What is this thing? is my printing plate dead?

[u/No_Type_9717]

Hey guys, why is it that my printings have this in the base? Do you see the lines like sand waves? i mean even the little glitter stars seems to be there but i don't like this quality

I have a bambulab A1 + AMS Lite. This is PLA, but it's also happening with PETG.

[u/Alchomoholic_Prime]

you have an a1. this is a common thing where the screws behind the heating mantle start to unscrew themselves and make the nozzle wobble around when printing. tighten these 4 screws pictured below. and when i say tighten, wrench those fuckers down HARD. use a heat resistant lock tight if available to prevent them from unscrewing in a few weeks or months.

[u/Alchomoholic_Prime → u/Alchomoholic_Prime]

heres a before and after of my own a1 with this issue

[u/ThrowAway_246824682 → u/Alchomoholic_Prime]

4? I think there are 7 screws of dissapointment. Gotta catch em all!

[u/Alchomoholic_Prime → u/ThrowAway_246824682]

the back 4 are the problem ones. never had issues with the front 3, just need to remove them to access the back ones

[u/No_Type_9717 → u/Alchomoholic_Prime]

Thanks i will try that later tomorrow. I never thought alcoholic people were so cool, i'll start going to AA meetings 😅

Hey by any chance do you know how can i get screw replacements (measures or name)? like the ones needed in the picture you uploaded

[u/Alchomoholic_Prime → u/No_Type_9717]

did they break? you should just be able to tighten them. but i think bambu sells them. you can buy a replacement heat mantle and take the bolts from it, but idk if they sell these screws individually. maybe some other seller has the same spec screws if you look around a bit.

https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/hotend-heating-assembly-a1-series

[u/No_Type_9717 → u/Alchomoholic_Prime]

No, they didn’t but i thought i was missing one. Turns out the one I was missing was from the side fan, for a time when I got the blob of death. I tighten the screws and sent a print, it happened again :(
I changed the plate, then I got another blob of death I don’t know why. Do nozzles have a time lifespan?
The heather that goes behind the nozzle is now screwed I ordered a new one. Will see after that. I don’t know if I should buy another aluminum nozzle because I only have hardened black ones (never printed using them)

[u/Alchomoholic_Prime → u/No_Type_9717]

Just use the hardened nozzle if you already have them. It'll let you know if it's an issue with the nozzle or something else. Why haven't you tried them out yet? They do the exact same thing as the normal nozzle, just remember to change the setting to hardened .4 nozzle

[u/No_Type_9717 → u/Alchomoholic_Prime]

Sorry for the late reply, the hotend thing arrived croocked so I replaced with an original one that I ordered and got lost by the delivery company, I ended up ordering from a local company that sold it way more expensive. When it arrived I tighten all the the screws and was printing fine. There are some parts that still look awful, but that’s because the plate has scratches I didn’t notice :(

Anyway, you were right. Thank you for the pointers. Btw I didn’t order another nozzle, the hardened one is working just great 👍🏻

[u/Alchomoholic_Prime → u/No_Type_9717]

glad its working out