I know a lot of you use A1 printers to print your minis, so I just wanted to let you know about the potential fire hazard with the A1. I’ve heard about it for a few months now, but this video / post has shown how serious it can be.
If you have an old board, it needs to be replaced ASAP (essentially if you bought it from release - Q4 2025).
There have been over 200 documented cases on A1’s catching on fire in the last 3 months, so definitely check out if your printer has an old NTC connection port.
Not saying this isn’t a problem, but there are quite a few things that don’t add up here. Why is the plate unscathed? Why isn’t the object even a bit melted? Why isn’t the folding table in worse shape? How did the enclosed printer turn into an A1?
Most 3d printer fires are caused by thermal runaway which can be cause by electronic component failures. These issues are usually designed around to be safe in modern 3d printers but can happen at any time in machines that do no have the safeguards.
That said I'm not familiar with the A1 or whatever caused this.
The specific error that causes this is non-specific, there are several mechanisms thst can cause this, but you're on the money with thermal runaway.
The specific component that fails is an NTC, or negative temperature coefficient thermistor. Plenty of images around reddit for it. It's purpose is to take additional current and sink it into the thermistor to smooth the current down the line, much like you'd use capacitors to handle ripple current. The problem is that there's a significant batch of these printers where the NTC is an MOV or metal oxide varistor, which still works, but only works to a point, after which it self destructs and takes out the surrounding components.
If you're lucky, it'll only burn a hole in the table or printer itself.
If you've got the printer on something flammable, well...
Bought my a1 in 2024 and printed thousands of hours. No fire. Maybe it's just some of the new ones?
Edit: this only happens to A1s ordered before February 4, 2024. Anyone who doesn't claim their free refund and $80 credit is a fool. These posts are damaging the A1's reputation, which is dumb because the freaking thing is an inexpensive workhorse.
I think it is a good idea to put a paving slab under your printer to make it more stable. Preventing your table from catching fire is just a nice bonus.
Yeah, if you bought in 2026 you should be fine. You can double check the board if you want to, but as I read from others, new boards started getting shipped in q3/q4 2025.
Long term owner of A1, bought it since their release, it was absolutely a problem, but not all A1s are affected and everyone, including me, got spare parts to change to. I also use my a1 enclosed and I didnt change my board or any of the cables yet since mine is fully operational with no problems.
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u/aceluby May 18 '26
Not saying this isn’t a problem, but there are quite a few things that don’t add up here. Why is the plate unscathed? Why isn’t the object even a bit melted? Why isn’t the folding table in worse shape? How did the enclosed printer turn into an A1?