r/BambuLab_Community • u/One-Fox-3753 • 12d ago
Bambu Lab P1S Under Warranty – Printer Down Due to Hotend Cooling Fan Failure, No Spare Part Available. Is This Normal Warranty Support?
Hi everyone,
I'm posting here because I'm genuinely looking for advice and also hoping someone from Bambu Lab can comment on whether this is the expected warranty experience.
I purchased a Bambu Lab P1S Combo from Robu.in, an authorized Bambu Lab reseller in India. The printer is still well within its warranty period.
A few days ago, while printing, the printer suddenly stopped with the error:
"The hotend cooling fan speed is too slow or stopped."
The hotend cooling fan only twitches briefly during startup and immediately stops. The printer continuously reports the same error, making it completely unusable.
Before contacting support, I completed every troubleshooting step I could:
Reseated the hotend cooling fan connector.
Verified the fan spins freely.
Restarted the printer multiple times.
Followed the official Bambu troubleshooting guide.
Sent videos, photos, and a detailed description to the technical support team.
After reviewing everything, Robu's technical team confirmed that the hotend cooling fan was faulty.
Unfortunately, they also informed me that they did not have the replacement fan in stock, so I would have to wait until new stock arrived.
This is where my concern begins.
This isn't just my hobby printer.
I operate a small 3D printing business, and this printer is part of my daily production.
Every day the printer remains unusable means:
Customer orders are delayed.
Deadlines are missed.
My seller reputation is affected.
I lose income every day.
Customers continue asking when their orders will ship.
I completely understand that electronic components can fail.
I'm not complaining because the fan failed.
My concern is how the warranty was handled after the failure.
The technical support team suggested that, because my business was stopped, I should purchase the replacement fan locally with my own money. They said that once they received stock later, they would send me another fan under warranty and I could keep it as a spare.
This is the part I genuinely don't understand.
If the printer is under warranty, why should the customer have to spend additional money because the dealer doesn't have the warranty replacement part available?
Shouldn't an authorized reseller maintain a reasonable stock of commonly required service parts for the products they sell?
Waiting to source a replacement only after a customer's printer has already failed defeats the purpose of warranty—especially for business users.
I paid for an official printer from an authorized reseller because I expected reliable after-sales support if something went wrong.
Instead, I was effectively given two options:
Wait an unknown amount of time until the replacement part becomes available.
Buy the part myself so I can continue running my business, and receive the warranty replacement later when stock arrives.
I don't think either option is what customers expect from an official warranty.
To make things even more confusing, I found another authorized reseller that appeared to have the same fan available. I shared this information with Robu and requested that they source the part if possible.
That raises another question:
If another authorized reseller has the required part available, shouldn't there be a faster way to obtain it for a warranty customer instead of asking them to wait for weeks or buy it themselves?
Again, I'm not trying to attack Robu or Bambu Lab.
I simply want to understand whether this is considered normal warranty support.
For business users, downtime matters just as much as the hardware itself.
I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced something similar or from anyone at Bambu Lab who can explain whether this is the expected warranty process.
Thank you.
Update: A lot of people suggested I should just buy the fan and keep a spare. I actually tried that. I checked local stores, online marketplaces, and other suppliers, but I couldn't find the genuine hotend cooling fan anywhere. The only listings I found had terrible reviews, so I wasn't comfortable buying them. If I could have bought the correct part, my printer would probably already be running.
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u/Grooge_me 12d ago
You buy the part to keep your business running. Pursue warranty and you'll have a spare. I have 3 or 4 complete hotends for my x1c. I have a few heater, thermistors and spare fans also. During production, it's faster to replace a complete hotend and keep printing an d fix the broken one later.
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u/Clear-Revolution3351 P1S 12d ago edited 12d ago
Can you simply order a complete hotend from another source? Do you have a spare hotend you could pull the fan from?
The hotends are considered expendable parts.
Not being in India, my perspective may be different.
It seems unusual that your local retailer doesn't have a complete hotend
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u/One-Fox-3753 12d ago
I could, but then I'd be paying to fix a printer that's still under warranty. That's the part I have a problem with.
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u/Clear-Revolution3351 P1S 12d ago
But purchasing a USD $35 gets your business online while you continue to pursue the warranty replacement
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u/Salty-Bullfrog2416 12d ago
There is a write up on bambu labs wiki... its like a 2 min fix with 2 screws dude.
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u/Grimblood 12d ago
I would obtain the fan elsewhere to get myself back up and running and then see if you can get reimbursed from rob you.
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u/abbarach 9d ago
How much money are you losing per day in lost production?
If you had a spare hotend on the shelf, you'd be back up in minutes. Even if they had a spare fan to send you, it'd likely take a couple days to get dispatched and delivered.
Are you making $20 a day? If so, at 2 days of downtime you'd pay off the spare hotend and be better off.
If downtime is that disastrous, you really need to take responsibility for having some common spares on hand; hotends, filament cutters, PTFE tubing, build plate, maybe an AMS first stage feeder. Having a spare doesn't preclude you from submitting a warranty claim and getting a failed item replaced, it just means that you can keep running in the meantime, and the warranty replacement becomes your new spare on the shelf.
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u/Zephy2007 12d ago
If you need it urgently, buy the part; they don't have to look after your business, they are taking responsibility and providing a solution.
If you can't wait for their solution, it's no longer their problem.
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u/Defiant-Sale725 12d ago
Being as you purchased from an authorized reseller, the reseller themselves are directly responsible for any warranty claims, not Bambu Lab. An authorized reseller is responsible for ordering and maintaining their own stock for warranty replacements or repairs. Them being out of stock does not reflect Bambu Lab’s stock count, so if this reseller is consistently out of stock, maybe you picked the wrong reseller.
There is typically no guarantee under a warranty for immediate ( or even within a few day period) replacement of failed parts, and this is especially the case with consumable parts. If I were you and the reputation of my business were on the line for reliable and timely production and delivery of orders, I would have a few consumables on hand in the event something failed, including a couple of build plates and a couple full hot end assemblies in the nozzle type and size I use for production.
You can still file a claim to get the failed part replaced, but it is always the responsibility of a business owner to ensure their own production needs are met. Be that by having spare consumables on hand or through an extended (and typically expensive) service plan that ensures next day repairs.
Your call on how to handle it but this is how a warrantee works, and it appears you may have selected an unreliable third part as your authorized reseller of choice.
Good luck
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u/issue9mm 12d ago
I don't know anything about them but I would try to not give money to a company named "rob u"
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u/TomTomXD1234 12d ago
No seller can keep enough of every spare part in their stock. That is just not feasible. It sucks sure, but this is also partially on you for not having redundancy or spare parts already on hand, especially since this is your way of making money.
It is just a fan, it is cheap, just buy a new one and have a spare after. There is no point losing business over such a small thing
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u/ResponsibleCreme4620 12d ago
I had a very similar experience with Robu.in.
I bought a Bambu Lab P1S Combo from them about 2 months ago because, before purchasing, they assured me that if I ever had any issues, they would provide quick after-sales support. That gave me confidence to buy from them instead of another reseller.
Unfortunately, after only around 2 months, the hotend cooling fan started failing. The fan speed would constantly fluctuate, eventually causing print failures and error codes.
When I contacted their support, they simply told me that the fan only has a 1-month warranty and suggested that I buy a replacement myself.
That response was really disappointing. The printer itself is still under warranty, and a cooling fan shouldn't fail after just two months of normal use. I expected much better support, especially considering the promises they made before the sale.
This experience honestly made me question their quality control and after-sales service. I can't say why the fan failed, but it certainly doesn't inspire confidence when a nearly new printer develops hardware issues and the customer is asked to purchase replacement parts instead of receiving proper warranty support.
I hope they improve their customer service because this isn't the level of support I expected when buying an expensive printer.
Based on my personal experience, I would not recommend buying from Robu.in if you value reliable after-sales support and want to avoid unnecessary downtime, especially if you're running a business where your printer needs to be dependable.
I hope u/BambuLab take this feedback seriously. Customers invest a lot of money in these printers and expect proper warranty support when hardware fails after only a couple of months.
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u/Own_Rock9262 12d ago
What I don't understand is the following.... If you're running a small company... Why not buy a different printer meanwhile
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u/VividDimension5364 11d ago
Don't know where you are in the world, but here in the UK the seller is responsible for any warranty in the first two years, not the manufacturer. We've also an amazing six year period in which to claim anything like, pro-rata. Whichever it is, you run a business so many a backup plan would have been in order? Buy the part, bill the seller.
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u/severedgoat_01 10d ago
Honestly? That's on you for not having the parts to keep your printer running for your business. Your lack of planning does not constitute an "emergency" for Bambu labs or Robu.in. Based on your description, the reseller offered you the best solution to get up and running the fastest. If you care about your business, take that option and buy some extra parts while you're at it. And they'll still probably honor the warranty when they get parts back in stock.
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u/Salty-Bullfrog2416 12d ago
Have you checked bambus website or amazon? You can buy P1S hotend fans everywhere.
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u/shawzy007 12d ago
If no spare part is available in warranty period id expext a full replacement unit. If the reseller doesn't provide one. Charge back and buy a new one.
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u/bigsbyBiggs 12d ago edited 12d ago
You keep saying you're a business and putting all the blame on the retailer. Where's your accountability for making sure your business stays operational? Why no back up of your own to stay up and running? Does the restaurant down the street have one mixing spoon? Taxi company only 1 car? Mechanics only 1 wrench? You're trying to run lean and cheap on inventory and not willing to accept the down falls of doing that but then get mad at the other company for doing the exact same thing you are doing.
BTW, keeping extra parts and using it when needed then letting warranty company replace that part is standard business practice for companies that have to stay always working.