Buy Hydra PRO

I've teamed up with a few different stores around the world offerering the printed parts and everything you need for the build so you won't need anything outside of the kit:

• VOXELPLA (United States)
• Veetec3D (EU)

Hydra PRO has a strict non-commercial license, it can only be sold with licensing through Hume Beam Engineering Solutions.

Update April 18, 2024

I've updated the list of Hydra PRO supporters, sorry it took a while to assign the serial numbers. If I've missed someone please send me a PM. I've been incredibly busy designing and refining a very exciting new design coming soon. More details will be shared soon. 

Thanks for your support!

Update February 19, 2024

Hydra PRO version 1.01 is released. I have listened to your feedback and it has a number of improvements, mainly to printability but some other improvements as well. It now has optional but recommended “built-in” spine support for the main middle piece as well as support blocks for the left and right pieces between the two main walls, this will ensure a warp free print for even ABS and ASA prints.

Changes from 1.00:

• Built in (optional) supports for the left, middle and right main pieces. The supports are recommended but adds to the print time and uses some more material, although they're low infill and 1 wall only in the Print Profiles. In total, a full Hydra PRO set is now around 700 g give or take. If you manually skip the supports by removing these support blocks it will be less but I would highly recommend you keep them enabled.
• New rear rollers, self-centering style similar to the Improved Rear Rollers for Hydra AMS. An optional rear roller without a guide is available as well for those not using RFID spools.
• Left and right pieces have thicker and also an extra support wall below the curved surface.
• Hex cutouts were removed from all areas except where they are required, which is around the RFID boards. The hex cutouts were also made smaller in size for printability but increased in numbers.
• RFID slots widened clearance by 0.10 mm.
• Rear fastening slots increased range so the whole Hydra PRO inlay can adjusted front and back if required.
• Optional alignment tool optimized.
• An extra slot for the rear rollers for even smaller spools.
• Increased fillets and chambers for printability.
• Closed the gaps near the top near the front feeder mount for printability as well as redesigned feeder mount, strengthened and feeder cable cutout.

Version 1.01 is backwards compatible with the printed parts from 1.00 should you need to update just some parts.

Update January 23, 2024

Hydra PRO is now available to order from VOXELPLA (United States).

Update January 20, 2024

I've re-organized the files a bit and the front roller sleeve adapters are now 0.5 mm wider and the 4.90 mm one is default instead of 4.85 mm. Also, I've added some "extra wide" front roller sleeve adapters for those wanting to widen the front track even more (if you use very slim spools). It's 0.5 mm wider than the normal sleeve adapters.

Update January 8, 2024

I've added a section of Troubleshooting a bit down on the page with common issues and solutions. Most issues are quite easy to fix.

Update December 23, 2023

Updated the Print Profiles and added one for PC/PC Blend (Polycarbonate). Also, I made a “Quick Guide” for modifying the front rollers, it's basically the only difficult part of getting Hydra PRO up and running:

Update December 22, 2023

For those with access to extra large printers (+300 mm bed), a single piece version of Hydra PRO has been uploaded:

Hydra PRO - Advanced Bambu Lab AMS (Single Piece - For Large Printers)

Update December 21, 2023

Thanks for the feedback so far! There have been a few people having troubles printing the main parts, in particular the middle part failing at about 80%.

The reason for this is likely that there is (was) less material there and when you print at high speed there is not enough time for it to cool until the next layer is laid down, in particular when printing filaments not using full parts cooling. Therefore I have added some more material near the top and uploaded the files again, you don't have to reprint if you did already and the updated parts are 100% compatible with the older ones. I will also update the print profiles. It's also very important that bed adhesion is perfect, the parts are tall and thin.

The other question that has popped is a little confusion regarding the rear rollers. The bearings are pressed fully into the printed rollers then you slide in an M3 socket head on each side, you don't actually place the bearing in the slots (where they would not fit).

Please see below:

Update December 20, 2023

Hydra PRO 1.00 is released. Thank you for your patience and happy holidays!

About

Download the files then follow the assembly guide a bit down on this page.

Optional but recommended files to print:

• Hydra AMS - Silica Dry Boxes / Serial Number Tags
• PTFE Load Buttons to both save the funnels and improve ergonomics.
• Adjustable Spool Holder for Silica Gel / Spool Weight - Compatible with both Hydra AMS, Hydra PRO and Bambu Lab AMS.

If you download the individual 3MF files in the files section, they are design files only and can be easily printed on any printer / slicer. If you get a warning that they do not come from Bambu Lab just ignore the warning, they were exported directly from my design software.

Special thanks to my friends Kevin Pereira and GuyH for feedback and bouncing heads about this and my designs in general.

Leave feedback in the comments. Thanks!

The main changes / improvements over the standard AMS and Hydra AMS are:

• Requires modification of the front rollers and the use of custom rear rollers (included).
• Perfect track width of both rear and front rollers, no space for spools to jam!
• Increased spool widths, up to 79 mm, meaning almost all 1 Kg spools will fit.
• Increased spool diameters, up to 205 mm diameter spools fit with the lid closed.
• Adjustable spool rollers in 9 positions for 120 mm to 205 mm diameter spools.
• AMS feeder angled five degrees backwards (Same as Hydra AMS) to allow printing of full spools.
• PTFE Load Buttons to both save the funnels and improve ergonomics (optional, it's a separate download)

Support

All my designs and mods are free to use and remix. They have a non-commercial license. If you enjoy this or any of my other designs you can send me a small donation using the link below. Thanks :)

https://www.paypal.me/humebeamengineering

If you prefer Crypto/BTC you can send me a message.

If you send a donation be sure to mention Hydra PRO in the comments box and you will be added to the list below.

Official Supporters

If you have donated $5 or more you will be added to this list as an official thank you from me and you will also be assigned a serial number, the list will be updated as often as possible.

Already an official Hydra AMS Supporter and “upgrading” to Hydra PRO? Just let me know your name and serial number and I will assign you one for Hydra PRO as well for free and you will be added to the list.

You can request a custom serial number if you send a $20 donation or more but please be aware it may take a couple of days before your custom silica box is uploaded as I need to make these manually.

If you've bought Hydra from one of the authorized resellers you can also request a serial number by submitting a proof of purchase.

Cheers!

• Hume Beam #0001, Hume Beam #9999, Marc Schauber #0095, Lex Hanna #0229, Katherine Jones #0666, Sean Stoube #0926, Binary Blaze #1010, Jordan Newman #1111, Dominik Popp #1312, Sven Hausherr #1313, Aaron Gray #1337, Paul Haanen #1369, Benjamin Achtenberg #2345, Bernhard Birkfellner #3101, David Rouleau #6969
• Michael Müller #0002, Jerome Grimminck #0003, kirikugo #0004, Markus Lohmann #0005, Stefan Zuegg #0006, Thomas Kotowski #0007, Dwizzle Roasting #0008, James Majors #0009
• James Hunt #0010, Kenneth Ostromek #0011, Jakub Kanhäuser #0012, Bearded Bucket #0013, Ants-3D #0014, Ronny Stiffel #0015, John Cooley #0016, Christian Noack #0017, Christian Menz #0018, David Bernabeu #0019
• Christopher Mallery #0020, Ralf Ehleiter #0021, Andrew Wickham #0022, Bruce Milyko #0023, Peter Biegel #0024, Zach Hansen #0025, @3dprintkings #0026, samwiseg0 #0027, Susan Alvarez #0028, Thomas Jameson #0029
• Stephen McComas #0030, Joseph Palicke #0031, Volker Alkemper #0032, Joseph Wittig #0033, Daniel Pomierski #0034, Hagen Weigel #0035, Robert Schwinn #0036, Boris Ott #0037, Eliot Heflin #0038, Eliot Heflin #0039
• Dannel Albert #0040, Bruce Pickett #0042, Andreas Triemer #0043, Michael Stott #0044, Jeremy Birdwell #0045, Jeremy Birdwell #0046, Jeremy Birdwell #0047, Jeremy Birdwell #0048, Markus Wachovius #0049
• Frederick Masanek #0050, Kenneth Shock #0051, Talasarian #0052, Elmis Abel Beauchamp #0053

New supporters will automatically get a serial number for both Hydra AMS and Hydra PRO.

Get a Silica Dry Box with your serial number here:

Hydra AMS - Silica Dry Boxes / Serial Number Tags

Thanks again!

If you want to remain anonymous, leave a note with your donation. If I've missed your donation let me know.

Hydra PRO? What's the story?

Hydra PRO is the big brother of Hydra AMS, although it's a completely new design. It has been in development for more than 8 months and in its current form, in final testing for about a month. It's intended for experienced users wanting to take it to the next level or for those who use even wider spools than normal Hydra AMS can support, for example Printed Solid Jessie, 3DJake ecoPLA and some Amazon Basic and FormFutura ones, to name a few popular ones.

At first, I never planned on releasing it at all as it involved some basic hardware modification and I just used it personally for one of my AMS units for extra wide spools. But after I while I picked up the project again as I kept getting requests for support for even wider spools but had to tell people it's impossible with the limited traction width of the stock front rollers so these would have to be modified.

As Hydra PRO is a bit more advanced and I have spent countless of hours testing, refining as well many, many spools in prototype material I thought maybe I could sell it for a small fee and get something in return.

As the name suggests, Hydra PRO was meant to be a “paid” model but I changed my mind and I still haven't released any paid / subscription / patreon designs to date and probably never will so Hydra PRO is also free.

If you do enjoy it, a donation is highly encouraging though! (see above).

About - Continued

Hydra PRO is an advanced drop-in main body replacement for the Bambu Lab AMS, a multi filament companion to the Bambu Lab X1 and P1 printers. The Bambu Lab AMS internals are used.

The name Hydra is inspired by the mythological creature which grew two new heads as one was cut off, similar to how the AMS's tend to duplicate if you don't keep a firm grip of your wallet. I have other designs with names from Greek mythology (Icarus / Hercules) so I thought it was fitting.

Hydra PRO prints completely without supports (optionally) and no extra parts are required for assembly, it uses dovetail joints for assembly and utilizes the standard AMS outer casing as well as maintains RFID compatibility. 4 x 20 mm cap head M3 bolts is recommended to ensure the three parts interlock and won't slide apart and some extra cap head M3 bolts (total of 14) are required for the rear middle bar and the rear rollers.

I also recommend four new front rollers (search Bambu Lab store for “AMS Active Support Shaft Assembly”) for modifying. You could modify the ones that came with your AMS but once they are modified the rubber sleeves expand a little and would be difficult to bring back to stock should you wish to and warranty for those parts would be lost.

Hydra PRO probably should not be the first mod you print. It's not difficult but a bit more advanced than normal Hydra AMS to build.

BOM - Bill of Materials

You can print Hydra PRO in just about any filament you like. However, if you plan on keeping the AMS directly on top of the printer it's best to print it in PETG as the heat from the printer can soften the printed Hydra parts if they are printed in PLA for example.

If you use an AMS riser, PLA will be fine for the parts, it's by far the easiest filament to print the parts in.

Around 650-750 g of filament is required at the recommended print settings.

I've printed most of the test builds in Prusament ASA, PLA and eSUN PLA+ and ABS+, both brands and filament types work great. PETG is also a great option.

Filament

• eSUN PLA+
• eSUN PETG
• Prusament Galaxy Black

Fasteners

You need some M3 hex bolts (socket head), I recommend 20 mm but just about anything between 15 and 25 mm should work. If you don't have any at home it's best to grab the kit below, it will have everything you need for this build and many more.

In total you need 14 x M3 hex bolts (socket head). 20 mm length everywhere will work except for the middle support bar where you need a shorter one (around 12-16 mm is optimal here).

So to summarize, I would recommend going with 12 x 20 mm ones and 2 x 12 mm M3 socket heads:

• 1100 pcs M3 Hex Socket Head Cap Kit

You need 8 x 693-ZZ bearings for the custom Hydra PRO rear rollers. The standard rollers are not compatible. You could use the bearings that came with your AMS (for the rear rollers, pull them off) but a set of 10 bearings is cheap and you don't need to pull them off, possibly damaging them.

• 693-ZZ bearings

Optional

I highly recommend these Nano Coated Helical Extruder Gears from FYSETC, I use them for all my Bambu printers, they're inexpensive and offer a number of improvements of the stock gears:

• Extruder Gear for Bambu X1/P1P/P1S CNC Nano Coating
• Extruder Gear for Bambu X1/P1P/P1S CNC Nano Coating (Alternative Source)

Although not required these PEO/PEI/PEY bed sheets are great, I have most options myself, it gives a quite cool look on the first layer. There are a few shops offering different plates:

• Build Plate PEO/PEI/PEY Spring Steel Sheet (Super 3D)
• Build Plate PEO/PEI/PEY Spring Steel Sheet (IdeaFormer)
• Build Plate PEO/PEI/PEY Spring Steel Sheet (Juupine)

The Hex Tools are superb for any 3D printer, I've had mine for years. They are particulary useful for the Hydra assembly.

• Hex Tools (1.27 mm - 3.0 mm)

Hydra PRO does not void your AMS warranty, however, modifying the front rollers (AMS Active Support Shaft Assembly) will likely void the warranty for those so I recommend getting four new rollers, they're not expensive:

• AMS Active Support Shaft Assembly

You could of course modify your existing ones if you prefer but keep in mind what I wrote above.

Before Printing Hydra PRO

Make sure you dial in flow correctly before you start, we've seen a few Hydra prints that were overextruded so avoid that. The problem then is you can't join the dovetail joints and assembly properly and the rollers can bind. Printed correctly, everything works just as stock but support for larger spools (among other advantages).

The Bambu Lab printers usually do a pretty good with automatic flow calibration but it's best to confirm flow anyway, sometimes it is inaccurate.

Once you have done that, print the Hydra AMS roller and dovetail test joints, more info here:

Hydra AMS - Test Pieces

(The are intented for normal Hydra AMS but will work just as well for Hydra PRO).

Print Settings

There are individual 3mf files posted or you can download one of the full sets:

• hydra-pro-1.01-full-set-abs.3mf
• hydra-pro-1.01-full-set-asa.3mf
• hydra-pro-1.01-full-set-petg.3mf
• hydra-pro-1.01-full-set-pla.3mf
• hydra-pro-1.01-full-set-pc.3mf

Variable settings depending on object:

• Main pieces (left, middle, right): Classic wall generator, 3 walls, 15% gyroid infill. 10 mm outer brim as the parts are tall and thin. Support pieces 1 wall, 10% gyroid infill.
• Middle bar, front roller tool and optional alignment tool: Classic wall generator, 3 walls, 15% gyroid infill, 10 mm brim.
• Feeder Sleeve adapters: Arachne wall generator, 10 mm brim
• Rear Rollers with guides: 6 walls (100% infill), classic wall generator, 10 mm brim.

All parts: Aligned seam position, slowdown for overhangs.

NOTICE! Do not click “arrange” as the supports are placed as close as possible to the left, middle and right parts in order for them to be effective. You will see a warning message about possible collisions but this should be ignored.

These can be loaded in Bambu Studio or you can print them directly from Bambu Handy.

For individual print settings, I recommend using a minimum of 3 walls, top and bottom and an infill of 15% or higher for all parts. Print all parts in the direction I have set them. Supports are not needed, it was designed so they're not required.

Printing is pretty straight forward but I have broken it down below:

Main parts:

• hydra-pro-left-1.01.3mf
• hydra-pro-middle-1.01.3mf
• hydra-pro-right-1.01.3mf

I recommend using a wide brim for improved bed adhesion and Nano Polymer if you have some. The parts are tall and quite narrow.

Sleeve adapter:

• feeder-sleeve-adapter-print-8pcs-4.90mm-1.01.3mf

For this part, please use “Arachne Wall Generator” in the slicer else it will not work and you get gaps in the sleeve adapter!

If you're having issues getting them installed and they are too tight, make sure all residual glue is removed. If they sit a bit too loose, use the 4.85 mm version instead. Also, there is an optional version that is 0.5 mm wider.

Middle bar:

• middle-bar-threaded-1.01.3mf

This part prints on its side. There is text embossed on the side.

Rear rollers:

• rear-roller-with-guides-print-4pcs-1.01.3mf

You need four of these. If you prefer, you can use the version without spool guides, it's marked as an optional print.

Front roller tool:

• front-roller-tool-1.01.3mf

Just print it.

Use dry filament.

Removing Supports

Removing the supports for the left and right pieces is easy, they will easily break off. For the middle piece you must be careful. The front of that support piece is wrapped around the front to lock it in place so you need to bend it out a little at the edge and pull straight back at the same time. Go slow and it will release.

Warranty

Hydra PRO does not void your warranty but be careful, especially with the AMS main board, use an antistatic wrist band. Although the mod is completely reversible and you can't tell the parts have been installed in Hydra PRO (apart from the front rollers, see below), I take no responsibility and you're on your own. Be careful and take it slow, read this page twice before you start.

However, modifying the front rollers (AMS Active Support Shaft Assembly) will likely void the warranty for those so I recommend getting four new rollers, they're not expensive:

• AMS Active Support Shaft Assembly

Read more in the attached "Assembly Guide".

Troubleshooting - Common User Issues

“The lid won't close.”

• You CANNOT use any third part PTFE load buttons or AMS savers, they are unlikely to fit as they are too thick or bulky. Use these.
• Use the Dry Boxes to ensure the front is fully pushed down.

“The filament touches the lid.”

• Align the Hydra parts a little more towards the rear, unscrew the two rear screws a little and push it back and tighten again, there is a slot so adjustments can be made.

“The front roller sleeves are too thin and fragile.”

• Use “Arachne Wall Generator” in the slicer, it's a MUST.

“One feeder does not engage / disengage the front roller.”

• This is almost always due to a misalignment of the feeder. Unscrew, make sure you see the holes of the feeder and then tighten. There is tolerances built in so you can adjust it.

"I can't get the sleeve adapter onto the front rollers."

• Make sure you remove all residual glue, clean the grooves. If they still don't fit you can scale it a little or use the optional 4.90 mm version which is a little larger.

“I can't get the front rubber onto the sleeve adapters. ”

• Use a mix of soap and water and drench the rubber. It will be much easier to slide on.

“The RFID doesn't work anymore.”

• Flip the rear roller over so the spool guides on the roller face the RFID card. Then put the Bambu spool in the slot closest to the RFID card.

“There is too much friction on the rear rollers.”

• Use a shorter M3 socket head, 8 mm is enough. 
• Make sure the bearing is fully pressed into the slot. If it is and the friction is still too high, reprint the rear roller but scale it to 98% on Z only.