Hydra - Enhanced Bambu Lab AMS

Notice!

This is only compatible with the original AMS. Please view my other designs for designs supporting other AMS systems, there are plenty.

Update May 7, 2026

Hydra has been updated to version 1.12. Changes:

• RFID performance greatly improved, holders tilted back and up which aligns better with the spool tags for a more reliable reading.
• RFID board sockets and hex cutouts completely redesigned.
• Aligned the two rear screw holes, they were previously a tiny bit off.
• AMS main board mounting improved.

When using spools with RFID tags, it's recommended to use the optional spool guides.

Please use the print profiles if you can, they're tried and tested with correct print settings and supports.

Update March 9, 2026

Hydra has been updated to version 1.11. Changes:

• 1.5 mm narrower total width, making it easier to fit in the AMS box without squeezing it in.
• Front rollers slightly larger cutout for the bearings.
• Middle/rear dovetail removed as it made assembly difficult and it was not really needed anyway, the motor mounts hold it steady in the rear. 
• New front dovetail to align the front lip.
• Small adjustment to the AMS main board mount.
• RFID friction fit mount optimized.

Please use the print profiles if you can, they're tried and tested with correct print settings and supports.

Update February 1, 2026

Hydra for the original AMS has been updated to version 1.10, it's the first update of the series for a very long time and as it's largely based off the newer Hydra for the AMS 2 PRO so it comes with some nice improvements, especially support for even wider spools and PTFE tubes replaceable from the top.

Changes:

• Rebranding, Hydra AMS is now known as Hydra - Enhanced Bambu Lab AMS to avoid confusion and for which AMS system this is for.
• Feeders tilted back to clear very full spools (avoids very full spools hitting the feeder or load button).
• New: PTFE tubes replaceable from top.
• New: Removable and reversible front and rear spool guides.
• Improved rear roller positions, allowing for slightly larger diameter spools.
• Optimized Hydra tray position and placement of the front locking tabs.
• You must use some manual supports, see instructions below. If you're uncertain, please use the print profiles where all of this is prepared.
• New built-in support boxes, these prevent the side walls of the main print from warping. Previously, the supports were just low infill waste prints but these new boxes are very much usable (and stackable!), there will be containers and add-ons for these soon, see the pic below, the orange boxes. You must still use some manual supports, see instructions below. If you're uncertain, please use the print profiles where all of this is prepared.

Buy Hydra AMS

You can now buy the Hydra printed parts and required bolts from MatterHackers at a very affordable price, free US shipping is included. 

• Buy Hydra at MatterHackers (United States)

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

About

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

Optional but recommended files to print:

• High Capacity AMS Silica Dry Box to keep filament dry. Compatible with both Hydra and Bambu Lab AMS.
• PTFE Load Buttons to both save the funnels and improve ergonomics.
• Adjustable Spool Holder for Silica Gel / Spool Weight - Compatible with both Hydra AMS 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.

Thanks to the testers for all the support and especially GuyH who has been instrumental.

Leave feedback in the comments, cheers!

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 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.

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.

• Hume Beam #0001, Hume Beam #9999, Sven Hausherr #1313, Aaron Gray #1337, FireBall #1725, Trevor Mungovan #2425, Jamie Placzek #4759, 57y10 #8764, Katherine Jones #0666, Bernhard Birkfellner #3101, Guy H #0002, Kevin Pereira #0003, Phill Tran #0004, Bernard Ruf #0005, Justin Altemeier #0006, Remigiusz Kowal #0007, Jerome Grimminck #0008, Anthony Cascone #0009
• Thomas Finzel #0010, Seldon3dPrinting #0011, Dwizzle Roasting #0012, VipCold #0013, Bearded Bucket #0014, Hannes Schäfer #0015, Joseph Korang #0016, Brian Welty #0017, Elmar Wesle #0018, Paul M #0019
• Pippo pewte.ch #0020, Hampus Björk #0021, Martin Watley #0022, Riccardo Sacchetti #0023, James Majors #0024, Raia Gennaro #0025, Christopher Walters #0026, Andrew Shrapnel #0027, Kevin Kent #0028, Aron Gustafson #0029
• Szabó Tibor #0030, Nikhil Ramkarran #0031, Dorothy Rafferty #0032, Charles Ho Fung #0033, Anup Chavda #0034, Dorian Picard #0035, Mark Berg #0036, John Vinson #0037, Robert Martin #0038, Karl Liljeström #0039
• Kurt Althaus #0040, Martin Ziegler #0041, Miguel Contreras #0042, Todd Ferguson #0043, Joseph VonDohlen Jr #0044, Jacob Wine #0045, H. Schittko #0046, Rex Catron #0047, Meatbingo #0048, Barry Kwan #0049
• GnollProblem #0050, Sean Griffiths #0051, Yannick Lory #0052, Bonnie Gulliver #0053, Aki S #0054, Jeremy Rauch #0055, Jim Fano #0056, Jeffery Stephens #0057, Kimberly Booth #0058, Mikael Olsson #0059
• Michael Fetting #0060, James Beck #0061, Christian Bätz #0062, Eric Ridge #0063, Christopher Ondrovic #0064, Stefan Wollmuth #0065, Anthony Soprano #0066, Andreas Riebe #0067, ServTheNet #0068, Alan Kilgore #0069
• Gene Buckle #0070, Phil Harvey #0071, Neal Baggett #0072, Vincent Robel #0073, Zachery Hansen #0074, Matthew Shaw #0075, Scott Marcy #0076, Steven Lionel #0077, John Cardwell #0078, Chris Martin #0079
• Łukasz Szuman #0080, Ron Allison #0081, Bella Art de Nicole #0082, 7iron #0083, JKP Enterprises #0084, Klaus Löhr #0085, Harley Hong #0086, SSI Racing #0087, Chris McLeod #0088, Steven Mohr #0089
• Worked Wood #0090, David Adam #0091, Michal Kowalski #0092, Custom Computer Concepts #0093, Kenneth Ostromek #0094, Stigh Aarstein #0095, Patrick Lavoie #0096, Jeremy Hopke #0097, Erik Johansen #0098, Djundi Karjad #0099
• Jason Litman #0100, Robert Jorgenson #0101, Edward Cartier #0102, Robert Pence #0103, Andres Arrieta #0104, SpriteForge.com #0105, HRtechnik llc #0106, Swen Krauter #0107, Michael Bush #0108, Jordan Newman #0109
• Jared Stymiest #0110, Andreas Klotz #0111, Jordan Joiner #0112, Fred Logue #0113, Gregory Carlton Bouten #0114, Nicholas Daniel #0115, Eric James #0116, Rutger Bogaerds #0117, AtomicFilament #0118, Kevin Clack #0119
• Letusgo2Hell #0120, Gaspard Grosjean #0121, Poppy's Popcorn Co. Inc. #0122, Tony Herrero #0123, William Aprea #0124, Troy DeJesus #0125, Justin Schuhmann #0126, Belenos #0127, Jack Mettler #0128, Barracuda72 #0129
• Oz_Rob #0130, Ben Silber #0131, fatgeek #0132, Bernt Ahlbäck #0133, Joshua Warren #0134, Thomas Heuer #0135, Thomas Schulz #0136, William Hamilton #0137, Todd Schisler #0138, Phillip Perry #0139
• guruguys #0140, Johannes Cornelissen #0141, Jan Schermer #0142, John Kaminski #0143, SaintHate #0144, Josiah Netherton #0145, Steve Beverley #0146, Boran Li #0147, Jeff ONeil #0148, Joseph Palicke #0149
• Massimiliano Mancin #0150, Patrick Pennza #0151, Donald Lafferty #0152, Big Brook Pond Engineering #0153, Robert Schwinn #0154, Jacob Perez #0155, MIcheal Jeffrey #0156, Brett Corr #0157, Chris Reed #0158, Boris Ott #0159
• John M Murphy Jr #0160, Jose Serrano #0161, Peter Lewis #0162, Christopher Phillips #0163, Tyler Wickline #0164, Integrated Overland #0165, fixumdude #0166, Nic Alkema #0167, Torsten Steckenreiter #0168, Francisco Peebles #0169
• Jens Michlo #0170, Jon Libby #0171, Eric Sutherland #0172, Andrew Poth #0173, Mercury Cubed #0174, Louis Watermeyer #0175, Michael Müller #0176, kirikugo #0177, Markus Lohmann #0178, Stefan Zuegg #0179
• Thomas Kotowski #0180, James Hunt #0181, Marc Schauber #0182, Kenneth Ostromek #0183, Jakub Kanhäuser #0184, Ants-3D #0185, Ronny Stiffel #0186, John Cooley #0187, Christian Noack #0188, Christian Menz #0189
• David Bernabeu #0190, Christopher Mallery #0191, Ralf Ehleiter #0192, Andrew Wickham #0193, David Rouleau #0194, Bruce Milyko #0195, Sean Stoube #0196, Peter Biegel #0197, Dominik Popp #0198, @3dprintkings #0199
• samwiseg0 #0200, Susan Alvarez #0201, Thomas Jameson #0202, Benjamin Achtenberg #0203, Stephen McComas #0204, Volker Alkemper #0205, Daniel Pomierski #0206, Hagen Weigel #0207, Lex Hanna #0208, Dannel Albert #0209
• Jeremy Birdwell #0210, Jeremy Birdwell #0211, Jeremy Birdwell #0212, Jeremy Birdwell #0213, Edward Crouse #0214, Kevin Ford #0215, John Willing #0216

For version 1.00 through 1.09, get a Silica Dry Box with your serial number here:

Hydra - 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.

About - Continued

Hydra is an enhanced drop-in main body replacement for the Bambu Lab AMS, a multi filament companion to the Bambu Lab X1/P1, H2 and A1 series printers. The Bambu Lab AMS internals are used, you just need to move over the parts; the four feeder motors, the rear motor, the front and rear rollers, the RFID boards and the main board as well as the PTFE tubing and cables.

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 is fully 3D printed 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. 2 x 25 mm cap head M3 bolts are recommended to ensure the three parts interlock and won't slide apart.

The main changes / improvements over the standard AMS are:

• Increased spool widths, up to 77 mm, meaning most 1 Kg spools will fit.
• Increased spool diameters, up to 202.5 mm diameter spools fit.
• Adjustable spool rollers in four positions for 120 mm to 205 mm diameter spools.
• PTFE tubes replaceable from top.
• Removable and reversible front and rear spool guides.
• AMS feeder / motor mechanism angled backwards to allow printing of full spools, use a PTFE load button to reduce angle and drag of low filled spools.
• PTFE Load Buttons to both save the funnels and improve ergonomics (optional, it's a separate download)

BOM - Bill of Materials

You can print Hydra AMS in just about any filament you like. However, if you plan on keeping the AMS on top of the printer it's best to print it in ABS or ASA as the heat from the printer can soften the printed Hydra parts if they are printed in PLA for example. Around 600 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.

Filament

• eSUN ABS

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.

• 150 pcs M3 Hex Socket Head Kit

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

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

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 (1.5 mm - 3.0 mm) 

Assembly Guide

Please follow the attached assembly guide (PDF) depending on your version of Hydra. 

If you're unsure which version you have, the version number is printed in the front right part.