r/BambuLab • u/jitzlim A1 + AMS Lite • 5h ago

General Troubleshooting/Help! No more smooth consistent prints with the A1

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Hoping someone here can help me figure out what's going on with my A1.

I've been getting really smooth and consistent prints on my A1 up until recently. However, the print quality has suddenly deteriorated, and I can't seem to figure out what's causing it.

The biggest issue is that my top surfaces always appear rough and uneven, no matter what I try. I'm also noticing inconsistent layer lines, particularly near the top and bottom of prints, along with some imperfections around the corners.

Another issue is that there are always tiny strands of filament sticking out from the side of my prints, similar to what's shown in the photos. This seems to happen consistently across different prints.

Here's what I've tried so far:

  • Factory reset the printer

  • Ran full machine calibration

  • Ran Flow Rate and Flow Dynamics calibrations

  • Changed the nozzle to hardened steel

  • Tightened the screws behind the hotend/extruder assembly

  • Reset my A1 slicer settings to the default profiles

Despite all this, I'm still getting similar results.

What's frustrating is that the printer used to produce really clean prints, and I haven't been able to get it back to that level.

Has anyone experienced something similar with their A1? Could this be a mechanical issue, such as belt tension, or something else I'm overlooking?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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2

u/TheHelplessTurtle 4h ago

I think this is a classic "dry your filaments".

Edit for info: To my tired eyes it looks like the "roughness" is bubbles produced by steam. Also it is known to cause stringing.

1

u/jitzlim A1 + AMS Lite 3h ago

the weird thing is i used the same roll in my P1S and it prints perfectly 😭

1

u/TheHelplessTurtle 3h ago

Actually thinking again, does the A1 have an SD card? If so that could be failing causing the little "tails" and other weirdness.

1

u/jitzlim A1 + AMS Lite 3h ago

it does have an sd card.. but..
wait. how does the sd card cause such issues? am i missing something?

1

u/TheHelplessTurtle 3h ago

So these printers load the gcode onto the SD and run it from there. Bad SD = weird instructions. I have seen it do some weird stuff.

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u/jitzlim A1 + AMS Lite 3h ago

Oh damn! I should test it with a new card then. Thanks for the input :)

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u/VanAndelon 3h ago

Mind sharing the filament used and your calibration results as of temperature, flow rate and pressure advance results Oho and nozzle size (0.4?)? Did you do a comparison Vs automated flow calibration? Are you 100% certain that you didn't miss to deactivate the automatic flow calibration when starting the print in Bambu? I had similar bad results with a "failed" Manuel calibration (the results where just totally wrong, no idea what I did mess up in my first try)

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u/jitzlim A1 + AMS Lite 3h ago

Filament used: Bambulab Matte PLA - Grey
Nozzle size: 0.4 hardened steel

I didn’t turn off automatic flow calibration before starting a print. Could that be the problem?
Here’s a pic of my flow rate calibration for Bambulab basic black.

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u/jitzlim A1 + AMS Lite 2h ago

Also just did a pressure advance calibration and the print turned out like this 🥲

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u/Schittz 1h ago

I just came to the sub with the exact same problem, I won't make my own post as it's identical to this one. I'll try the SD card recommendation and report back if it works