I am sorry for all the people having problems, but my Prusa mjni is finally just workjng and happily printing all the stuff I throw at it. Its been having issues here and there forever. I just figured out that the hotend has not been assembled correctly (heatbreaker to nozzle seal was weak) which became a greater issue when switching to a 0.25mm nozzle. Now after I fixed it, it is just awesome :)
Do you guys know how awesome a printer is that is just working?
You mean a copy shop?
I have had the opposite experience. My mosfets died O think the control circuitery on my btt skr mini e3 v2 so I decided to control them externally with a pico ordered it from aliexpress it showed up then it died. Later I bought a genuine pico and it also died… That’s how my printer isn’t working for 27 days straight.
Have you tried an exorcist?
Or apeasing the machine spirits.
People will pile on me and say that it’s not the best choice if you value privacy but I’ve never had an issue with my Bambu P1S I’ve owned a total of 3 printers and they all had issues with something except for the P1S. Hundreds of print hours, as reliable as the day I got it.
I went with the Creality K1 because it was cheap, people can’t figure out a simple 220V/110V selector and it ships by default at 220V (god Mac.bid is so addictive). Getting an enclosed printer/appliance with 3 screws really turned the hobby into the one I wished it was when I started with the Ender 3 Pro. It prints perfectly every time and fast.
I’m so right there with you and know several people in the same boat. We all got so sick of tinkering and still having a high percentage of failures to the point that it became a chore, but now its as simple as slicing and waiting.
I’ve put 2800 hours on my X1C in the last 18 months and have had to do only one repair and have had maybe 10 failed prints mostly from adhesion issues. It’s been good enough that I’ve been able to create a side hustle and just bought a P1S during the Black Friday sale to pump out more volume.
I’m not exactly happy about their recent changes but even if you don’t like Bambu, you have to hand it to them for knocking the ball out of the park and forcing everyone else to match their quality.
Is the nozzle change proceedure as intensive as I hear? I’ve got a prusa mini and xl, as well as some modded ender 5 and 3, but I’m brand agnostic in expanding my fleet
On the P1S its a couple of connectors and two Allen screws (assuming you have a fully assembled hot end to swap in). On the X1C its the same but three connectors. The new P2S is coming with a quick swap nozzle feature which would definitely be worth it if you plan on buying one of their printers.
Just as satisfying when you print something with several parts and the tolerance is right first time. You hear all about people printing several prototype parts to dial in the design. Nothing to make you feel like a design king by first print mic drop.
I printed a large complex part once, only to see I overlooked another thing that got in the way of my part. Instead of changing my design and re-printing it (which would take hours), I walked over to the mill and milled off a section of my print so it would fit properly. Plopped it on, fits like a glove, design king status achieved!
I once designed a first prototype, and it worked so well I didn’t need the other 3 iterations I was planning.
It was a few years ago, but I’ll never forget (and probably never manage that again).
My bambu a1 mini is as plug and play as you can get probably. Working great for over a year. Printing mostly PETG, and sometimes TPU and PLA.
I do, and it’s one of the reasons I bought a Bambu (pre-lockdown shit of course). Despite not having many hours, the prusa mk3’s my college had in their makerspace were CONSTANTLY having issues and were a lot harder to get successful prints off of. I got an x1c when i got real money after graduating and it’s given me 1200 hours of zero maintenance except grease and a couple belt tension resets.
I suspect the Prusa issues were because you had a bunch of people not taking care of the machines. My Prusa Mk3S was just as reliable as my Bambu P1S.
I must admit I love my P1S. It makes me torn, I don’t like the locked down nature of the firmware and slicer, but at the same time, their stuff is damn good for its price.
Pony up for something expensive like a Bambu or embrace the tinker
'tis the way of things
I used to be an avid modeler, but never got into printing for this one reason. It has to just work. Maybe the hobbyists are ok with troubleshooting, tweaking and fettling every little issue that emerges, but some of us just want to get (our) stuff done.
For that reason, it’s easier to just pay to get it done. But the whole idea of ‘click and print’ isn’t yet the reality.
It’s getting closer and closer. A good modern printer is largely fire-and-forget. Still takes some know-how, but far less than it used to.
It’s especially nice to eliminate machine issues so you know that subsequent print issues are due to modeling problems or orientation while slicing or something else.
No such printer exists. Unless everything you are talking about is plain PLA with limited number of colours from the same company, everything else will require you at least some experimenting and fiddling.
Not my experience. I’ve had my X1C for a year now and have not had to ‘dial in’ a single thing.
Most of my prints are functional items in PETG of various colous. Some PLA for cosmetic parts. And I did some things in TPU earlier in the year. Probably been through like 10kg of filament on it.
Can’t think of a single serios print failure that wasn’t human error - e.g. forgot to clean the bed, didn’t support it properly.
My one gripe is that when changing PETG reels, it doesn’t always manage to wipe the nozzle very well leaving a few rogue stringy bits that usually just pull off.
And obviously I don’t love the closed-wall software situation, but their software is pretty good.
I print a lot and on different printers, mostly petg, some abs and tpu. All of them require some configuration unless you are extremely lucky or print with filament from the same brand as a printer. Bbl (including x1) isn’t better or worse in this regard in my experience.
I just bought some of these to replace the wiper and they seem to work well so far.
https://www.th3dstudio.com/product/bambu-x1-p1-upgraded-nozzle-brush/#reviews
Nice - thanks for this
My Mini has also been fantastic! I’ve been running it for about a year with almost no issues, primarily printing petg. Far more reliable than my last two Enders which surprised me. I also just recently upgraded my extruder, heat break and nozzle with Bondtech equipment, which has produced some great results.
my mrk3+ needed some mods and a little tinkering but it’s always ready to go now. Prusa for life
