Hey, I am looking for an advice on buying my second printer. I am looking for a machine that prints every day for 10+ hours mostly without me looking at it. Which one is better for the task?
Currently I’m deciding between Bambulab A1 and Sovol sv06 ace +. They cost more or less the same in my part of the world and sovol has a bigger print volume and seemingly less scummy (to date) company behind it. While bambu is super popular and pretty reliable.
I have the Balbulab A1 with the AMS Lite. The AMS is a game changer. The main reason is not to do multi-color printing, but to load the filament without thinking about it. You just have to engage the filament into one hole and forget about it : everything else is done for you. I can’t go back, waiting for the nozzle to heat, engaging the filament, waiting for the nozzle to purge, cleaning the nozzle from the purge, etc.
As a bonus, the AMS manages the ends of rolls. If you have the exact same roll, it will use the filament of the first roll until the last bit, then swap with the new roll. It can do it alone if you have already put the rolls on the AMS. This way, it can print nights and days and you don’t have to check if the rolls will soon be empty.
I can’t talk about the Sovol.
Does it work with 3-5 kg rolls?
Yes, if you put the roll on another support next to it. Putting the rolls on the arms of the AMS lite allows : to passively re-roll the filament (there is a spring to re-roll the filament, for example at the end of the print), and to read the RFID. Both functions are optionnal. Without the re-roll, the filament may tangle - but I do it frequently and I have no issue.
The AMS (not the lite version) can’t. It’s closed with a lid, so you can’t put a filament coming from an external roll. And the re-roll function is done with motors driving the rolls.