There’s been a major development in the ongoing electrical issue with the new Bambu Lab A1 desktop 3D printer.
Readers may recall that last week the company publicly identified an issue with the power cable to the heat bed on their latest device, the popular A1. This is quite an incredible 3D printer, and we did a full review of it a few weeks ago.
The quality and price of this machine was so tremendous that Bambu Lab’s sales soared — and by implication those of competitors sagged.
But then there was the cable issue. It seems that this particular cable is robust enough for normal operations, but can be damaged if bent by the operator during assembly or afterwards. Bent cables can cause short circuits, and because it’s the heat bed cable, lots of electricity flows through it. The design flaw seems to be that this cable isn’t quite tough enough for the abuse it takes from operators.
There have been a few operators that have had actual problems with damaged cables, with at least one showing what could be the start of a small fire.
Bambu Lab’s initial announcement suggested to continue using the machine unless the operator observes damage to the cable. The company provided images to illustrate what to look for. Damaged machines could be returned or repaired.
Then a few days later controversy erupted when Bambu Lab sent a reasonable notice to online content producers using the device. The notice asked them to stop using the machine to produce content, a reasonable thing to do considering the ongoing issue.
However, this message was grossly misinterpreted by many to mean that Bambu Lab said everyone should stop using the A1. But other operators did not receive this message, leading to mass confusion. Even worse, the conspiracy folks stepped in and raised multiple non-existent issues and generated a spiral of nonsense.
I suggested that Bambu Lab should quickly issue some clarifications about the situation so that everyone is clear on what to do.
Now it seems that Bambu Lab has done just that with a new statement posted on their blog by “Spaghetti Monster”.
In the revealing post, they say they’ve found that “less than 0.1% of all the A1 printers sold” have the problem. That may indeed be true, but the rest of the printers could develop problems if the cable is abused.
They wrote:
“There are cases where the printer was placed on the heatbed cable connector during installation causing significant stress on the cables. In other situations, the source of the problem reported might be related to different factors and we are still waiting for those affected printers to get back into our engineering team’s hands for a detailed investigation of the problem.”
So it seems they are still early into the problem and still determining the nature of the situation. Following that I’m sure they will determine a way to repair or replace these machines.
Then they say this:
“While the number of faulty printers is very small, we take the safety of our customers very seriously, and until we learn more about what exactly causes the heatbed cable problem, we recommend everyone stop using the printer for their safety.”
The bolding is theirs, not mine. Yes, they are asking ALL A1 operators to turn off their machines until further notice. This is a massive step, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard any other 3D printer manufacturer come out with a blanket stop order like this. Even companies that were notorious for selling machines that started fires did not do this.
The company is aware that this is going to be an incredible inconvenience for many people, some of whom will not have 3D print capability for a time. They have two approaches:
Return Now: This involves packing and shipping the machine back to Bambu Lab and receiving a full refund. They will provide a US$80 voucher for immediate Bambu Lab replacement purchases of other models. You could also wait a bit and apply this to the updated A1 when it is released some time in May.
Wait for Upgrade: The second option involves simply waiting and not sending the machine back. Around the end of March Bambu Lab will issue repair kits that will swap out the heated (and cable, presumably). As compensation, the company will provide a US$120 voucher for use in their store for other purchases, which could include filament.
They’ve also provided a detailed Wiki and video on the cable issue, which is pretty impressive for a company that just found out about this problem a week ago.
This is now a serious issue for Bambu Lab, as they have one of their top models off the product shelf for the time being. However, it seems they are taking reasonable steps to rectify the situation.
It seems to me that the second option, waiting, might be the best option for many operators, as there’s a bigger payoff and no need for shipping hassles. I suspect that is the option Bambu Lab hopes many will take, as they are providing additional compensation for selecting it.
The A1 was a big player in the inexpensive desktop 3D printer space, so you might think that Bambu Lab is effectively out of that market at the moment. You’d be wrong, however, as they still offer their powerful A1 Mini, which provides almost the same capabilities as the A1, except in a smaller package.
And it doesn’t have a cable problem.
Via Bambu Lab
