The Bambu Labs P1S Combo is exciting, innovative, and fun! That is what our team discovered with this product from Bambu Labs. Most of the time we are used to unwrapping an item and having to adjust this or that to get things in order. Not so with the Bambu Labs P1S Combo. Their tag line is basically “15 minutes from box to print”. We have to say that is very true! Come explore with us this very interesting device and we will share some of the insights our team discovered……….
Unboxing:
There are dozens of videos which cover how to unbox and set up the P1 series of printers. So, we will not go into that here. However, the box is rather large so keep this in mind. It is definitely a “two person” operation to get it into your home or facility for setup.
The reason for the size is the printer comes fully assembled, ready to go, with some very innovative ways of shipping the extras.
Shipping Screw Removal:
The AMS filament roll unit comes shipped inside the printer bolted in place for shipping. It is very well protected, and the quick start guide shows you how to take all of the shipping screws out to release it.
Our team truly did find that it only took about 15 minutes to remove all of the foam, release the screws, and set this printer up!
Bambu Labs gives you a wrench to release all of the screws. However, we found that it was a bit easier to use a small screwdriver equipped with a T-8 hex/torx bit. This made quick work of getting into the tight spaces.
The AMS Unit – an exciting innovation:
The AMS Unit is a very nice piece of technology. Our team has looked at various options for color changing filament but only this one from Bambu Labs has been worthy of an article. The AMS just plain works! The only confusing bit with this unit was the setup. Interestingly, the quick start guide does not mention why some extra Teflon tubes are included with the AMS. They were packaged inside the box with our unit.
We searched online and found that, we believe, these tubes are either for future replacement (as spares) or perhaps for the P1P if you purchased the AMS as a stand-alone unit and needed to add components that are not included with the P1P. However, our P1S Combo was fully ready to go so we just saved these extra tubes.
Quality:
When our team looked around at the quality of this combo package we were amazed. Every detail has been thought out with the fit and finish, from the camera positioning to the style of the unit.
The Screen:
The screen of the P1S combo is small but functional. You can get full information about your printer from either the phone app or Bambu Studio, which is the software slicer package which works flawlessly with the combo unit.
AMS Usage Insights:
Once plugged in, software in hand, our team was ready to try out the P1S. There are only a few cables and tubes to connect, and the quick start guide included with the P1S Combo does an excellent job of telling you how to put all of it together. Having done all of that, we looked at our filament options to get started printing. The P1S combo comes with some sample filament to try.
We decided to try the included green “PLA basic green” which was included in our combo kit. This is where we encounter our one and only issue with the P1S, which really was not an issue. That is, how do you load the filament into the AMS? The included quick start guide did not list the loading or unloading process. In fact, we had to hunt for a while online to find the answer.
So here is our first “tip” for using the AMS. To load the filament, you need to push forward on the little tab on the AMS unit in front of the port where the filament goes like this:
If you push this forward, you will then be able to insert the filament in the hole and the AMS will start to pull in the filament. Once it does you can release the tab.
From this point forward the AMS did all the work figuring out how far to pull the filament in, rewinding it, and getting prepared for usage. Telling the system which color you loaded is automatic using the Bambu labs reels. It senses what you have loaded and automatically configures the system! But you are not limited in filament choices. If you wish to load your own filament from another vendor, all you must do after loading the roll is go into the AMS menu and click on the pencil edit button to select the type of filament you loaded. Neat!
Using the Bambu Labs P1S Combo
Using the P1S was fun and extremely easy. After a few prints we had almost forgotten all the tweaks and adjustments we usually make on our other printers before getting a print going. We tossed quite a lot at the P1S to see what it could do, and it performed great. From a simple round object to a complex multi-color print. It handled all of them without any issues at all. We will not go into all of that here because there is quite a lot of ground to cover. You can outfit your P1S with just about an sort of customizations you wish. We will cover some of those in another article. However needless to say it was fun testing the P1S! Here are some photos of the kinds of things we printed with the P1S, some of which are on their “makerworld” site, makerworld.com:
Parting Thoughts:
We asked Bambu Labs if there was anything they wished to share with our readers about the P1S. About their technology they said:
“We strive to make our 3D printing technology accessible, ensuring that both beginners and experienced users can enjoy our products.”
Our team thinks that they have absolutely achieved this. We hope you have enjoyed learning about the P1S Combo. If you have any questions regarding the P1S we would be happy to hear about them. Stay tuned for our upcoming article on P1S customizations!