The Bambu Lab AMS is an intelligent system that communicates with the tool head to guarantee smooth feeding and automatic mid-print filament switching. Most failures with AMS are due to improper use. Here are some guidelines to reduce issues and have the best user experience:
1. The AMS supports spools with a width of 50-68 mm and a diameter of 197-202 mm. When operating the AMS, we recommend using Bambu Filament, which has been thoroughly tested to work with the AMS. If you purchase a single AMS unit, it will come with a filament buffer. If you plan to link multiple AMS units together, you will need to purchase the AMS Hub.
2. Avoid using AMS to print flexible materials, including TPU, TPE, or absorbent PVA, as they may get stuck inside the AMS feed tube during printing.
3. Avoid using materials that are too hard (too high modulus) or too brittle (not enough toughness), including third-party fiber reinforcement materials (PA-CF/GF, PET-CF/GF, PLA-CF /GF, etc.), some Silk materials (PLA Silk) and PLA Glow-in-the-dark materials, etc. Because they may wear AMS PTFE tubes during the printing process, brittle breaks, and other problems. However, Bambu PLA-CF, PETG-CF, PAHT-CF and other official filaments are specially optimized and adjusted to ensure that the above problems will not occur in order to print compatible with AMS.
4. Please avoid using the cardboard spool as it may slip off. The rollers inside AMS control the rotation of the spool by friction generated between the plastic spool edge and the rubber roller. Cardboard spool has very little friction and can tear or tip up at the edges, so it can slip or get stuck, causing malfunction or damage to AMS.
5. Please note that the PTFE tubes are consumables and are at risk of wear, as they may rub against the filament over time. We recommend that you check the PTFE tubes for wear during your maintenance of the machine. If the tubes are worn and not replaced in time, this may lead to feeding failures, filament accumulation inside the AMS, etc. If needed, please refer to these tutorial videos on replacing PTFE tubes.
If you run into any issues with specific filaments, please let us know so we can provide better advice to our community.