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Bambu Carbon X1C
My Bambu Carbon X1C arrived 2022-10-10, after preordering in August 2022. It is an incredible machine, far superior to anything I had before. It's not cheap (I paid $1300 iirc), but spare parts are very reasonably priced despite the closed ecosystem (not that closed, though; there are alternate firmwares, such as X1Plus, but I have not used them).
Mods in use
All mods were printed on the X1C itself using Bambu's black ABS.
- 4x The SENATE AMS feeder button covers
- 4x build plate corner guides
- BentoBox 2.0 HEPA filter+charcoal+fan stack plus power cable cover
- 2x AMS desiccant trays
- 3x AMS desiccant boxes
- Y-splitter for AMS+freespool
- Hinged top glass riser
The AMS desiccant boxes and trays are great (and the hygrometer fits into the center one perfectly); with them in place, my AMS gets to about 10% humidity despite living in humid Atlanta (my condo at large tends towards 50%+). Every time you open the AMS, it will exchange air with the outside, and humidity will go back up, so keep it closed (and locked--there are two swiveling locks in the corners, easy to miss). Remember, your filaments will be absorbing that water along with your desiccants, and the desiccants aren't going to pull water out of the filaments; for that, you need active drying (I use a $40 food dehydrator, none of those fancy filament dryers, and the Carbon can dry filaments itself thanks to its heated enclosure).
The top glass riser is great for printing PLA, where you want some airflow but might not want to leave the front door hanging open.
The BentoBox is designed to filter out some of the VOCs generated when printing certain materials. It wants two 40mm fans, a HEPA filter, and activated acid-free charcoal (it is claimed that acidful charcoal will fuck up your printer; I don't know anything about it). I had several Delta 40mm screamers free I'd pulled from an Aruba switch (Noctua NF-A4s are not strong enough to effectively draw air through the tower, sadly). I tapped into the X1C's internal 24V using a spare post on the stock PSU. The fans are 12V, so I employed a LMS2596 buck converter to efficiently drop the voltage. The fans are enabled when chamber temperature hits 35C using a NO (normally open) thermistor. The BentoBox only serves to draw air through the filter and charcoal; it doesn't vent to the outside or anything.
Additions
- Bambu anti-vibration feet
- FYSETC PEI plate
The anti-vibration feet reduced noise and shaking significantly. Some people complain that they're not held in by anything other than friction, but my experience is that if you shove them in hard enough, there's no problem. A PEI plate kept clean will eliminate the glue necessitated by the stock cold plate. Spend the extra $10 for a plate that can be detected by the Carbon; my FYSTEC was $13.