It’s such a well-known problem that many users print an aptly named “poop chute,” which collects and redirects waste to the side where it’s easier to empty. I opted for the simplest solution of placing an empty filament box behind the printer to catch it.
Before printing, the Bambu also sweeps and levels the bed according to a grid and alerts you if it hits any obstacles like leftover supports or an errant bed scraper. I’ve tested several printers with automatic leveling before, but they were slower and usually required a second manual check before initiating the operation. I haven’t had to adjust anything on the P1S in the month or so I’ve been using it, with the printer taking care of the initial setup, regular leveling, and nozzle cleaning.
The package
Photography: Brad Bourque
The Bambu P1S is sold alone, but I think the bundle that includes the AMS multifilament management is well worth the extra cost. When I unboxed the AMS, I dreamed of vibrant multi-color prints, and while that’s certainly possible, it’s not the component’s best feature. Changing colors or materials mid-print causes the nozzle to dump a small spool of extra material, and you have to print a tower on its side to minimize Z-axis variation.
The result is a lot of wasted plastic, extra time spent printing, and effort optimizing models and cutting out layers and colors. I also noticed that there was a lot of extra length in the bleed coils when changing colors, and I slowly reduced that amount in Bambu Studio, but your mileage may vary. To preempt any questions: yes, it felt weird inspecting my 3D printer’s droppings to improve its power supply.
Rather than printing complex multi-colored parts in one go, I found the AMS more useful in reducing the time I spent fiddling with the printer to swap filaments. While it walks you through the process, changing a single filament is a pretty hands-off process. You need to wait for the nozzle to heat up, remove the old filament, push the new one in until it drips again, then place the roll on the spool holder and make sure it purges whatever is left. With the AMS, I simply load the colors I want for a multi-part project onto the rollers, choose them in the slicer, and it handles everything from heating to purging.
