Anycubic Kobra S1 Max Combo: problems, parts and running costs
Checked: 2026-10-13
Summary
The Kobra S1 Max Combo’s hardware is well liked, but owners report inconsistent factory quality control, a slicer that will not report purge amounts for multicolor work, and an app that times out. Beyond filament, the recurring costs are replacement activated carbon filters and occasional spare parts. At the official US store price of $1,034 for the 4-color Combo it is worth it mainly for the 350 x 350 x 350 mm build volume and active chamber heating; buyers who do not need that volume can spend less on the smaller Kobra S1 Combo.
Common problems and fixes
- Inconsistent factory quality control — owners in the long-term thread report that “many of the reported” issues point to inconsistent QC; there is no fix beyond inspecting and testing the machine on arrival, and the 1-year warranty is the recourse. [6]
- S1-series wiring and offset faults — owners report a pinched blue wire to the filament sensor and Z-offset drift from a dirty bed or nozzle; cleaning the bed and nozzle is the workaround, and the wire fault is a warranty repair. [7]
- Documented error codes — 11511 (abnormal feeding), 11504 (unknown filament detected), 11512 (retraction abnormal) and 10539 (G-code parsing) each have an Anycubic wiki troubleshooting page. [8]
- Long-term maintenance — one S1 owner ran 3600+ hours over two years and needed weekly maintenance including a heater failure; treat higher upkeep as expected at that duty cycle. [7]
- TPU cannot feed through the ACE 2 Pro — TPU prints single-color only, because it is not compatible with ACE feeding; there is no workaround other than feeding it directly. [5]
Parts and consumables
- Heat-sink fan duct silicone — Anycubic announced a replacement program for this part. [1]
Yearly running cost
Not enough data for a total: the sources list filament, replacement activated carbon filters and occasional spare parts as recurring costs but publish no prices, and give no usage hours or electricity rate. The printer is rated at 2200 W at 220 V, which may require a dedicated circuit, so power is the one recurring cost a buyer can estimate from their own rate.
When it is a good buy
At the official US store price of $1,034 for the 4-color Combo (October 2026), the machine is worth it mainly for the 350 mm build volume and active chamber heating; the 8-color bundle is $1,286 and the 16-color bundle is $1,789. UK and EU buyers saw £549 and €599 at their regional stores. If you do not need 350 mm, the smaller Kobra S1 Combo or a Bambu Lab P1S is the better choice, and against a Bambu Lab H2S an owner spec comparison puts the S1 Max at about 15.9% more volume for roughly half the price. [1][2][9]