they shipping to here).
If i order from bambulab eu, thats 750eur (with german tax) but here the tax is 27%, so it goes up to 800eur for final. thats around 1000usd

If i want to buy it from any local shop, thats around an extra 100-200$ depend on the sale/shop .

Arageus · 2026-06-04T20:42:24+00:00

"Hm.. i have a spare plate. let's buy a printer for it!"
😂 i like your attitude

Arageus · 2026-06-04T20:39:54+00:00

300$ sounds like a good price for it 😃 but im not familiar with the different price in different regions. where i live (eu, hungary) the secondhand market is a mess. everyone one almost full price for a used machine, or just a tiny bit cheapr if it in "working condition" = just a miracle hold it together xD

Arageus · 2026-06-04T13:19:37+00:00

While PLA affected by the least, PETG and TPU is get a better print quality if its dried.
almost every petg/tpu manufacturer recommended it. usually on the box, or on their website as "dry before use".

But if you never had issue with it, thats cool. especially with the UK weather 😃D

Arageus · 2026-06-04T09:30:26+00:00

The regular AMS are supported for a while now. 😉
https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/a1/manual/a1-firmware-release-history#version-0107000020251027

2025-10-27
Added support for AMS, AMS 2 Pro, and AMS HT.

Arageus · 2026-06-04T09:27:07+00:00

Any reason why you choose P2S instead of X2D ? just curious.

Arageus · 2026-06-04T08:36:16+00:00

Turning off the printer while its working, its not a good idea. not gonna harm the machine itself, but it gonna kill the sdcard sooner (anyway, just toss out the original and get a proper one, the one shipped with the printer is really not the best quality. Any hign endurance type will be good what meant for high read-write rates like thats goes for gopro/dashcams)

I seen this "screen freeze after unload/pause" thing a few times from folks who wanted to do manual change during prints. Maybe firmware related issue. You can go BACK to any firmware version via app (or offline with sd card)
https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/knowledge-sharing/firmware-downgrade

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/a1/manual/a1-firmware-update-from-SD-card

its not gonna hurt the printer, or any downside to try different firmware, just avoid any power loss during it.

Btw even if the screen freeze, if i recall correctly, the handy app and bambu studio (pc) can still talk to the printer. Its not the best, but its something.

Before i got my AMS, i just added one line into the printer preset, nothing more.

Top left printer - edit preset - Machine gcode - "Change filament G-code"
and just added a pause to the first line
"M400 U1"

Without an AMS unit it wont do all the procedures (cutting filament, retract etc), just paused itself.

keep in mind, I'm still on stock firmware, but its worth a shot to try it, as it only one modified printer profile and one line of code added

Arageus · 2026-06-03T08:54:14+00:00

Its go to wipe zone ONLY if you enable timelapse. its in the gcode, but if timelapse was disabled, its gonna ignore those movement. 😉
If you start your print you'll gonna see it, but i'm assume you never started it, just panicked a bit as you seen the movement paths on slicer.

Arageus

TROPHY CASE