r/AnycubicKobraS1

Over the past weeks I have dis- and reassembled my printer so many times that I am close to losing my mind.

A few minutes ago, while doing the latest round of diagnostics on my opened printhead, I had the idea to take the challenge with a bit of humor. And suddenly a dozen of book titles and covers came into my mind. And I must admit - this helped to keep me sane!

These are the titles that came into my mind 😂

- 11511 11512

- Screw You

- Insides Cobra Head

- I will break you

- How to Ruin a Marriage

- How NOT To Waste Filament with 3D Printing

- A Guide for Hobby Enthusiasts: The Cobra S1 Technician 101

- Supportive Desaster
- The Act of Goodwill

- The Clog
- The Pendulum
With exclusive insights in chapter: When the Spring Sprung into the Filament Waste Bin
- The Sonsors
- The Clog II
- The Loop of repairs

- Strain Gauge Engagement

- Cable Management

- SOLDER ME

Any other ideas?

Looking to add a chamber heater to my S1 so I can print ASA more reliably. Creality seems to have a decent enough add in kit but it looks like it requires cutting for a neat installation which I'd like to avoid.

Any suggestions on an alternative model that may fit better?

I’m troubleshooting repeated 11511 and 11512 errors during automatic filament changes on my Anycubic Kobra S1 Max Combo with ACE 2 Pro.
The issue appears specifically during the cut/retract portion of the filament change, rather than normal feeding.

What I’m seeing
ACE 2 Pro can feed filament all the way toward the extruder.

Filament can also retract through the PTFE path.

During an automatic filament change, the printhead moves to the front cutter position.

It appears that the filament is not being completely cut before the ACE begins retracting it.

Instead, the ACE seems to pull against filament that is still partially connected at the hotend/extruder.

This creates significantly more resistance than a normal retraction.

I’ve subsequently gotten both:
11511 — abnormal feeding
11512 — abnormal retraction

I’ve also seen the filament buckle/accordion inside the return detection/buffer area/4&8 channel port, which initially made me think the return detection module itself was the problem.

I have already:
Cleared the affected filament channels.

Inspected/straightened the PTFE routing.

Made sure the ACE 2 Pro is level and the tubing isn’t entering the system at severe angles.

Cut fresh filament tips and reloaded them.

Confirmed the ACE can physically move filament forward and backward.

Confirmed filament can reach the PTFE tubing immediately above the extruder.

This happened a few times initially but chalked it up to being a noobie and stuck to single colors for a while. But would still happen if I completed one print and then tried to do another after.

Then I really dug into it during a multicolor Gridfinity print. The first material printed normally, but when the printer attempted the planned color change, the problems started.

Also tried to do a pyramid 4 color print to check. It got through all of it but when it returned to first/initial spool I was able to reproduce the issue. Although, I’m getting tired of having to do a full disassembly every time I complete a print and mitigating by never returning to the same spool.

Current suspicion
I came across reports suggesting that on some S1/S1 Max machines the printhead may not be traveling far enough into the cutter-actuation position, resulting in only a partial cut.

That would explain my symptoms:
partial cut → ACE retracts → filament is still attached → excessive retraction force → filament buckles or fails to clear the return sensor → 11512/11511

I’m now trying to determine whether the cutter is actually receiving its full mechanical stroke when the printhead moves into the cutting position.

Questions for other S1 Max owners
Has anyone experienced this specifically on the Kobra S1 Max Combo?

If so and apologies for being a bit of a novice here but:

Did you confirm that the printhead wasn’t moving far enough to fully actuate the cutter?

What X/Y position does your machine reach during the cut?

Is there a safe way to adjust the cutter/impact position on the stock firmware?

Is the cutter position controlled by firmware, machine configuration, or Slicer Next?

Did this begin after a firmware update?

Has anyone solved it without installing custom firmware?

Is there a good test procedure for confirming a complete cut before letting the ACE retract?

I don’t want to arbitrarily increase the X position and potentially slam the carriage into its physical limit, so before changing anything or with my luck and frustration breaking anything — looking for some guidance from my fellow redditors. Again — I’m a bit of a novice but my day job is based in the sciences so with a little helpful nudge I’m hoping I can resolve this once and for all and simply enjoy printing nonsense. Lol thanks everyone!

Hey guys, I've had my Kobra S1 for 8 months. Since then I did 2 hotend changes. The first one was with a marketplace one and it was a bad experience (my heatsink broke thanks to the shitty hotend). So I bought an hardened still nozzle from Anycubic. Since then it printed great till this month that started clogging every print independently the material I use ( only printing PLA, PLA-HS, PLA+, PLA wood and PETG). Luckily I still have the original hotend with the brass nozzle and with the PTFE tube in the throat so I could changed it. Now I want to buy a pair of hotends but I don´t know if I should buy brass or hardened steel. I'm looking this time buying only brass ones because I only intend printing the materials cited before and I want more longevity and avoid clogs. Thank you :)

Anyone taken a gamble on these £159 “used/damaged” Kobra S1s from eBay?

Has anyone here bought one of these Kobra S1s from the Anycubic/3d-printer-world eBay store?
They’re £159 and listed as used/damaged, with the seller basically saying the fault is unknown, parts may be missing and they haven’t attempted to repair them.
I’m tempted to take a gamble on one at that price. I’m reasonably comfortable troubleshooting and replacing parts, but obviously don’t want to end up with something completely uneconomical to repair.
I noticed the feedback from a couple of people who bought this exact listing seems pretty positive, with one apparently just needing a blockage cleared/hotend reseated and another having a fairly basic fault.
Has anyone here actually bought one of these £159 units? What condition did yours arrive in and what was wrong with it?

Would you say they’re worth the gamble at £159, or should I stay well away?

eBay listing: https://ebay.io/m/tD9pr5

So this one feels like a first.

Trying to print some TPU again on my S1. Disconnect ACE and break sensor, loaded TPU into print head manually, hit "extract" on the filament screen and verified filament is flowing properly, select my file to be printed, BANG immediate 10107 Code.

I have tried every configuration I feel like i can use. I've tried power cycles, ive tried plugging break sensor back in and inserting a dummy strand of filament. Im now to the point where ive take then print head apart to verify no broken pieces inside there and everything seems fine. Filament goes through print head just fine.

Anyone run into this scenario before? Is there something im missing?

Weird thing is ive printed with TPU before already and didnt have an issue.

Thanks

Has anyone ever encountered the following issue?

The filament gets transported just to the end of the PTFE and then is stops and won't enter the print head?
Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

I just picked up a new kobra s1 combo and it has an ACE pro 1.

Is it true that you can’t mix ACE pro 1 and ACE PRO 2? Anyone know where you can still pick up an ACE PRO 1 expansion kit or what not?

Should I return it and order another to get the ACE pro 2? Tyvm ahead of time!

Hi, does anyone know an iOS or Android app that can write RFID tags for filament spools so they are recognized by the Anycubic ACE Pro 2?

I would prefer an iOS app, but Android would also be fine. Which tags and app are you using?

Hi everyone! The problem is that I bought a printer, and by default, there was a plastic insert (guide) in the ACE Pro system that can be unscrewed.The issue is that during multi-color printing, when this insert is removed, the filament unravels/unspools inside the system, which interferes with the printing

process. However, when the insert is installed, a problem occurs even during regular printing: it prevents the ACE unit from closing properly. When I finally manage to force it closed, the filament is pinched so tightly that the printer stops printing, interpreting it as a severe spool tangle.Please advise on what can be done and how to fix this. I would be very grateful for any help