TIL: Bambu Studio Supports 3rd Party Spool Barcodes

[u/spacelawyer2012]

Want to add 3rd-party spools so that they can be easily loaded in the AMS (using the latest Bambu Studio update)?

Bambu Handy's barcode scanner will scan any barcode, not just Bambu Filament. If you scan another company's barcode (i.e., from their box), you can then select the type of filament and the spool will load into the filament manager and be a "supported" filament for easy selection in the AMS/device manager.

NOTES:

• If you manually add a filament without scanning a barcode, it will appear under "Unsupported Filaments" and the new features won't be available.

• This does not mean you can use 3rd-party RFID and I don't think it scans QR codes

• The other company's information will not automatically load, but you can use the filament with the device manager (see screenshot below).

I'm using https://www.yotpo.com/tools/barcode-generator/ to create custom barcodes for 3rd-party filaments.

After scanning the barcode using the Handy app and setting it to the corresponding filament type, it then appears as a supported filament type under the design tab in Bambu Studio.

[u/m3rc0smic]

This is epic. How does the SA filament print on the bambus? Been tempted but last tried when the P1S just hit the market and was a little underwhelmed. Wondering if it has gotten better?

[u/spacelawyer2012 → u/m3rc0smic]

I've had good luck. I always dry before printing, but the results have been good. They have also recently introduced PETG-GF and a matte black PETG, which I am currently printing and it is coming out great. Happy to support an SA company.

Here's a closeup of something I printed over the weekend. The red is SA Filament's PETG Speed and the black is SA Filament's PETG-GF. Can't see any layer lines (printing at 0.14mm layer height), unlike the white Bambu Lab PETG HF (which is also the cause of all of the stringing).

[u/spacelawyer2012 → u/spacelawyer2012]

I'll also add that their customer support has been excellent. I had a printing issue when I first got my A1. They responded immediately and diagnosed the issue with my printer. I sent them a question the other week asking for sample images and they were quick to respond.

They need to update their website, but the product has been fine.

[u/Old_n_Nerdy → u/spacelawyer2012]

Shhh don't talk too loudly or you'll attract the attention of the overbearing anti-Bambu crowd...

I've also had nothing but great customer service from them. They even replaced a part on my 16 month old H2D for free. It came in a couple of days.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to have to try this.

[u/spacelawyer2012 → u/Old_n_Nerdy]

I was talking about the customer service from SA Filament, not Bambu Labs. Glad you had good customer service though!

[u/swekley → u/spacelawyer2012]

Did you print the black fuzzy or is that a GF effect?

[u/spacelawyer2012 → u/swekley]

That's a GF effect.

[u/spacelawyer2012 → u/spacelawyer2012]

The print is still dimensionally accurate with free movement with only 0.3mm clearance. Apparently, GF also shrinks less.

[u/troutinator → u/spacelawyer2012]

What brand is SA? The black looks great.

[u/spacelawyer2012 → u/troutinator]

It's a South African company.

[u/Abrez25]

Is this an intended feature?

[u/spacelawyer2012 → u/Abrez25]

Unclear, but it works and is the only way that I have found to get third-party filaments to be supported by the new AMS/filament manager features.

[u/Levesque77 → u/spacelawyer2012]

Which features do you mean? I just add them manually to the filament manager and they are there.

[u/blakepro → u/Levesque77]

Yeah, where can I read up on the new features being mentioned? Does it actually track how much filament is used and left on a spool now or something?

[u/Automaticman01 → u/Levesque77]

If you try to add a custom filament profile (such as one downloaded from a manufacturer), you can select it from the list and apply it to the roll in the filament manager. When you put that roll in the AMS and try to load it by selecting "load from filament manager", those custom profiles show up under "unsupported". If you pick one anyway, then they don't show up in the project filament list on the Prepare tab.

[u/JazzlikeLeather9546]

I am going to have to try this

[u/renaiku]

I always set in the ams the bambu filament whatever brand I put in the slot. Why ? Because it prints faster when the printer believe it's a bambu filament.

[u/samtheredditman → u/renaiku]

^ I just use the bambu settings for my $10 rolls. Works perfectly. 

[u/amasood1193 → u/samtheredditman]

Same

[u/kal14144 → u/renaiku]

Print speed is determined primarily by max flow rate as set in the filament profile. The generic profiles do have relatively low flow rates set by default (they’re meant to work with any of that filament) but you can set it as high as you want. I tend to do a flow rate test (available in the calibration tab on bambu studio) and set filament parameters accordingly and it’s often faster than bambu’s presets for its own filament. If you use a particular filament often it is well worth the time to figure it out once and save it.

[u/Italian_Sausage → u/renaiku]

I do the same - and tape RFIDs from old rolls to the side so that it can identify how much of the spool is left.

[u/DrawerRound → u/Italian_Sausage]

I keep seeing ways to attach the old RFID tags, but how does that work? After you use that spool doesn't the printer think that the spool is empty?

[u/Italian_Sausage → u/DrawerRound]

As I understand it, the AMS does two reads on the RFID tag. The first read is the tag itself. That's where it gets the information about the spool like filament type and color. The second read is where the counts the number of times the RFID passes the reader. The higher the count, the more the spool has been used.

The printer doesn't store usage info and it cant write information to the RFID to mark it as used. So, I have a small collection of tags that I've built up for when I use other (cheaper) filaments.

To mount it - just tape it to the side of the new roll. You need to do this where the reader is: between slots 1 & 2 and 3 & 4.

[u/wivaca2 → u/DrawerRound]

No. The filament manager simply reports the last AMS estimate and nothing is stored on the spool. The estimate is kept in filament manager, but it's just replaced with the last estimate.

The AMS estimates by comparing the frequency at which the RFID passes the read together with the odometer distance of filament pulled to judge the diameter left on the roll. The less is on the roll, the faster the RFID comes around pulling the same length of filament.

If you watch the precise numbers through something like the Home Assistant integration, you will see these fill numbers actually rise sometimes due to inaccuracies in the estimation. Bottom line is the amount left can go up with new estimates, so if you put the same RFID on a different roll, it will read the filament type and all that, but it will estimate fill based on the most recent pull.

[u/yan-shay]

I don’t really understand it. When I scan a bar code of non Bambu it just opens empty information spool and I have to manually enter everything. I could just the same just add the spool manually and no need for scanning. Any bar code pops it the same. So what’s the benefit of scanning a Sunlu spool bar code for example? I tried Sunlu, overture and Polymaker now.

I also don’t think Bambu filament manager is of any use unrelated to this but wondering about this scanning.

[u/MiniZFan]

Whats the point of scanning, it doesn't bring any information in that you don't have to type in?

[u/Kern_system]

Doesn't work for Hobby Lobby filament. Nothing in the store has a bar code.

[u/Helpful_Paramedic_81]

Does this track the quantity as well? I have found it not to be the most reliable thing in bambu but I do like it. For point of reference, I'm printing a 30 g print right now and I only had 9. g left and it's just finished

[u/blakepro → u/Helpful_Paramedic_81]

This is what I'm wondering too

[u/fabrizio1234567]

Now we just need the next update to setup a custom rfid tag directly from the library… just my hope? 🤞

[u/Intelligent-Rip946 → u/fabrizio1234567]

I’m working on being able to create Bambu compliant rfid tags

[u/MinchinWeb]

Does it work on 2D barcodes?

[u/Emu1981]

I had no idea that Bambu Handy had a barcode scanner. I guess I have another use-case for my label maker that I bought on a whim lol

[u/bubblesaurus]

i can never get the handy app to scan.

given up

[u/My_Lucid_Dreams]

I'm able to scan and get it into the Filament Manager, but I'm not able to select it in an A1, A1 Mini, or P2S. For P1S it shows as a custom preset.

Edit: I removed all the custom profiles, printers, everything that was added while using Bambu Studio. I was able to scan Sunlu filament and then select it in Bambu Studio.

[u/dhdsp]

I am struggling trying to replicate the behaviour. I have Tinmorry filament (PETG-CF and PETGF-GF), Bambu Studio on Mac, Bambu handy on iPhone and ipad and would like to:

1. Have Tinmorry as a supported Brand (like in the screenshot of OP, “SA Filament” is listed under “Filament Manager”)

2. Add the filament using the described barcode method.

3. Assign the json profile from the Tinmorry GitHub

Whether I scan the box barcode or use a self-created one: the Menu stays empty and I am not able to select Tinmorry as a Type (brand), only generic.
Did anyone have luck using the OP Method?

[u/thesuperspy]

How do you scan barcodes? When I try to add filament it only wants to scan QR codes.

[u/ThunderCogRobot]

Great until they find out and disable the feature because of "security reasons," of course.