Honestly as an X1 Carbon owner struggling with a bad AMS from purchase this is just disappointing to see Joel get 4 new and improved models like it was nothing.

I printed a hydra a few months ago in purple Esun PLA+, my AMS now works with the Prusament spools and the wide Filament PM spools. I’ve had no issues with the hydra so far, works perfectly fine.

I made a mod that allows you to replace the stock ams rollers with ones that are a little bit smaller and I’m able to fit my 203mm plastic spools with the lid closed just fine. I’ve installed it in two AMS slots and printed for many hours without any issues. It doesn’t help if your spools are too wide though. If anyone tries it I would recommend paying very close attention to clearance and keep an eye out for any changes to your machine and also be careful if you have the old ams revision with the bearing blocks that have been cracking for some people. I have the newer revision so can’t speak for the compatibility or chance of breaking something with the older AMS. It’s on thingiverse and printables. It’s simply called “Bambu lab ams roller mod”

Sir, that was a flawless Threadless plug.

So a fun behind the scenes from talking with Dave at ERRF 2022 - They want to switch from plastic spools to the cardboard spools, but the cardboard spools need to be a bit special... to keep with Jessie's Made in USA promise, they need to be made here. To keep them world friendly, they need to be recyclable. And to keep them strong enough to survive vacuum sealing and usage on rollers, they need to be thick cardboard with some quirks. Oh... and they need to be cost friendly so they don't cause the cost to go up. Sounds like a lot, but Printed Solid did find such a manufacturer to make those. But one problem... they take forever to make. So if Printed Solid is selling 50 spools a day (I don't know their sails numbers), then they need to make at least 50 spools to replace them. Which means they need 50 cardboard spools a day. But you buy these things as needed, not on a per-day basis. So 50 a day? 30 days in a month? 1500 spools... except 2 days later, Joel releases a video involving Jessie and they suddenly sell 500 spools that day. That 1500 cardboard spool order won't cut it. They need more... but the vendor takes 2-3 weeks IIRC. So they won't get them in time. Meanwhile, the old plastic spool maker can get spools for them in 1-2 days. So if you ever buy Printed Solid and get plastic spools... you either got some older filament that didn't sell OR you got brand new filament at a time they were short on cardboard spools but couldn't get new cardboard in time. Also, combined with Yellow Bird, the Pure Magenta, Pure Cyan, and Quarter White spools exist to do full color lithophanes. The Quarter White is important as it has 1/4 of the pigment to allow more light through and you can see the colors better. Using normal white will still work, but it will be darker/colors won't show through as well.

I just use electric tape on my none plastic spools with my AMS and it works great! Great video Joel.

For me, I found the mod to slide a spacer in between the cardboard rounds and snap an official bambulab spool on it was so much nicer for me using other filaments. Specifically Polymaker and overture

Would love to see you taking advantage of the hydra mod to actually make different types of filament such as rigid parts, flexible compliant hinges, some transparent portions, dissolvable supports, etc etc. However, I recognize this is a big ask.

I will say that cardboard spools can cause issues with the AMS since that can release little flakes/pieces of cardboard that jam the rollers. Another thing to keep in mind is that you might want to use spools that are atleast 200mm in diameter like the Bambu spools because I have found that if they are smaller than they will not make contact with both rollers and actually be rubbing against the bottom of the AMS which also caused jams. I am working on some adapters for small esun 250g spools and that are 200mm diameter. Their were some already made but they were 190mm and I would constantly get jams. I might release my version in the future so people can try them out but atleast for me they have been working great. If you are having issues with your AMS try measuring the dimensions of the spool and see if they match the Bambu ones. If not you can either re-spool them with the Bambu spools or print out adapters for them.

If there have been hardware revisions, is there a way to identify which version we have? Were your problematic units pre-fullfilment to backers?

I wanted to chime in here as a new P1P with AMS owner. I completely understand everyone being upset about the issues they have been having with new AMS units. However, I deliberately waited for the initial kinks to be ironed out before purchasing.I’ve been working in tech a long time, and if you choose to be an early adopter, you are going to have issues, that is inevitable. Now that’s not to justify bamboo not taking care of their customers. Now that all being said I ordered my unit about a month ago it took two weeks to receive it and it’s been absolutely perfect. I haven’t had a single issue with it.

Let’s not pretend like this is service any random customer will get. 😢

It's great Bambu came through for you, I do hope they would do the same for any random user like myself. Also, is it me or are you leaving the AMS lid slightly ajar, in order to accomadate the spool size? I guess in the long term this wouldn't be good since the filament would absorb moisture from the air. I keep my AMS closed, and have extra dessicant in there. I haven't tried the hydra mod myself, it seems like a cool project. But for now, I just avoid buying filament that doesn't easily fit into the AMS. Or at least don't buy ones that are too fat. Too small and there are adapters to make them bigger, but too big and you'd either have to do the hydra or a respool.

A trick with cardboard spools is to just wrap the edges in electrical tape, seals and grants good grip

The joys of a locked down system you can't easily fix yourself. :) I get the attraction to the X1, I was tempted for sure, but I really like fixing it myself or when the company goes bust, I can still use it. Also... kudos to PrintedSolid for using cardboard! Consider me a new customer.

It will work, but will void your warranty according to post on their official FB group 🙂

Careful, Bambu has taken a stance that Hydra Mod will now void your AMS warranty!

I have watched many Hydra videos and decided that it is a bandaid. I'm hoping this will drive spool standardization or the conversion to a master spool solution.

You have Cyan, Magenta, and Quarter White... you just need Yellow and you can print a color lithophane using the new Lithophane Maker tool!

Interesting video! I know many 3D printing enthusiasts love fooling around with and modifying their machines; I am not one of them. I just want to print the guitar parts I design. I found out quickly that spools/filaments vary, the filament path is long, and ;therefore, some spools/filament are more AMS friendly than others. After taking apart the AMS multiple times, I decided I had better things to do. Instead of respooling or modifying spools, I simply choose filament that is AMS worthy. The amazing AMS unit is one that I want to last, so I try to feed it well. I don’t expect it to handle everything. My PLA filament needs are modest and I can always print from the side for special cases. Needless to say, companies who use cardboard spools won’t get much business from me. Too bad, they make some great stuff. The Bambu Lab X1 Carbon has been a game changer for me, easily exceeding my expectations.

I’m surprised so many people are having issues with the AMS units. I have one early unit and one recent one and both are awesome

Except... it won't print TPU, and it shouldn't print any CF filament. Bambu has a MAJOR weakness that is that you can't print from the external spool holder using the COLOR painter inside Bambu Studio. It should be able to print color 0 (external spool) with pauses while the operator retracts the previous material and feeds in the filament from the external spool holder. Imagine how cool it would be to lay down a layer of TPU under a coaster or to print TPU as a gasket material for a weather tight box straight off the printer?

Why did you show us the cardboard when telling us the colors? Turning them sideways would have been appreciated.

This is an awesome concept. But I do expect one day soon, you'll only need 4 colours, black, cyan, magenta and yellow like an inkjet printer. And have a mixing extruder before it comes out of the nozzle to get the colour required for the print.

Just pop the cardboard off the ends one side at a time and use the included BBL refillable spools, you might need to cut a small notch in the pressed cardboard so the inner spool doesn't just spin. I use it in my Elegoo and Polymaker filaments, only had one issue and it was because I snipped the coil leg too short. Other than that I've not had a single issue

must be nice. I had to do multiple emails and videos just to get a first stage feeder replaced.

Bambu- "we messed up, the ams systems dont work right, people are complaining" Also bambu- "lets send creators 4 each, the people who actually bought them and are having problems can wait"

You just alleviated all my concerns about the AMS. I really want a Bambu Lab X1 Carbon since zi just recently discovered they even exist, but I was terrified of the AMS not working with any of my Jessie PETF cardboard spools

Thats some good advice, if your AMS is struggling, all you need to do is launch a successful 3D printing channel, muster 655 000 subs, then ask bamboo for an upgrade. Got it.

I must have a later revision AMS as I haven't had any real issues with mine. But, the only spools that I run into among the different brands I have tried are the Atomic filament spools. They fit, but just a mm or two taller than other spools so the lid won't close all the way. I am on the fence doing all the Hydra AMS work as I would be the one to screw it all up and have to buy a new one. 🤣

Dear Bambulab, make a re-spooling out of your AMS 😊

hmm just before this video it was a ad about sovol Sv07. so there is something new to test 3d printing nerd ;)

I've been using the 3d printed adapter rings from maker world on all of my cardboard spools, they work great.

I do not envy what you went through on this video. I don't have the patience any more for dealing with tons of issues. About 15 years of dealing with 3D printer problems have burnt me out.

Anyone else like the darker zipper on the new sweatshirt?

**Slams each individual cardboard spool on the counter to ensure they are all dented on the edge**

Great video Sir as always big fan.... I am also a big fan of California Filament, they only make PETG and they too have released a printed spool for their cardboard rolls....to be used in the AMS

Its pretty crazy you pulled both of MY favorite jessie colors out first 😂

watching that mod made me think to do a tower of 3 AMS all attached together on top of the printer.

3:45 Yes mate, on the maccas

16 Spools .... Them's ROOKIE numbers Get the ERCF full fit out .. current record on the ERCF is 34 spools Even the standard, non-modded, ERCF can handle 17

That load was impressive man! I bet I could only carry that small box on top of the big box, maybe.😅

Can you show how you hooked them up all together?

I am wondering whether Bambu Lab will update the AMS so that it leverages something like the Hydra mod. It should not be necessary to modify the AMS to also allow bigger spools. This should have been possible since the product was offered.

Hi. Thank you for sharing further valuable info. I was surprised to find out about the existence of an official hardware mod for the AMS. I have one question that I would be thankful if you could clarify. Regarding the AMS motor problems, did you happen to get any alert on the printer or other indication you could identify? Or it was only after Bambu Labs reviewed the logs that it was possible to identify the issue.

Great video, love the drama too.

Damn I'm actually here early for once lol usually I'm like 12 hours after it's posted I love it!

Your color wheel looks like the Wheel of Fish.

Pisses me off, I finally took the jump to buy a p1p that was dead with error codes on arrival, well, after trying to print benchy 4 times with error codes stopping the prints. It was a broken fan blade on the hotend. After getting it out its been working on a 3/4 of the blades. After sending the logs, waiting a week, they askwd for a picture of the claim number in the same photo as the error codes. Instead they got a picture of the fan blade and one of the failed benchys. They got approval after a week of back and forth to send a replacement hotend fan. A part that is 15.99, no replaced filament. Just the fan. After hours and hours of back and forth, sending logs and pictures, troubleshooting the initial problem. They couldnt be bothered to send replacement filament to offset all of that trouble I shouldnt have had in the first place if my printer arrived without being broken. Bambu is sure to fix the youtubers issue with vigor and class. He sends error logs and gets 4 new ams units. I send error logs and get told to send pictures of this number in the same picture as the errors, you liar. You're chinese made junk, Bambu. Wish I didn't buy you.

so I just got my 3 extra AMS units with my x1c combo.. put it all together loaded up with all Bambu rolls. Trying to figure out how to use different colors from each box. Also in my paint options when coloring model , it only show ams #1.. not even the correct colors loaded. But on the X1c screen the colors are correct.

I wonder if the AMS will work with a Prusa printer.

How to connect each AMS to printer ?

How do you maintain an acceptable environment for your open air display of filaments?

Love the video as always BUT find it totally disappointing to se you had motor issues and the fact they replaced the whole systems, I wonder if the average guy would get the same treatment, I doubt it, Reminds me of Prusa with the dodgy MMU2 electronics they know there's a problem buy you have to buy the upgrade to fix it. instead of supplying the fix when you have bought the product (with the fault built in) still thinking of the X1c with AMS instead of Prusa and dont really care about Unc Jess filaments cant buy them in UK but I would want to use my Prusa filaments in the AMS. Keep the Videos coming

Looks like you printed @MihaiDesigns stands for the top two. NICE!

Hail Hydra!

Please help me no matter what I try to print I get spagetti from the get go. I have not been able to print even one print and I have the bambu over a mounth. there is something I am doing wrong? thankk you

I was half expecting you to end this video with "Hail Hydra"..........

Having recently ordered some Jesse PLA, I saw the cardboard spools coming a mile away.

searching for more reviews on the AMS

I kinda don't feel like you answered the topic of this video, in the end you didn't use the Hydra due to bad motors, but I wanted to know how the Hydra works at solving the size issue.

Good video, it appears that Bambo service is coming thought! I've heard that before, this means a lot when looking at new printers! Thanks for sharing!

Hail Hydra

Great video! I just ordered my X1C and anxiously waiting for it to arrive. Have you tried PTFE tape for the spools? I've used it on wood on wood drawer slides and it significantly improved how easy they glide.

Ok, coming from someone who also knits,and has to wind hanks of yarn before using them...couldn't you rewind your filament onto an empty spool that DOES work on the AMS? (I also only have a resin printer atm, so apologies if that's a dumb question)

Haha. Joel said I'm awesome. Thanks for this video. Good info. Still debating if I want to do the mod

So if i complain about ther AMS chewing up my filament, they'll send me a new AMS?

I just got the AMS for my P1S but only have Elegoo filament which is cardboard spools ;-( trying various covers and spools and they all have issues. Very unhappy with the AMS as it is so finicky.

the spool now work with hydra but still tight... so it work only cause the spool is almost empty.... gotta keep trying !

This is why i WISH the AMS mechanism for the A-1 Mini was compatible with the X1C

i have 2 AMS units, and i struggle to print big stuff because of all the waste. I do like the easy filament switching between prints and printing sequential in different colors. But i leave the big color prints for others. I don't want to waste 2 kg on filament for a 300gr model.

Funny, even after voiding the warranty, he got new ones.

I kind of want to see you build and compare this to the Engraged Rabbit Carrot Feeder on your Voron.

5:22 - 6:05 nice job showing us all the different colors of cardboard. Wouldn't it be a better idea to like... maybe... show the filament itself?

I find the roller holes on the Hydra a little too tight. Am i the only one?

I'd like to have seen how big the purge tower was, and how much 'poop' it generated!

Thank you very much for this video! I'm looking into purchasing the Bambu Lab X1 Carbon Combo 3D Printer. Before I purchase this combo unit, can you tell me what should I look for, before purchasing it? Did you have a chance to compare the Bambu Lab X1 Combo 3D Printer and the Carbon model? Also, do you think that the software and hardware is mostly bugs free?

Not to pick nits, but wouldn't it be more economical time wise to just respool the filament onto a Bambu Labs compatible spool?🤔 Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome mod and looks like it would be fun for those who love tinkering with things, it just seems like a lot of unnecessary time & work to me.🤷‍♂️ That being said, if i ever have to do any repairs to mine I'll probably do this to it at that point. Maybe it's because i have a newer model that i bought during their Black Friday sale (2023) as so far I've encountered zero problems. I've only tried filament from 4 different companies though & only one has cardboard spools but it's handled all of them just fine.

HAIL HYDRA!!! Just had to say it, but man, that is some crazy amount of wasted filament, but super cool!! and the mod seems to do a great job!

Ya, I ended up throwing my AMS unit away cause it stopped working completely and support did nothing to fix or replace it. They basically said it was out of the 3 month warranty and I needed to purchase a new one. My printer is now printing almost a whole 2mm above the bed when using Bambu slicer and only works if I use code from prusa slicer. Support has been rather disappointing and they only seem to want to help high profile people. Then again I also tend to have the worst luck. In short the Bambu has been nothing but problems for me. I'm thinking of just going back to a prusa and getting a mk4.

Nice video. Don't own a bambu lab printer. But interesting to watch.

I did this upgrade and it's great. But I still can't use the Amazon basic pla spools. But I can now use my coex spools so that's great

This definitely was the issue I had with mine

The fact that you didn't sort the spools by colour in the AMS units upsets me.

My hydra mod went well, but my AMS motors are still overheating, jamming, etc. It's really frustrating.

So is this the issue I’m having with my filament that keeps breaking inside my AMS? I keep getting a break right at the bottom of the AMS and just about every time I go to print I have to take the AMS apart to print.

I love my X1C+AMS but I have had to replace one of the input motors. It's like sometimes the gearing just doesn't engage properly.

How do you feed, and change filament colors using the AMS it was not apparent in your video and possibly not intended as an AMS functionality video. As always great video.

We need some dragons printed in 16 colours

hey there, thanks for this great vid. So i am thinking of going to pick up an X1C on Saturday but what hardware revision are the new AMS units from? I don't want to pick up something that needs to be swapped out because being in south africa that could take forever. thank you :)

well my AMS is brand new and doesnt work lol. Cant feed the Filament out of the AMS. But at the beginning when it does the Test with the spools it feeds it almost untill the Hub behind the printer^^

I've printed the Hydra AMS, but haven't installed it yet. I discovered an issue with the X1 carbon not printing correctly on large prints. I had to switch down the AI to get it to print properly.

I received my P1P and AMS last week (mid july) and tested all my spools and found 2 that will not fit. The single spool of Jessie PLA and those curved Fiberlogy spools. Even the Prusament work ok, so did they change the design of the AMS because I thought prusament was initially a problem. For my card spools I found some adapters on printables and used the step files to adjust for some new Eryone card spools and also the Esun EPLA-HF high flow and they are working very well. The Esun EPLA-HF prints very well and can print fast while still keeping good layer strength.

Customers in europe can't buy any ams units because never in stock and you get them for free without a hassle..awesome

In the last scene with the cardboard spools int the new AMS, it looks like you can't close the AMS anymore.

I am curious now about my AMS. Atomic Filament doesn't fit but my Inland Filament Cardboard ones run smooth.

Great video! What AMS stands are you using?

I don‘t mod my ams but i mostly Print with spools from extrudr

Thanks for moving things forward Joel 👍

Hey Joel, show the poop chute from the print!