Im looking into getting a solid user beginner 3d printer. I tried with a used ender 3 pro and did nothing but screw up and waste time.
The pluses i see are the enclosure for better condition control and the ams for drying. Does anyone know the difference in the ams and ams 2 pro cause im not seeing much of one.
Anyhow thoughts do it or no anyone have other suggestions if not bambu labs?
Thanks
I have a P1S and I’ve been very happy with it. You can upgrade it to a hardened nozzle and extruder gears for a pretty reasonable price.
If you don’t need multi color printing, the Elegoo Centauri Carbon seems like a great bargain option. Elegoo Centauri Carbon | Best High-Speed CoreXY 3D Printer – ELEGOO US
The AMS is their old style (old as of 2 months ago). It really does not dry filament but you keep desiccant beads or packs in it and since it is an enclosed container, you can keep filament dry for months. On the X1C there is a monitor for the actual humidity level in the AMS unit so that you can see when the desiccant needs to be replaced.
The AMS2 is brand new and actually has additional power going to it with some sort of heating/drying element in the unit to actively dry and keep the filament dry. With the new R2D printer, there exist one plug receptacle (120 v) for one AMS2. For any other printer or for additional AMS2 units added to the R2D they include a 110 plug/adapter for this added power consumption.
I have the X1C and it’s been great. Haven’t heard too many complaints about Bambu but I will say the AMS doesn’t read the RFID tags for the Bambu filaments on mine. Also I didn’t know the X1C had a humidity detector, I’m going to have to look into that. Just tossed 4 rolls of filament because they got brittle sitting in the unit for a few months while I moved. I’ve been looking at their newer larger units, not a big fan of the laser combo but I really like the new AMS and the larger print area. This post is a few months old now, did you pull the trigger or go a different direction?
Just a thought: If you are considering the AMS2 unit, something to consider. Yes it does have a much better design overall than the original AMS (easier to work on and trouble shoot and dries filament) but the drying feature only works when you are not printing. So for hours, the AMS is not available.
This Sunlu heating top can be added to the original AMS unit, I bought two of them. They are about $120 each. You can have them heat when the AMS unit is being used.
While I’m new to 3D printing, I’ll weigh in a tad.
I went with the new AMS2 because of the many complaints I’d read about when “servicing” the old version. Whether it was pulling out broken filament, filament not being fed correctly, replacing a PTFE tube, and other stuff I can’t remember off the top of my head, it made more sense to own the AMS2 in the long run.
Jim is correct about only using the drying feature when not printing, which sucks but it doesn’t bother me since I own two AMS (one AMS HT and one AMS2 Pro).
I did see a video about a week back though where someone did print while drying, but because their X1C had the option of removing the “rotate” feature while drying. I don’t have that option on my P1S unfortunately.
Anyway, I love how fast it feeds and retracts as it switches from one filament to another. Also love how well it does with drying filaments in general.
When I printed my lightsaber recently using silk PLA, I noticed a few defects in my newly acquired filaments. I just assumed right off the bat that it was moisture causing for the ugly defects and only after 2 hours of drying at 50c, the prints looked significantly better.
The end result
I’m sure the Sunlu does great as many people are often recommending it. But I already bought what’s going to be a discontinued printer here soon, why not buy the newest AMS?
That and I didn’t want to have a huge eyesore sitting on top of an AMS considering the AMS alone sits on top of my printer already.
I have a P1S and an X1C. Both with AMS and Sunlu S4 dryers sitting next to them. To me the AMS 2 seems to be a victim of Second System Syndrome as does the P2S. Take a reliable system and try to make it more than it really should or can be…
The Printers Print well, I don’t need them to be anything else,
The AMS system keeps the filaments available on demand and they stay dry due to the Desiccant bins. I don’t need it to try to be a dryer too.
The S4 Dryers dry very well and will store and keep 4 spools ready for whatever swap out I need. I did modify my S4s, however, so that I could keep and use TPU 85A. The mod provides a tension detection/spool drive mechanism so the super flex TPU will feed out of the S4, into the external PTFE port of the printers. Works well, I’ve grown to like TPU, both 85A and the very rugged TPU for AMS.
I should have mentioned that I use Orca Slicer, not Bambu’s Slicer. Bambu has proven they can’t be trusted to keep their hands off of MY equipment so I booted them out and use the printers in LAN Only mode with my own monitoring software that texts me when my prints are done. Very handy 
I know!!! Once you get it to print without stringing, it is very satisfying, reliable and durable.
It is so slow so I often prototype with PETG HF and then print for real with TPU.
