SUNLU turns thirteen and celebrates in style: the brand is giving away more than $130,000 in prizes and community gifts, and above all, launching a product that had been in the works for a while: the AMS Lite Heater, a dryer that turns Bambu Lab’s AMS Lite into an active drying chamber while you print.
We’re using the anniversary as an excuse to look at where SUNLU comes from, what exactly this new accessory brings, and, while we’re at it, put its whole filament and resin lineup in order.
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Thirteen Years Making Material for 3D Printers
SUNLU was founded in 2013 as a filament manufacturer and, over the years, has added resins, dryers and accessories until becoming one of the names that comes up most often in any comment along the lines of “good quality-to-price material that just works.” It’s not a brand with real printer-manufacturing weight in the market, so its playing field is different: being the trusted supplier for anyone who already owns a Bambu Lab, a Creality or any other FDM or SLA printer and needs filament spools, resin, or accessories without surprises.
That strategy shows in this anniversary announcement: alongside the AMS Lite Heater launch, SUNLU is also confirming an expansion of its manufacturing in the United States to cut delivery times for North American customers. It’s the logical move for a manufacturer that lives off volume and getting filament to whoever orders it, fast.
The Main Event: AMS Lite Heater
Anyone who’s left a twelve-hour print running on an AMS Lite knows the problem: if the environment is humid, the filament absorbs it, and the result comes out stringy with a surface that has nothing to do with what you expected, without you having touched the slicer at all. Nylon and PETG suffer the most, but even PLA takes a hit if you give it enough time.
The AMS Lite Heater tackles exactly that: it’s an enclosure that attaches to Bambu Lab’s AMS Lite and turns it into a dryer that works while the printer is printing. The whole idea is that you stop having to choose between drying the filament or using it right away.
| Compatibility | Bambu Lab AMS Lite |
| Maximum temperature | 70 °C |
| Supported materials | PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, PA, PC (per SUNLU) |
| Airflow | Dual-channel, even heat distribution |
| Humidity control | Sensor with configurable threshold, automatic drying once exceeded |
| Safety | Open-door detection, temperature monitoring, built-in protections |
The dual-channel airflow design is the part that interests us most on paper: single-channel dryers tend to heat unevenly, so one side of the spool ends up perfect while the other is over- or under-dried. Spreading the air more evenly is one of those upgrades that don’t show up on a spec sheet but do show up in the finished part.
The humidity sensor with a configurable threshold also makes practical sense: you can set the level and forget about it, instead of keeping an eye on the spool every couple of hours. That said, it’s worth checking the threshold every so often, since ambient humidity varies quite a bit depending on where you keep the printer.
With a 70 °C ceiling, the AMS Lite Heater comfortably covers PLA and PETG, and sits at a reasonable limit for ABS, ASA, PA and PC. For anyone printing only PLA it’s more a matter of convenience; for anyone working with nylon or polycarbonate, the difference is a lot more relevant. Since it’s a device meant to run for hours unsupervised, SUNLU adds open-door detection and temperature monitoring on top of the thermal cutoff, which makes sense for something that heats for hours with nobody watching it.
It’s not all upsides. To load filament you have to slide the enclosure to one side, which requires quite a bit more clearance around the printer than the AMS Lite took up on its own. If yours is wedged between other machines or pushed up against a wall, that’s the first thing to check before buying it.
That space issue gets worse because of a flaw the AMS Lite itself has carried since launch: the data cable connecting it to the printer is too short. With the Heater installed, the whole unit has to sit even closer to the machine, leaving even less room to slide the enclosure and open the doors comfortably. A slightly longer cable in the kit would have solved this without much trouble.
A couple of minor details on top of that: the doors do have a sealing gasket, but we’ve noticed some minor leaks, so the seal against ambient humidity isn’t total. And even though there’s plenty of room next to the spools to fit a silica gel container, SUNLU doesn’t include one out of the box.
We’ve had the AMS Lite Heater running in the workshop for almost two weeks now, and the opening mechanism and the short cable are the real annoyance in everyday use. Even so, neither one feels like a dealbreaker against what it fixes.
The performance has won us over. It doesn’t just keep simple filaments like PLA in good shape, it’s also let us bring more technical materials into printers that, without this accessory, weren’t really built to handle them reliably. It’s the kind of upgrade that changes what you can print on an A1 or A1 mini, not just how well it turns out.
What exactly is the SUNLU AMS Lite Heater?
It’s a hardware accessory that attaches to Bambu Lab’s AMS Lite and turns it into an active drying chamber, able to dry filament while the printer is printing.
When did it launch?
On July 20, 2026 at 07:00 UTC, coinciding with SUNLU’s 13th anniversary. For pricing and availability in your region, it’s best to check SUNLU’s official store.
What downsides have we found?
Mainly space: you have to slide the enclosure to load filament, which requires more clearance around the printer. That problem gets worse because the AMS Lite’s data cable is already short, so the whole unit ends up sitting very close to the machine. On top of that there are minor leaks in the door gasket, and it doesn’t include desiccant out of the box despite having room for it.
Is it compatible with the original (non-Lite) Bambu Lab AMS?
No. The AMS Lite Heater is designed specifically for the AMS Lite. For the classic Gen 1 AMS, SUNLU has a different product, the AMS Heater.
SUNLU: Dryer Lineup
The AMS Lite Heater joins a filament-maintenance lineup SUNLU has been refining for years. The AMS Heater (the version for Bambu Lab’s Gen 1 AMS, not the Lite) follows the same concept: it dries while you print, reaches 70 °C in about 20 minutes, and lets you stack several units if you have more than one module. Its working ranges are 35 to 70 °C for temperature and 10 to 90% for humidity, with a timer of up to 99 hours.
Outside the Bambu ecosystem, SUNLU keeps its own standalone dryer lineup, with the S4 as its best-known model: capacity for four spools, up to 70 °C, and also built to dry while printing straight from the dryer itself. It’s the option for anyone without an AMS who wants something simple for PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU or nylon.
The other two names in the lineup are the FilaDryer SP2 and the FilaDryer E2, which we’ve been using in the workshop for months. The SP2 is a 2-in-1 that dries and feeds the printer at the same time, with capacity for spools up to 3 kg: the convenient everyday option for PLA, PETG or ABS. The E2 aims higher, reaching up to 110 °C with an annealing function on top of drying, built for engineering materials like PA or PC that need more heat than a conventional dryer can give.
SUNLU: Filament Lineup
This is where SUNLU really plays for keeps, and digging into its store, the current catalog is quite a bit bigger than it looks at first glance: six distinct families, from everyday PLA to engineering materials like PEEK, which they weren’t even considering a couple of years ago.
The base, the one that moves volume, is the general family: PLA, PLA+, PLA+ 2.0, PETG and ABS. Built on top of that is PLA Meta, its high-end line and the real reference point of the catalog: it prints at low temperatures for a PLA (185-195 °C nozzle, 50-60 °C bed) and has an elongation at break of 17%, well above the 3.1-3.6% of a regular PLA or PLA+. In practice, that means less brittle parts without giving up finish quality.
The family that’s grown the most is engineering: PA6-CF, PA12-CF and PA6-GF (nylon reinforced with carbon fiber or glass fiber), Easy PA (simplified nylon that prints without as much hassle), PC, PC-ABS, PP, ABS-FR (flame retardant) and ABS-GF. The standout addition is PEEK, an ultra-high-temperature material that until recently you’d only find in catalogs from much pricier brands. This also explains, by the way, why SUNLU cared so much about launching dryers like the E2 that reach 110 °C: without that, a good chunk of these materials can’t really be put to use.
For anyone printing on fast CoreXY machines, SUNLU has a high-speed lineup (High Speed PLA, PLA+, PLA+ 2.0, Matte PLA, Matte PETG and PLA Marble), formulated to solidify faster and hold up better under high accelerations without losing layer quality. And on the functional and aesthetic side there’s PLA-CF, PETG-CF, Easy ABS (EABS), TPU 90A/95A, TPU Silk, ASA and PVB, plus the whole “pretty” side of the catalog: Silk, Silk Rainbow, Matte, Matte Dual Color, Wood, Glow in the Dark (in both PLA and PETG), Twinkling and Galaxy.
If you’re having trouble deciding between so many PLA variants, our definitive 3D filament guide (in Spanish) covers which properties to look at depending on what you’re making.
SUNLU: Resin Lineup
In resin, SUNLU covers the usual needs of a home MSLA printer and organizes its catalog into three blocks. General is the entry point: Standard Resin for miniatures and detail work, Water-Wash-Standard Resin (its water-washable version) and Plant-Based Resin, the plant-derived option for anyone looking to cut down on the petroleum-based component.
The functional block is the one that matters for parts that actually have to work: ABS-Like Resin and its washable sibling, Water-Wash-ABS-Like Resin, PA-Like Resin (which mimics nylon’s behavior), Toughness Resin for parts that need to handle some mechanical stress without being as rigid as a standard, and High-Temp Resin for molds or jigs that will sit near a heat source. The aesthetic block adds Standard Plus, Red Wax (built for lost-wax casting) and 14K, its highest-precision resin for anyone chasing maximum detail in miniatures. And outside the UV family, SUNLU also sells an epoxy resin for resin-art projects, which has nothing to do with 3D printing.
On the two water-washable resins, we have to be honest: we’re not big fans. To get a formula that cleans up with water instead of isopropyl alcohol, this type of resin usually gives something up along the way — they tend to end up more brittle, or prone to breaking if curing isn’t spot on, and sometimes they don’t capture the same level of fine detail as a conventional resin. SUNLU has worked on its formula to minimize these issues, and it shows compared to earlier versions, but we still reach for a standard or a regular ABS-Like when the part needs to be reliable.
There’s also a less glamorous point worth remembering: being washable with water doesn’t mean that water can go down the drain. It still carries dissolved uncured resin, so you need to let it cure in sunlight or under UV light until it solidifies and take the residue to a recycling point, just like you would with used isopropyl alcohol. It’s more convenient to handle day to day, but it doesn’t remove the waste-management part of the equation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What filaments and resins stand out in SUNLU’s catalog?
In filament, PLA Meta is its high-end reference, and the engineering catalog (PA-CF, PC, PEEK) is what’s grown the most in recent months. In resin, Standard and ABS-Like remain the most reliable; the water-washable versions gain in convenience but lose some strength and detail.
Is water-washable resin a good idea?
For decorative pieces or miniatures without much mechanical demand, yes, and you save on isopropyl alcohol. For functional parts that need strength or a lot of fine detail, we prefer a standard or conventional ABS-Like resin. And either way, the wash water is still waste that needs to cure and go to a recycling point, not down the drain.
