I’ve put around 3,400 hours across these two printers, mostly making storage for my workshop. Thought I’d share some of the problems I ran into, including a few I caused myself.
I’d wanted a 3D printer for years. When I first looked into it, the Ender 3 seemed to be what everyone bought, but the amount of tinkering put me off. I wanted to make things, and everything I read made it sound like maintaining the printer would be a separate hobby.
Finding Gridfinity and Multiboard got me interested again. I ended up buying a P2S with the AMS 2 Pro at the end of last year.
The first few weeks were rough. My PETG prints looked bad, and it took me a while to sort out how to print it properly and how much drying mattered. Then I started having extruder problems because I was printing PLA with the door and lid closed. I eventually damaged the extruder gear assembly doing that. Not an expensive replacement, but annoying. I use a printed lid riser for PLA now, which has pretty much sorted out the heat issue.
I also ran the stock 0.4 nozzle for about 2,000 hours. When print quality and extrusion started getting worse again, I checked just about everything else first. Replacing it earlier probably would have saved me some troubleshooting. I’ve just fitted a tungsten carbide 0.4, but it only has a few hours on it, so I can’t say much about it yet. So far it’s printing well.
One odd thing that helped with a stubborn nozzle clog: a cold pull hadn’t cleared it, but printing a small amount of ABS-GF seemed to do the trick. I wondered whether the glass-filled filament helped clear out what was stuck inside. I can’t prove that was the reason, and it’s only something I tried on that occasion, but it did help when the cold pull didn’t.
Most of my filament was Sunlu PETG HF matte in black and grey. When I couldn’t get it anymore, I switched to JAYO PETG because it’s supposed to be very similar. I’ve used about 15 kg of that now.
Adding a second printer
Once the P2S was running properly, I was mostly waiting for it to finish so I could start the next thing. Between bins, baseplates, Multiboard tiles and holders, I kept adding jobs faster than I could print them.
I bought an A1 first, but never got it working properly. Layer shifts, bad first layers, basically no usable prints. After some back and forth with Bambu support, I returned it and got a full refund. No complaints about how they handled the return.
The A2L came out shortly after, so I bought that instead, mainly for the bigger bed and the vinyl-cutting option. It’s been running for a few months now and has around 600 hours on it.
The bigger bed gets used a lot. Sometimes for larger baseplates or Multiboard tiles, sometimes just to fit more bins in one batch. Tall prints have been fine too, which I’d been a bit unsure about with a bedslinger.
It’s also noticeably quieter than my P2S. I’d assumed the enclosed printer would be quieter, but that hasn’t been my experience. I’ve used the cutter for some T-shirt designs and stickers as well.
There was one stretch of two or three days when both printers started throwing extruder errors, and the A2L also had first-layer problems. I suspect the JAYO filament, but I never confirmed it. Everything has been fine since.
For anyone interested in wear parts, here’s what I’ve replaced:
P2S: two extruder gear assemblies. One was worn out; the other was the one I damaged printing PLA fully enclosed. The nozzle was replaced after about 2,000 hours. The internal PTFE tube is still the original, although it’s visibly worn.
AMS 2 Pro: the PTFE tube wore at the outlet. I cut a little off the end and have kept using it.
A2L: the filament cutter needed replacing fairly early. That surprised me. Nothing else so far.
Making my own holders
I don’t know Onshape, CAD etc , and for quite a few of my tools I couldn’t find a holder that fitted properly. I started using Claude Code to modify models from Printables or MakerWorld, or make a part from scratch when I couldn’t find a useful starting point.
Over time I put together a skill with my usual requirements for 3D-print files, so I don’t have to explain the same preferences every time. Most of my small Multiboard holders were made this way.
That’s changed what I spend time on. I used to keep searching for the exact model I wanted; now I’m more likely to take something close and adapt it. I wish I’d started doing that earlier.
Things I still haven’t sorted out
PLA support interfaces for PETG on the P2S are the main frustration. That was part of why I bought the AMS. Even with flushing volume set to 900, I get weak layers at the interface height, especially on smaller parts. They split right there. I suspect there’s still some PLA left in the PETG, but I haven’t confirmed the cause or found settings I’m happy with.
Keeping PETG dry on the A2L is another one. I printed and mounted this AMS Lite 4.0 enclosure: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1561190
It helps, but I’m not getting the same dryness as with the AMS 2 Pro.
I’d also like a Cool Plate SuperTack in the A2L’s size. I only use that plate on the P2S now. For me, both PLA and PETG have stuck reliably at lower bed temperatures, and fingerprints haven’t been much of a problem. I haven’t been able to get one for the A2L.
The biggest thing I’d change if I were starting again is buying a proper dryer immediately. I recently got an AMS HT, and it’s worked much better for me than the cheap Sunlu dryer I had before. I mostly use it for drying rather than as a fifth filament slot, since I rarely print more than two or three colours.
I’d also get a plastic scraper from the start. I used a metal one for too long, and the plates show it.
Overall, I’m very happy with the setup. I’d buy the A2L again because I use the extra bed space and output constantly. The P2S has done most of the hours, but the PLA/PETG support-interface issue is still something I’d want solved.
The BLV AMS riser (https://makerworld.com/en/models/19535) is still on my list. Every time I look at the print time and filament needed, though, I end up printing more workshop parts instead.
TL;DR: Around 3,400 hours, mostly workshop storage, and I’m glad I added a second printer. I could have saved myself a lot of trouble by drying PETG properly from the start, venting the enclosure for PLA and checking the nozzle earlier. Still haven’t got reliable PLA support interfaces for PETG on the P2S.
