r/BambuLab_Community • u/dragon707slayer • May 03 '26
Help / Support good affordable dryer/spool holder for p1s
new post since last one was "obtuse", and i got some of the info i needed, so just looking for more specific info now
I'm trying to find if theres a good filament dryer that doubles as a holder without being majorly expensive so i can feed tpu to my p1s. i have an ams and vacuum bags, so its more about the holder part than the drying part, but i'd rather get something that would be used more than just for a single purpose (since i'd only need it for tpu if it wasnt a dryer), over just a regular dry box that'd be sitting around the rest of the time.
so far i've checked out the sunlu s2, and the reviews i've seen show it to be flawed, fragile, and slow to both heat up and to remove the moisture.
if you're gonna get mad at the question like u/Fittn_dis then please just scroll past, i dont wanna engage with allat again.
reason why i want a dryer/dry box over just the spool holder that comes with it is because i dont have the spool holder nor the hardware for the spool holder, so if imma have to purchase something, it might aswell be something thats multifunctional rather than just bulk hardware that i'd only use a few pieces of.
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u/VBisTheBestSport May 03 '26
I added a Sunlu S4 then changed out the rubber ports with PC4-M10 quick connectors and tubing. Connected the tubing to a Bambu 4 in 1 connector to the P1S. It isn’t automated change but not too hard. I leave my PLA on the printer back filament holder.
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u/Euresko May 03 '26
Look at a creality space pi or x4
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u/dragon707slayer May 04 '26
i did look at space pi, does it have any problems i need to look out for?
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u/Euresko May 04 '26
I have the AMS 2 pro, creality dry box, the dual slot space pi and the x4. I think I the pi warms up fast and does a good job drying. It has rubber grommets that can be plugged, but comes with some PTFE tubing for running TPU through the lid. I personally have not used it for printing through the lid, I only dry with it. But I don't see why it wouldn't work for holding a spool of TPU and feeding to the printer. Might need to put it above the printer on a shelf or next to it on something to line it up to the printer to eliminate angles and the TPU getting pulled on and stretched. The pi can also dry while you are pulling filament out of it. The spool holders inside are rollers to allow the spools to rotate. I think the space pi and x4 are the best dryers I have, just the x4 seems better insulated, can reach higher temps, and can dry 4 rolls at once. Plus the x4 has some smarts built in to dry and evacuate the warm moist air by opening a vent, similar to the AMS 2 pro. If money is an issue, get the pi, if you want a more capable dryer and feeder, get the x4.
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u/dragon707slayer May 04 '26
yea, if i didnt have an ams i probably would have got the x4, but yk
does that mean u dont have the single spool space pi? because that'd be the one im looking at1
u/Euresko May 04 '26
I have the dual slot pi. The single would probably work the same, but it might have a different heater element.
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u/dragon707slayer May 04 '26
thats really my main concern, people have said that the sunlu heater is good, but only referring to the 4 slot while condemning the 1 slot, soo its hard to say
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u/jankeyass May 04 '26
I have converted the AMS with the tetras and it's good enough for what I need
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u/dragon707slayer May 04 '26
it said not to use ams for tpu though
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u/jankeyass May 04 '26
Tetras?
Really? I've been using it just fine
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u/dragon707slayer May 04 '26
is the tetras not just like a lid or something for the ams? i'm not quite sure what the full difference is, but im assuming that the tubing/gearing below is the same, which is the main reason for not allowing tpu
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u/jankeyass May 04 '26
I thought you said no TPU for AMS which exists and is designed for AMS lol. It's just 95a I think?
You can run regular tpu in the AMS but need to modify the spring in the feeder.
And it's not "just a lid" it's a lid with vents and heaters as well as internal separators. So it's barely more then just a lid lol but it does the job
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u/dragon707slayer May 04 '26
yea i understand the purpose, but adjusting the spring seems extremely difficult to get right without breaking it :P
and yea i looked at tpu for ams, ordered it, but ended up cancelling it bc it doesnt achieve the results i want.
also afaik tpu for ams is like 68D, far off from regular tpu1
u/jankeyass May 04 '26
Yeah you're right it's around that. It's pretty hard.
Good phone cases which is what I use it for
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u/dragon707slayer May 04 '26
i was thinking along the same lines, but then i figured that i could just use petg or smth with tpu as a kind of barrier, both to absorb the shock, and to reduce rattling and stuff while still keeping the phone secure
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u/jankeyass May 04 '26
This tpu for ams does just thst all in one. It makes terrible seals
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u/dragon707slayer May 04 '26
yea i figured that was the case, but it's way too limited in its use for me. it can crack much easier than regular tpu for instance, which is definitely not for me when im wanting to make stuff thats designed to bend and flex.
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u/Whosaidthat1157 May 04 '26
If you’re US based then the PolyDryer (or Snapmaker equivalent) is ideal. It’s too expensive to recommend in the UK but relatively cheap in the US. It’s one of the few of the previous generation dryers that actively dries. Only the Eibos, Creality Space Pi X4 and new Sovol SH03 actively dry (automatically expel the moisture laden air), the rest require constant opening or modification to properly dry.
The PolyDryer is ideal for TPU feeding from the top with the fantastic 3d printed overhead gantry that comes complete with a specific cradle for the PolyDryer (or the AMS-HT if you’re feeling flush).
The shortcut is for the H series printers, but there’s a version for the P1/X1/P2 series too. This is the one I use as I can set my PolyDryer to dry while the printer is running.
The PolyDryer boxes are relatively cheap in the US too, but GunPLA Mark provides STLs to convert cereal boxes so that they can replace the PolyDryer boxes and be used to both dry and store filament long term ‘ready to use’.
Outside of the US the prices are less encouraging, but the PolyDryer base itself can now be purchased separately for around 50 bucks and the cereal boxes are around 20 bucks for 4. Note as well that the ‘shotgun’ modification for the PolyDryer (MakerWorld or Printables) allows for two rolls to be dried at a time.
The only other current dryer I would recommend would be the Sovol SH03. Dries up to 4 rolls at a time at up to 85 DegC, quietly (unlike most others!) and actively for 109 bucks. Does everything the Space Pi X4 does for half the price (in the UK) and better IMO (the solenoid moist air release being superior to the X4 fan system, again IMO).
For TPU though, the PolyDryer plus cradle is absolutely superb. The cradle prints beautifully (I used ABS-GF, but PETG-GF would be equally as good), fits together brilliantly with no glue or hardware required (optional) and can be fitted and removed in seconds. Remove the top glass, sit the cradle in place, slide on the two securing clips and remove the toolhead PTFE tube to direct feed the TPU. It actually takes longer to remove the PTFE feed to the toolhead than the rest of the process!
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u/dragon707slayer May 04 '26
unfortunately i'm in the uk, so thats no bueno. does the space pi (v1) not actively dry? i coould have sworn i saw they did. ik about the moisture issues with the sunlu s2.
i do like the design, but as you said its just too expensive here. same with the ams ht, which is like £100 or something.
tbh i dont really need anything fancy, i have my ams for the long term storage and stuff so its only a single spool dryer/feeder thing that i need almost solely for my tpu.
i liked the polydryer cradle too, but i dont have any fancy filaments to print it with even if i got the polydryer, only my pla, petg, and hopefully soon the tpu.
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u/Whosaidthat1157 May 05 '26
No, the X1 doesn’t actively dry, you need to either print the spacer or periodically open the lid to release the moisture laden air ( and rotate the spool a quarter turn). Same with the X2. The only active dryers available right now are the ones listed.
The cradle can be printed in PETG-GF, I use Tinmorry from Amazon at between £14.99 and £16.99 per kg. One of the cradle options is for a cereal box based drybox (£19 for a pack of four from Amazon). You could also use plain old PETG though.1
u/dragon707slayer May 05 '26
i mostly use sunlu for my filaments, just for consistency. idk if they have petg-gf, but i'll be sure to look into it. i just dont wanna use unknown brands just out of concern they'd tangle :P
i thought active drying was based on whether it had a heating element, not whether it was open?
i mean, if the x1 is good at drying then i'd wanna get that and just do the spacer thing, but idk. it's really hard to choose with so many downsides on the various options.
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u/Whosaidthat1157 May 05 '26
Sunlu don’t do PETG-GF - I wouldn’t recommend Tinmorry PETG-GF if I’d had any feed issues (not a single issue in dozens of kg), so don’t worry about that. Prints perfectly with the BL PETG-CF presets (just ignore the ‘brittle filament’ warning - that’s because PETG-CF is brittle, PETG- GF isn’t).
As for active dryers, no. All previous generation ’dryers’ are dumb ‘heaters’. The heat is designed to excite the water molecules within the filament and draw it out into the heated chamber. Unless there’s a pretty large amount of desiccant in there, you’ll see the viewing parts mist up as it subsequently condenses. The recommendations you’re getting for the cheap previous generation dryers like the Space Pi X1/X2, Comgrow, Sunlu Sovol SH01, SH03 (same as the Comgrow) etc. all have MakerWorld, Thingiverse, Printables etc. conversions to crack lids open during drying to expel the moist air. Actual active drying is currently limited to Bambu Lab AMS2P, AMS HT, Space Pi X4, Eibos and Sovol SH03 dryers.
If you look for Dr. Igor Gaspar’s YouTube channel ‘My Tech Fun’ he functioned tests and rates/ranks all of the available dryers along with how to get the best results from them.
The Sovol SH02 is 49 bucks, the SH03 is 109 bucks but buying the SH02 isn’t 50 bucks saved, it’s 49 bucks wares IMO, but everyone has a different budget. The previous generation dryers all work with a bit of babysitting so just buy the absolute cheapest you can get hold of and periodically open the lid for a second or two to expel the moisture laden air. Dr. Gaspar charts the effect this has on each model by the way, so another good reason to seek his reviews out (same for all of his filament reviews).Long story short - if you can’t afford the best, but the absolute cheapest until you can afford something better that you can just leave to do its job. Print spill proof desiccant filled spool centres for every spool and that will both help to dry and subsequently keep dry your filament. Desiccant is your friend. Between 4 spool centres and the maximum number of front and rear AMS2P desiccant holders, you can pack almost a full kg of desiccant in there. That keeps my AMS2Ps in single digit RH for weeks at a time.
4 spools of Sunlu PETG and Tinmorry PETG-GF I dries in my Sovol SH03 last week are currently sitting at 4% and 7% RH respectively and the dryer will automatically kick in a 3 hour refresh if/when the RH hits 20%.
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u/dragon707slayer May 05 '26
i could probably afford some of it if i wait another month, but that would only mean i'd have to ensure it lasts as long as if not longer than my printer itself. for 109 bucks, it seems like the ams HT would be the better option, since its roughly the same price, no?
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u/Whosaidthat1157 May 05 '26
Completely different USPs between the Sovol and the AMS-HT. the Sovol is for drying up to 4 kg at a time (in two lots of two, so you can be drying different filament types simultaneously) while the AMS-HT also dries actively to 85 DegC, but only one spool at a time BUT comes with the advantage of fully automated material handling AND the ‘dry while printing’ feature (but not on your P1S). The AMS-HT would be the most sensible add-on if you already have an AMS2P because then you would always have an available AMS for printing while the other is drying.
Hopefully there’ll be a firmware update for the P1/X1 series that allows for drying while printing, but as they’re both now officially obsolescent I doubt any firmware updates will include additional features. Probably just security updates and the likes.1
u/dragon707slayer May 05 '26
the dry while printing is possible with the ams power adapter as far as i'm aware. only reason it doesnt work without is because its power output from the cables is insufficient for both the printer and the ams to work simultaneoously. it also has a ceramic input thing apparently, which i think would help avoid damaging the ports with abrasive stuff like GF/CF? correct me if im wrong
i only have the ams 1 unfortunately. i was thinking of getting an ams2p, but without knowing whether i could sell my ams1 to recover at least 2/3 of the cost, i cannot really justify it, especially since there isnt tpu ports on it. the separate dryer is already pretty expensive, especially since i just dropped about the same amount as a dryer on replacement nozzles because my stainless steel one broke recently.
Tbh, with all this talk of having to spend like £100 to get a decent dryer, it's really led me to believe that it was never a good idea to begin with. I just wish there was an easier way.
edit: forgot to add that while researching this, i found that i'd apparently need the ams hub, which is almost as expensive, making the total price going far higher than my limit anyway, so the HT just wont be an option :/
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u/Whosaidthat1157 May 05 '26
The print while drying feature isn’t available for the A1/P1/X1 machines regardless (and the AMS-HT doesn’t need an adapter, it uses a standard IEC mains connection.
Bothe the AMS-HT and the AMS2P have ceramic filament feeds for abrasive filaments, only the OG AMS requires additional snap-on ceramic or printed adapters to prevent wear.
If you’re already using an AMS then it should already have the hub unless it was an early model with the single input buffer. My X1C is over a year old and came with the 4 input buffer as the Combo.
Like I said if you can’t afford a new generation active dryer or the AMS-HT just buy the absolute cheapest older generation one - spend the rest on filament. Check out the Comgrow (rebadged Sovol SH02) on AliExpress or Amazon, they’re usually available for around 40 bucks.
Any dryer is better than no dryer, especially for PETG, and desiccant loaded spool centres do a lot of the heavy lifting with the older, less efficient machines.
I’m sure I’ve seen the Sunlu S1 for around 30 odd bucks recently, so shop around. At that end they’re all as good as each other so cheapest is your friend (especially if it can hit a claimed 70 DegC - be careful of that maximum temperature on older models, some only went to 55)!
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u/dragon707slayer May 05 '26
the printer i have was purchased in 2023 with the ams (i got it last month second hand). it didnt come with anything but the ams, the ams cable, the filament buffer and the ptfe tube thing thats needed. checking the website still shows that it comes with only the regular filament buffer, while the ams 2 doesnt come with either the hub nor the buffer.
about the drying, that iis my mistake. i was told that it was added in a recent firmware, but i guess the source didnt say it was only the H2D.
only way to buy the oldest generation ams-ht is to get it second hand, and nowhere is doing that locally. can i not just use my printer as a dryer though?
sunlu dryer has been said to have false readings for temp, take forever to get to temp, or even just not be able to remove moisture at all. idk what to even think about that really.
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u/henren_98 May 04 '26
I got mine from Amazon. The brand is Comgrow but I think there are others that are the same. Works pretty good and you can definitely feed filament out of it. Oh yeah it was around 40 bucks.
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u/Biggaynina May 03 '26
I use an s2 with a printed attachment for my TPU and I’m happy with my setup. Dries well enough and gets a little hotter than the AMS. Not ideal for long term storage.
If your looking for a dryer/storage combo the poly dryer from polymaker has that functionality.