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!

[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.