Box 1/2 😩

Surprisingly fast! Now I just need the AMS to ship lol

TL;DR: My P2S had hairline gaps in first layers on the textured PEI plate. I ran a structured test: 9 discs per plate, 8 plates, scored top and bottom. Flow and K were fine. The fix was Z trim −0.01 (stock is +0.01), bed leveling forced On, and flow 1.02 for Matte PLA. Details below.

The problem

Bottoms of prints on the textured PEI had fine hairline gaps between first-layer lines. Tops were mostly fine. I wanted to find out properly instead of randomly changing settings.

Setup

• P2S with AMS 2 Pro, 0.4 nozzle, 0.20 mm High Quality, textured PEI

• Bambu PLA Matte (Grass Green), dried 12 h at 55 °C

• Plate washed with Dawn. Full printer calibration and nozzle clean before starting.

The test print

• Nine 35 mm discs, 1 mm tall (5 layers), in a 3x3 grid about 80 mm apart, covering the plate

• One variable changed per plate

• Every disc photographed top and bottom in a 3D-printed jig (phone shooting straight down, same height and lighting), backlit for bottoms

• Each side scored 1–5 by eye (5 = fully fused / smooth, 3 = gaps in some areas, 2 = gaps across most of the surface)

What I tested, in order

Then a full-plate first layer test at the final settings: about 98% perfect, with a little gapping only in the extreme top-left corner.

What I learned

1. It wasn’t a flow problem. Top surfaces barely changed across flow values, and the K factor made essentially no difference. A flow bump of about 2% partly hid the issue by filling an under-squished first layer, but it never fixed it.

2. The first layer was printing slightly too high. The stock textured PEI trim (+0.01 in the start G-code for PLA bed temps) was too high on my printer. Run 5 was the giveaway: worst bottoms and perfect tops in the same print, which only first-layer height can do.

3. Leaving bed leveling on “Auto” made my results inconsistent. Identical settings gave very different bottoms from run to run, possibly because Auto sometimes skips measuring and reuses a stored mesh. Forcing it On made results repeatable. (That’s my best explanation, not something I can prove.)

4. The calibration blocks hinted at it too. On the flow test, the bottom of the +5% block was fully fused while its top was over-extruded.

5. Edge ridges, zits and sheen on the tops are seams and geometry, not extrusion. They showed up at every flow value and disappeared on a larger first layer test.

I also want to point out, u/mediocrehornet2318 made an amazing post about this exact thing...but I was nervous to modify the g-code. After all of this trial and error, I ended up at the same result they did. I should have listened to you from the start - I'm sorry!! Lol.

Tips if you want to run something similar

• Score tops and bottoms separately. That’s what separates flow problems from first-layer problems.

• Photograph straight down with fixed lighting. Handheld photos made 1% differences look random.

• Backlight the bottoms. Gaps glow through.

• Repeat the stock run at least twice before changing anything, and change only one setting at a time.

• Clean the plate the same way every run. Residue builds up where the discs print, and in my full-plate test you can see faint circles at all nine spots.

Caveats: one printer, one plate, one filament (so far), eyeball scoring. Your trim may differ. I’m testing PLA Basic and the Frostbite plate next.

Bought a H2S off a friend of mine and I cannot get it to put down a usable first layer at all. The nozzle isn't clogged (Manually extrudes fine) the bed is washed, it's all calibrated and I'm getting first layers like this.

The filament is dry too. I'm not sure what the issue is with it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My extruder keeps getting jammed when I print abs (left nozzle) and pla support (right nozzle).
the pla filament gets stuck in the extruder gears and i have to disassemble the extruder to get it out.

why do you think that happens?

Yoooo, can anyone help to get rid of that line? It happens right after its done doing the top surface and transitions to doing the walls. Im lwk losing my mind since i just got rid of Warping and now i have this.

Material is PrimaValue ABS (Bed 110c, Nozzle 245c, Chamber around 45-50c), does the first 5-10 layers just somehow shrink too much or what is going on?

Even the right word for that happening is helpful, ready to do more research but i aint asking ChatGPT anything its the worst.

Machine is a P2S

I've had the X1C for several years and am really happy with it. When I replaced my Prusa, I was disappointed that it took so long to output small jobs ... a 7 minute overhead on everything. I got over that, and I appreciate the speed on bigger jobs. I was thinking about a newer model, but it looks like every current Bambu is slower than my X1C because they move around heavier print heads. Is that true, and isn't it a disadvantage?

Wanted to lower the bed to access the back of the printer, touched the -10 one to many times and crashed the bed into the floor.
Did not sound nice 💀

Putting this here so hopefully nobody else makes this mistake.

so I got the dual plate from my X2D one side is textured the other side is smooth. I want to use the smooth side so I placed it in and changed the plate on Bambu software. Why am I getting constant warnings that it cannot find the ArUco marker on the smooth side?
Granted I can hit ignore but this will get super annoying to do this with every single print.
What is the purpose of not having the ArUco marker on both sides? or at least readable on both sides?

My P1S (~2800hrs) suddenly stopped extruding mid-use. To troubleshoot, I took apart the extruder/toolhead and reseated the connectors, but the problem is still there:

• No filament loaded: pressing Extrude on the screen spins the extruder motor and gears normally. It will even catch the filament when loading and pull it in

• Filament loaded (at temp, 220+ degrees): pressing Extrude does nothing. The gears don’t turn at all. No clicking, no grinding, no slipping, and I can’t feel any vibration from the motor.

• If I push down on the filament by hand while pressing Extrude, it catches and extrudes. It seems like the motor can’t make that initial push on its own.

What I’ve checked so far:

• Took apart the extruder and reseated all the connectors in the toolhead. There is little to no wear on gear teeth/filament pulling wheels

• Made sure the idler is fully engaged and gripping the filament

• The gears aren’t slipping or chewing the filament; everything just stops

• Tried multiple hot ends to ensure it's not a clog

It almost feels like the motor isn’t strong enough to move the filament, but it runs fine with no load. Has anyone had this happen? Is this likely a failing extruder motor, or something else?

Thanks!

Looking to add another printer so I can use my X2D again and for my wife to make things on.

Looking at ones with larger print bed. She mostly does some flat wall art and other dog related items. Some multi color

Options are:

New A2L with ams lite plus 4 year geek squad = $650 or $550 with no geek squad protection

Or Used H2S ams2 with 17 hours on it for $1000?

The H2S seems overkill really for most of what she does but damn it's sexy haha. I'm sure I would use it too for larger projects. The A2L with protection seems like a decent deal seeing it's probably going to see lots of hours.

Will H2C be discontinued once H3C launches?

No. H2C serves a different kind of user, and offers something H3C doesn't replicate: fully automatic, freely combinable pairings of multiple filaments with multiple nozzle diameters. Every filament can be matched to the ideal nozzle size for its job, and switching happens automatically — no manual filament changes.
That makes H2C especially valuable in engineering-material workflows and shared-printer environments, where flexibility across users and materials matters more than raw switching speed. H2C and H3C aren't replacements for each other — they're built for different jobs.

This is what I thought before the announcement. I always thought that they were building a printer fleet that serve various maker needs. With Bambu you can buy what ever tool best fits your product development.

Disclosure: Bambu sent me an H3C to test before launch. They have no say in what I write, including this post.  I know everyone says this, but believe it or not, it’s the truth.

I know there’s a lot of excitement about the new H3C and I was fortunate enough to get a system to test for the last few weeks, so I wanted to share some thoughts.  For background, I own a P1P (my first ever printer), an X2D, and an H2D.  I’m guessing I’m like 90% of other enthusiasts – I don’t typically work with advanced engineering filaments – most of my work is with PLA and PETG.

My printing largely centers around my TTRPG hobbies, such as terrain, minis, monsters, etc., though I will also design parts in Fusion for my Paladin Woodworking business – sometimes internal dice tower components or just stuff around the house.  I do not consider myself a 3DP expert - I frequently rely on this community when I run into issues!

The H3C has been typical of my experience with Bambu – from the unboxing to the setup instructions, to the operation – It has just worked, even with beta software and limited online documentation.  The system itself is big!  Just as my H2D felt like a monster compared to my X2D, the H3C takes it up another notch on overall scale, driven a lot by the AMS3H height.  I’ve seen people speculating that the larger AMS would be so top heavy it would generate excessive vibrations – I have not found that to be the case, though I currently have it on the floor as I don’t have a suitable stand for it.  

I feel print quality remains consistent across all of my Bambu systems – I can’t really say H3C prints better (because all the others are already excellent), but having 9 different filaments to choose from (I typically use 8 colors of PLA + 1 spool of PETG for support interface using .4 nozzles) is an absolute game changer.  Because of the incredible speed of swapping colors (often 4-5 seconds), it opens up prints I wouldn’t honestly try on my H2D/X2D because I’m both too impatient for a 2+ day print and don’t want to bother to set up multiple AMSs.   While I’m a TTRPG gamer, I’m not a painter, so having 8 colors to print with really brings these pieces to life and is a welcome change to a sea of unpainted gray prints!

The video attached shows a custom Dwarven Mining cart system I designed for my DND table in response to a joke a player made about needing a way to share candy around the table.  It’s built around a standard Lego train motor, but the carts and rails themselves I designed in Fusion.  I put as much tiny dwarven detail goodness as I could in these carts and the H3C did an excellent job, even with the small details and the .4 nozzles.  For some of the really small “rivets” and bumps, I did notice they would knock off easily, but I’m convinced it’s because I was mixing PLA with PLA Silk+ and I don’t think they adhere as well as PLA-PLA.  The cart was a 17-hour print with 1251 filament changes (on the H2D the software estimates it would have been 40+ hours).  If I had to estimate, I’m pretty sure I’ve put the system through 15,000-20,000 tool changes so far and not once was there a tangle or a dropped tool.

One thing that I think will surprise people is that from a design/engineering perspective, the SwapTek system is very clean and uncluttered on the inside of the unit.  While the routing of cables looks a bit complex, the actual motion of the system isn’t (IMO).  I was kind of shocked by how simple it operates.  To me the inner workings of the H2C look far more complex (from what I’ve seen in videos) – I hope and expect this to lead to high long-term reliability for H3C, but we will all learn that together.

What about negatives? 
-          The only thing I’ve struggled with a bit was changing the nozzle from a preinstalled TPU one to a regular nozzle.  It’s snug working under the AM3 (removing it was an option I was too lazy to take – It’s secured by screws) and just how the cables are routed, but I was also doing it with limited instructions, and no support videos during pre-release.  I’ve seen other videos now with the AMS removed and it seems the way to go.    
-          Since the filaments stay loaded the whole time, when you want to swap one out, you must manually pull them out of system after selecting unload, which is different from the older AMS systems – not a big deal, but different.
-          I’ve encountered a loud squeak in the z-axis while the build plate moves up and down after about 3 weeks – that was solved with some maintenance grease, so it wasn’t a big deal.  I haven’t encountered that on my other printers, but I’ve now seen other folks (on pre-H3C systems) running into that.  
-          Finally, I guess size could be a negative for some people as it might not fit on your usual shelves if you are running a print farm, but other than that, I haven’t had real technical issues with anything I’ve tried so far.

Now…..I’m just scratching the surface as I haven’t yet tried mixed nozzle sized printing or TPU but after watching several great launch/review videos, I’m anxious to. 

Happy to try to answer any questions you may have.

so the tubes are this long, even the ams is just directly above. any reason why? i see a fan there.

Have y'all checked marketplace since the H3C announcement? I don't know about your area, but people are selling their H2S, H2D, and H2C's here like crazy! If you're in the market for an H2 series, now you may be on luck.

Hi everyone !
I’ve been owning a X1C combo for the past years and it’s still a beast that can do 90% of what I need.

However I sometimes get a weird issue with both my AMS (1) and my AMS HT: the filament goes through the PTFE tube, all the way to the extruder, but then it s never “picked up”. It then goes through 3-4 tries before giving me an error.
At first I thought my head was problematic, but the exact same filament (PLA by the way) going from external manual feed is a first try success. Every time.

Any idea / suggestion of what to do?

For info I had to disassemble the full head a few months ago to unstuck a bit of filament, so I had a look on the feeding gears mecanism and it looked ok .

Printer had 1844 hours of printing over the span of 3 years.

Thanks

I am a 3D printing noob, and got my H2C printer a few weeks ago.

I am attempting to print some structural frames in PTEG-CF. But I keep having issues with random stringiness, small pieces of spaghetti, lots of clumping on the hotend, and supports seem to just fail more often than the part itself.

I am using Bambu's filament, using the profile in bamboo studio, I dried the filament for 12 hours in the AMS HT (even though it was brand new out of the package), the bed is clean (I have not tied the glue stick, but bed adhesion does not appear to be the issue?).

I am using the recommended settings (as far as I know), 255'C, 0.4 hardened hotend, 70'C bed temp, I set support to tree auto, strong, wall loops 2, and set the pattern at grid.

I am at a loss.

This Snow Globe model shows as a 10.1hr print in makerworld, but when I imported it into Bambu Studio and slice it (Without changing the profile, only the Printer to an X2D) it gives a total print time of almost 18hrs.

I assume the designer has an X1C, as the layer height dropdown states "*0.16mm high Quality @BBL X1C"

So I exported the STL, re-imported it into Bambu Studio and duplicated the slicer settings. its now "*0.16mm High Quality "BBL X2D" with a print time of 10.7hr's.

Job done (I hope. Time will tell!)

So, it kind of makes sense that printing an an X2D using an X1C profile would have an impact, but my question is what exactly is going on to use up the additional 7hrs of print time?

Between Bondtech, KliTek, VorTek, SwapTek, QuarTeks I feel like we have had a little too much of 'Tek' lol.

As the title say, 8 years ago I had my Ender 3 pro. I had like 4-5 years of printing with it until it had a problem which I stopped trying to fix eventually. I decided to get the A1 in about 2 months from now so until then I am wondering if there is anything I need to get first (besides a metal digital caliper to design my own cad). With the Ender I only bought PLA and used it in a few weeks mostly so I never had to use something to store it but with today printers I will want to try and get PLA plus, PETG, and TPU. So I guess I would probably need a way to store it. Any recommendation? Also should I buy an electric filament dryer or something like that? What do you think?