this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2026
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Hey guys, Any help trying to identify what is wrong with this one?

The first layer was pretty flawless except for the top-right side, where it looked kind of grainy. Maybe the plate needed cleaning on that side, but generally the adhesion is solid.

I was away while the second layer was printing, but apparently it failed and it looks like shit. When I got back, it was air-printing, still on the second layer as far as I can tell. However it seems like the nozzle was causing some of the artifacts to form, like maybe it was hitting the first layer or something? I am not sure.

This is on a Bambu A1 mini, with Bambu matte filaments. It is on a brand-new 0.2 nozzle, first print just out of the package. And the reason I got the nozzle was that I had some maybe similar failures before, where my previous nozzle seemed like was showing signs of clogging - i tried some cold and hot pulls, I could do some prints but some where failing so I thought to take this part out of the equation.

Any ideas what maybe could have caused something like this? The filament? I had tried drying it a while ago i believe, I can try again and I got a brand new one as well, but I wouldn't believe so because the first layer seems pretty good at the beginning. Could the plate maybe being dirty have caused buildup of crap on the nozzle and lead to a failure? Could it be something I can try maybe with the Z axis (although I have no experience with this? I did another calibration now though). I had read about AMS tubes as potential reason, but not sure how to tell. Any ideas what to check?

For reference I am trying to print something similar to this in different colors. I have already done 4 prints in other colors successfully.

https://i.imgur.com/0gI7W3z.jpeg

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[–] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Looks like you have bad filament? And/or bad temp?

[–] Trail@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well, I dried the filament overnight just to check, and the weight before and after was exactly the same, so I guess it was dry.

That said, I tried searching for root causes and tried asking chatgpt to see what it would come up with. After some bullshit replies, it ended up telling me that the Bambu matte filaments are bad for 0.2 nozzle due to their "heavy" additives that make it matte and can cause clogs or partial clogs while printing. It told me that other brands are better than it, including polymaker which supposedly is the factory that makes bambuatye filaments, and it also told me me that some colors, including specifically they gray I am trying to print with, have more trouble printing on small nozzles because of some white particles that give the gray color.

Now, I tried asking for sources for what it told me to double-check if it was true because generally I don't trust it, but it gave me nothing concrete. In theory what it told me could make sense. Does anyone know anything about this matter or had prior experience?!

[–] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Can you try with a good filament? Is the filament brittle?

(I didn't downvote you btw)

[–] Trail@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well, the same filament has printed the same design 3 times successfully a few days ago.

But now I think I also recall a long time ago it was again this gray that would cause air printing on a different small multicolor print.

I have another same Bambu matte gray roll which is unopened (not from the same batch). I can maybe try to see if I get another air print to swap the filament and see if it improves. I guess the filament could have been too thick at some points in the roll maybe? It is mentioned to have +-0.03mm tolerance, maybe I should get tigher ones for 0.2 prints...

[–] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I wouldn't bother with the filament width tolerance, you seem to have some serious stuff going on here. Maybe the 0.2mm nozzle just isn't made for this config, maybe the filament is bad somehow. I'd put in another roll and make a stupid calibration cube and go from there.

Before this, it was all okay?

[–] Trail@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I'll try the calibration cube you mention with the specific filament at high and low speed versus another filemant and try to compare the results...