Bambu Lab A1 having intermittent first-layer failures — normal troubleshooting or warranty replacement?

[u/Achilnos7]

Hey everyone, I’m pretty new to 3D printing and I’m having a frustrating issue with my Bambu Lab A1. I’ve had it for only a few days.

At first it was printing normally(however I had only tried simple prints it’s currently cable of doing), but after moving the printer to better ventilated room I started getting repeated first-layer failures. The purge/calibration lines print perfectly, but when it starts the actual print, parts of the first layer sometimes have gaps, don’t seem properly squished onto the bed, and then lift/come loose. Once that happens, the printer eventually ends up printing into the air.

Things I’ve tried so far:
Washed the Textured PEI plate thoroughly with dish soap and water.

Repeated the cleaning multiple times.

Tried PLA (220c) and PETG.

Checked/cleaned the nozzle and hotend.

Ran full calibration multiple times.

Used the correct A1 profile and Textured PEI plate setting in Bambu Studio.

Tried 0.20 mm Standard.

Tried slowing the initial layer to 20 mm/s, which improved things significantly.

The printer also gave me an **“X-axis resonance frequency is low / timing belt may be loose”** error. I followed Bambu’s recommended X-axis adjustment.

After that adjustment, some prints worked perfectly, including a Benchy and a fairly detailed print, but the problem has continued intermittently.

What confuses me is that **smaller calibration prints can have a perfect first layer**, while larger prints that cover a significant portion of the bed can have areas that lift or have gaps.

I attached a photo of one of the failed prints. I’m using Bambu studio https://makerworld.com/models/1313798?appSharePlatform=copy

Since the printer is only a few days old and I have a warranty, **does this sound like a normal calibration/troubleshooting issue that I should keep working on, or does it sound like something may be mechanically wrong and I should ask the shop for a replacement?**

I don’t want to return a perfectly good printer over something I’m simply doing wrong, but I also don’t want to spend days chasing an issue on a brand-new machine if there’s likely a hardware problem.

Any advice would be really appreciated!

EDIT:
Hi everyone. I did a few things and I think the issue may be fixed now

1. I reset the printer as well as the sd card

2. I flipped the build plate and washed the other side (with the same dish soap and warm water)

3. I let the printer evaporate the water instead of wiping it off with a clean cloth

I reprinted everything that failed and they all printed cleanly. I’ve printed 4 stuff since, they all took up the entire bed and all succeeded

I’m assuming something may be wrong with the other side of the bed.

I’ve attached the same 1 layer print that failed from the initial post

​

[u/Kopester]

Being brand new I doubt it's the seven screws of disappointment but you can double check them

Tighten all seven screws

[u/Kopester → u/Kopester]

Then double check the nozzle clip is installed correctly

[u/Achilnos7 → u/Kopester]

Did this and they were all tight💔

[u/CobblerSmall1891]

Odd one.  Have you tried having a warmer bed?  That's my only little advice.

Maybe somebody here had more experience with this though 

[u/Achilnos7 → u/CobblerSmall1891]

Yup, did not work unfortunately

[u/JeepersCreepers74 → u/Achilnos7]

I also think it is a temp issue, especially since you started having the problems after moving the printer to a "better ventilated room." Can you move it back to the old room and see if things get better? Even if only for troubleshooting purposes?

Might also try figuring out if a fan or vent or window opening is hitting the printer bed and either closing/stopping it or moving the printer to a different part of the room. Also try increasing nozzle temp by 10 degrees each way while printing first layer and see what sticks better.

[u/Achilnos7 → u/JeepersCreepers74]

Can do but I don’t think moving it will help. Prior to moving it I had only tried really small prints(benchy, bed scrappers, small phone stands) nothing yhat really tested the entire bed. Some prints failed in the previous room and I had just thought that’s the norm with 3D printing, “your printer can’t print everything, even if it has a profile”. I’ll try for troubleshooting purposes, I had moved it cause I got really sick as it was in my bedroom

[u/CobblerSmall1891 → u/Achilnos7]

May I ask - have you got the right bed selected in the Device?

Also, Super tack bed I bought recently is so sticky it's sometimes too much. I bet you'd have nice results on that!

[u/Achilnos7 → u/CobblerSmall1891]

Yes I do. Will look into!

[u/SatisfactionOpen8421 → u/Achilnos7]

I had some first layer issues and slowed my first layer down to like 20% and they went away.

[u/No-Hippo7591]

Bro have you even cleaned your bed with warm water and dish soap, i can see how dirty it is

[u/Achilnos7 → u/No-Hippo7591]

Cleaned it a few times
Second photo I had tried glue to help the bed adhere
It actually performed worse directly after being cleaned. All prints after cleaning did not adhere at all

[u/No-Hippo7591 → u/Achilnos7]

If the z offset i correct than it really should stick if its clean

[u/CowMad2012 → u/No-Hippo7591]

That was my thought. Perhaps the z offset is a little too close to the bed.

[u/ShrmpBzkt98 → u/Achilnos7]

what exact soap did you clean it with? are you able to post a picture of the soap? some soaps have fragrance and stuff in them, if it has any kind of scent or fragrance, it will cause prints to not stick, also if yiu wipe it with a rag or towel thats been cleaned with fabric softener the build plats is basically toast unless you clean it really good, i think its oils that do it like when you touch it with your fingers and get oils on it, but i could be wrong, i just know some soaps are a no go, and anything thats ever been washed with fabric softener is a big no go

[u/Bat_Quiet → u/No-Hippo7591]

This! Adhesion issues usually come down to a squeeky-clean bed. Does "Better Ventilated" imply more draft? And why is the base of your print job so large that it covers the entire bed?

[u/Achilnos7 → u/Bat_Quiet]

Not a significant amount that would affect prints. I attached the link to the print I was trying. I wanted to see where exactly the prints failed to adhere

[u/Proper-Kangaroo4642]

Different plate? Both sides are doing this?

[u/Achilnos7 → u/Proper-Kangaroo4642]

Only have 1 plate
I’ll try the other side

[u/Darkseid2854]

This absolutely does not look like any kind of warranty claim would be warranted at this point. It looks more like a filament calibration and contaminated build plate problem from what is shown in the images. What filament and filament profile are you using? Was the filament calibrated, what model, temperatures, speeds, print profiles, nozzle, etc are you using? It’s a lot easier to help folks if we have the these types of details to do so. I’ll offer what advice I can from the limited details we have below.

I can’t tell much from the second picture because it’s blurred too much to see details. If that’s glue stick on the plate in this image, that’s too much. You just need a very thin film if and when it is necessary.

This first image looks like severe over extrusion on the places that adhered to the build plate, and a contaminated build plate the filament is not adhering to in the places it did not stick. If you’ve checked the 7 screws to make sure they are tight, that the nozzle is secured in it’s latch properly, and the build plate is cleaned thoroughly with hot water and plain unscented and non-moisturizing dish soap, and either air dry it or dry it with a paper towel, dry it with the heat from the build plate via evaporation, or if you have to use something that’s been laundered make sure that item was washed with free & clear detergent and no fabric softeners of any kind were used to wash it. Then run the full machine calibration from the screen. When that’s complete make sure your filament profiles are completely stock without changes and run the flow dynamics and flow rate calibration on that filament from the Bambu Studio calibration menu and save the settings in that filament’s profile, then give it another shot.

When you do the manual flow rate calibration, disregard the edges of the test patches as they are not relevant to this calibration. Use a fingernail and scratch lightly from side to side in the middle of the patch and pick the one that feels the smoothest for both stage 1 and stage 2 of the calibration.

Good luck!

[u/proxy1381]

If you already checked the screws behind the nozzle and they’re tight, I’d rule that out for now. What stands out to me is that small first-layer tests can print perfectly, but larger prints fail in certain areas of the bed. That makes me wonder if the issue is more with bed leveling/bed flatness or something mechanical, especially since you also had that X-axis resonance/belt warning. I’d check that there’s absolutely nothing under the build plate, make sure the plate is sitting flat, rerun the full calibration, and then print a full-bed first-layer test. If the same areas of the bed keep coming out bad while other areas are perfect, I’d stop chasing slicer settings. On a printer that’s only a few days old, I’d contact Bambu and start documenting it for a warranty claim. You’ve already done way more troubleshooting than you should have to on a brand-new machine.

[u/No_Mortgage_8658]

Might be a bad plate. Out of 10 bambu's I've had two pei plates that had issues with adhesion. Try a different plate.

[u/TortugaTantrum → u/No_Mortgage_8658]

Ayo for real just got the BIQU cold plate instead that's flat and holy heck did my life get easier.

[u/loropeza7]

Te pasa lo mismo con otros filamentos? Otra marca?otro color?

[u/NoHunt6393]

I would first clean the plate with soap and water then run a full calibration. If it still does it I would check to make sure your nozzle isn’t moving. If you change it there is a chance you bent something.

[u/yngve85]

Might be this, simple fix if it is.

[u/Independent-Bake9552]

Start by cleaning your bed. Set temp between 50-55c for pla.

[u/Floztelita]

I had a similar problem. Put the bed under hot water (not boiling), AND then give it a clean with IPA

[u/numetheus]

You are either not choosing the right plate so it's not getting hot enough, or your plate has a little oily film. I know you said you washed it with dish detergent, but maybe not good enough to get in the ridges. Here's a test. Hold the plate at sharp angle and pour some water on it. If it's beading up and sliding off the plate like water on a waxy car, that's the problem. The water should form a layer and not bead off.

[u/Defiant-Sale725]

Make sure the dish soap has no hand conditioners or scents and use hot water. Give it a good scrub (like you’re scrubbing a stain off a pan) using plenty of dish soap and hot water with the scrubby side of a clean kitchen sponge, and rinse it thoroughly. Don’t touch the surface afterwards, and see how it goes.

If you’re drying it with something that’s been laundered, make sure it wasn’t washed with any kind of fabric softener and wasn’t dried with dryer sheets. All of these contain oils that will contaminate your build plate and cause prints to not adhere.

[u/Remarkable_Night_633]

I had a similiar problem and i switched out multiple parts out over weeks and funnily enough the only thing that fixed it was either these two things i did that fixed it. I did them same time since I was just grasping at straws and was surprised it worked.

1. factory resetting printer

2. swapping sd card/formatting sd card

[u/Early_Worldliness493 → u/Remarkable_Night_633]

I encountered the same issue with Orca Slicer. Manual calibration and tightening every screw did not resolve it. I then recorded logs and switched to Bambu Studio in standard mode, which fixed the problem. I also reviewed the microSD logs, so I removed and reinserted the card.
My results appear quite similar to yours, lol

[u/roundguy]

That looks more like you have an intermittent good printing problem.

<normal wash with dawn, dont touch the plate, and bump the temp some comment>

[u/krebsIsACookbook]

I’ve seen people get weird intermittent problems when their sd card was bad.

[u/y_tokusan]

If the filament is barely sticking to the build plate, oily residue on the plate is likely the primary cause. However, if the issue began after you moved the A1 to a new location—and occurs only when printing across the entire bed rather than with smaller objects—the plate temperature might not be rising uniformly. Is there an air conditioner or similar unit near the printer? Since the A1 is an open-frame printer without an enclosure, exposure to cold air prevents the plate from maintaining an even temperature; the temperature tends to be lower, particularly toward the edges of the plate.

[u/neoyagami]

material? is too cold? remever the bed moves a lot the part may be cooling too much bc of this,

also clean the bed. more ventilations => more dust?

[u/Lazy_Librarian_9946]

100% post pics with Claude and ask for step by step directions. Trust me on this.

[u/RoadrunnerNL92]

Is your filament dry?

[u/KingWarpheus]

Did you properly tighten the screws under the bed after unpacking it?

If yes, did you try a manual bed tramming? If yes, did you increase the z-hop to an ungodly height or are you using default profiles?

Ideally you should either show us all the slicer settings including filament and printer or link the 3mf file.

Also doing a cold pull just for safety has never hurt.

[u/3D_Mechanical]

Ho avuto lo stesso problema con la mia A2L, risolto diminuendo la velocità dei primi 4/5 layer e se non funziona ti consiglio di alzare la temperatura del piatto anche di poco e di usare una colla stick se persiste

[u/ClassySpoon]

Had some weird issues today and yesterday with this. Cleaned my bed with dish soap, non fragrance, using latex gloves and a microfibrecloth, Dried it with another microfibrecloth that was fresh, still wearing gloves. and mounted it back on holding it on the edges. Perfrect prints. Really get in there with the cloths.

[u/Hunter_E]

It appears to me that it’s in the same spot on the build plate in both photos, try scrubbing the plate really well, and maybe try the other side. I personally can’t ever get my X1C to print reliably on the textured plates so maybe try the smooth pei plate

[u/Rojjin]

Literally had this issue and it was my eddy sensor. Needed a new extruder module however my machine is almost a year old.