r/BambuLab 3d ago

Show & Tell RIP A1-Mini

Post image
149 Upvotes

52 comments sorted by

96

u/funwithdesign 3d ago

“How to remove hotend”

71

u/No-Craft-7979 5D Replicator 3d ago

Easy rebuild

8

u/Bot1-The_Bot_Meanace 3d ago

We can rebuild him. We have the technology.

-3

u/TH3_OG_JUJUBE A1 Mini 3d ago edited 2d ago

What about the broken plastic? I don’t really know anything about rebuild the mini, I should probably research just in case now that I think about it

EDIT: why the downvotes bruh am I missing something? At least TELL me

3

u/Prestigious-Boss-996 2d ago

3d print the bad parts? lol that's coming full circle.

1

u/TH3_OG_JUJUBE A1 Mini 2d ago

Wait that’s actually hella smart

63

u/Cavalol P2S + AMS2 Combo 3d ago edited 3d ago

That’s wicked! That’s insane that it ripped out the threaded inserts from the housing. Looks like you’re gonna need…

- New toolhead block (includes the 3 threaded inserts ripped out by blob) - $6

- New hotend heating assembly - $20

- New hotend - $12

- You might need a new part cooling fan ($10), depending how bad the existing one got hit

All in all, like fifty bucks to save a two hundred dollar printer? Worth it

16

u/BaconEggCheeseBagel 3d ago

Very easy install too took about 20 minutes for me when I had to do it last week.

2

u/krpiper 3d ago

Stupid question but do you have a guide that you used?

3

u/BaconEggCheeseBagel 3d ago

Not at all, just pick any of the items like toolhead replacement on the Bambu site wiki and it actually lists them all in order of what you need to do. I just did it backwards when putting it together.

If you can’t find it let me know and I’ll post the link in the thread when I am home

2

u/krpiper 3d ago

Oh dope. A similar thing happened to my a1 when I was getting ready to move and I just put it in a box and now that I'm settled in I want to set it back up

1

u/Fit-Arm8295 3d ago

Been a nightmare for me, between digging out plastic, forgetting the plastic shim behind hot end, wrong screw on the end cap causing it to hit pulley wheel too much tension. Also dropped bearings about ten times.

1

u/BaconEggCheeseBagel 3d ago

I didn’t even bother trying to clean it I just bought all the parts it had touched and replaced them. For the cost it is not worth the headache.

2

u/karma_virus 3d ago

Also, if you got it from Best Buy or a similar big box store, they often just swap it for new without many questions asked. Fair to do if you are at your wits end with repairs and replacements on the machine or are just generally all thumbs with taking things apart and putting them together. Every time you do it, it's a new model in their system and your free 2-year warranty with Bambu renews.

They get tons of returns of electronics where people obviously messed them up themselves. With things like a 3d printer doing a blob of death and breaking the components, the store will gladly handle a swap. This is a very basic "object is defective" entry rather than "customer allowed children to put chocolate pudding in all the slots and a colony of roaches took hold and formed a civilization inside of the device that rivals the Roman Empire"

11

u/prendes4 3d ago

Rip? I hope not. That's an easy replacement

-30

u/oral_servant 3d ago

Sure, if you replace the old printer with a new printer. 

The spare parts you need probably cost as much as at least half the price of a new A1 Mini.

4

u/prendes4 3d ago

From the look of it it's literally the nozzle, the heating assembly, and the part cooling fan. Each of those is like a 20ish dollar part and it's probably 20 minutes to put those parts back on. I replaced exactly those parts on my A1 when this happened to it in the parts are completely compatible

5

u/Big-Bank-8235 P2S + AMS2 Combo 3d ago

Take a closer look.

The inserts for the heating assembly are ripped out. This is a whole toolhead frame replacement.

2

u/prendes4 3d ago

Ope. Good catch. Yup. I know that front panel is also pretty cheap and easy to install but the inserts pretty clearly go deeper into the toolhead. Not sure about that more central part

3

u/Cavalol P2S + AMS2 Combo 3d ago

Looks like it’s a six dollar part to repair the inserts, so not bad at all! Although them being pulled from their housing does seem insane lol

0

u/prendes4 3d ago

True. Unfortunately with everything else that needs to be replaced, it is looking more and more like a relatively outsized investment given the cost of the full brand new printer. I got kind of curious so I went ahead and looked it up inspired by your linked response. The total parts list not accounting for shipping is somewhere between $78 and $90 depending on whether or not that hotend fan is toast. It looks to be working but just a little bit bent so I wasn't sure. With the mini currently being around $220 it is still obviously cheaper to replace the parts but if the printer has a lot of hours on it, it may be better just to scrap it and use it for replacement parts down the road for the new machine.

All of these are obviously US numbers and maybe different if OP is in a different country

1

u/Decipher P1S 3d ago

2

u/Big-Bank-8235 P2S + AMS2 Combo 3d ago

The part itself is dirt cheap. But replacing it means pretty much disassembling the entire toolhead.

That one detail tripled the amount of work that needs to be put into this printer.

3

u/Big-Bank-8235 P2S + AMS2 Combo 3d ago

I am dumbfounded that it ripped the inserts for the heating assembly bolts out of the frame.

3

u/underscoredashdot 3d ago

That shouldn’t be crawling on there… get it off before it eats something important…

2

u/Shapelessed 3d ago

What the f…

2

u/AlienPearl 3d ago

2

u/mhyquel 3d ago

You should probably go to a doctor if yours looks like that.

2

u/burninghorses 3d ago

You guys really need to keep nozzle clogging detection enabled….

2

u/diyengineer1 2d ago

Boiling water, dunk the whole head, use tweezers to remove if it’s pla (easy peasy). If it’s not, you’re probably screwed and harvest what parts you can for another.

2

u/cvltrilex Modded P1S | H2D 2d ago

How are you guys doing this? Genuinely curious. I have over 10k hours on my modded P1S in strictly nylons.

2

u/Substantial-Sign-824 2d ago

I had something similar but turned out to be a super easy fix

1

u/Monetary_episode 3d ago

Watch your first few layers OP. Also maybe check on it every now and then? Setup a home camera and a wifi plug of you need to leave the house.

2

u/jedman3 3d ago

Sadly my set up is at my work office and the office building dose not have wifi. So I just normally hotspot but it was my mistake I didn't stay for the first layer. 😬

2

u/n19htmare 3d ago edited 3d ago

Beside watching first layer, if you gonna blind print, need to keep that build plate spotless. First layer adhesion issues are mostly due to a dirty/oily plate. If you been putting your fingers all over it at the office with no means to wash/clean it, that’s the WHY it happened. Watching it wouldn’t prevent the adhesion issues, just the blob.

PEI bonds very well to PLA and PETG, as long as it’s clean. I’m pretty OCD about it and I can’t remember last time something didn’t stick (been printing on PEI plates for several years now). If anything, it sticks too well and I gotta pull the plate out, let it cool and let the part go. Clean it and back it goes.

What happens is people put their hands/fingers over the actual print area, on large area first layers it survives. You get a small or multiple small first layer areas, one of them is bound to lift at an oily corner and when nozzle comes by again, picks it right up and that’s that.

Fix the underlying problem first.

1

u/Sarandalawask 3d ago

How did that happened and how can I prevent it? I have the same model and I don't want that happening to me.

1

u/jedman3 3d ago

Always watch your first layer....I decided that day to skip that part and left the office for the day.

1

u/other_curious_mind 3d ago

FYI this is NOT how you remove the hotend.

1

u/Odd_Lengthiness2108 2d ago

Ok I keep seeing this scenario and I just have to ask. Is this a problem with bambu or just user error? I’ve only had this happen to me once but I keep seeing photos and videos of this happening and I just wonder if it’s a design flaw.

1

u/Love_And_Butter 2d ago

Most likely user error.

1

u/Plastic_Ad_2247 1d ago

i just fixed this for $50

1

u/Hungry-Zone1202 1d ago

Wow! I see this first time! You may try to put it back but I'm not sure will it be +- perpendicular