Glossary · Accessories

3D printing

AMS (Automatic Material System)

An add-on device from Bambu Lab that holds several spools and automatically feeds the printer the colour or material it needs at the moment. This gives you multi-colour prints without changing spools by hand.

Explained in more detail

AMS stands for Automatic Material System and is a Bambu Lab product name, not a general technical term. There is the enclosed AMS with four spools, the open AMS lite for the A1 series, the AMS 2 Pro with active drying and the AMS HT for a single spool, which can dry at up to 85 °C and is intended for engineering materials. On X1 and P1 series printers, up to four AMS units can be linked to give 16 colours. Other manufacturers have their own systems: CFS (Creality Filament System), ACE Pro and ACE 2 Pro (Anycubic Color Engine) and MMU3 (Prusa Multi Material Unit 3). All of them work with a single nozzle: the old filament is cut off or retracted, the new one is fed in and the nozzle is purged. This costs time and material with every change.

Where does the term come from?

English “Automatic Material System”. Bambu Lab introduced the name in 2022 with the X1 Carbon. Because Bambu printers are so widespread, many people now say “AMS” for any multi-colour system.

In practice

• TPU is too soft for most of these systems and is fed to the print head through a separate input.
• Cardboard spools can cause abrasion in some units or slip, and adapter rings or rewinding onto plastic spools help.
• Fibre-reinforced filaments wear out feeders and are not approved for every system, so check the manufacturer's specifications.
• The original AMS protects filament from moisture with desiccant, AMS 2 Pro and AMS HT dry actively, and the AMS lite does not dry at all.
• Every change costs time and purge material, and with hundreds of changes in one print, hours add up quickly.

Not to be confused

AMS is not an umbrella term for multi-colour printing but a product from Bambu Lab. It is also not a tool changer: all colours run through the same nozzle, which is why purge waste is produced.

Frequently asked questions

Does an AMS work with printers from other manufacturers?

Officially no: AMS units are built for Bambu Lab printers, and Bambu Lab decides which variant works with which model. Other manufacturers have their own systems such as CFS, ACE or MMU3.

What is the difference between AMS and AMS lite?

The AMS holds four spools in an enclosed housing with desiccant. The AMS lite also holds four spools, but is open, intended for the A1 series, and does not protect the filament from moisture.