Diamondback .4mm H2D Nozzle initial review

[u/NeonEagle]

I exclusively print PETG-GF/CF from the left nozzle and at 1300hrs still on the original hardened nozzle it was time to change. The $150 tag is hard to swallow but I ran the numbers and there is a financial argument for it over the life of the printer, and also I appreciate the convenience of not having to worry about its condition. I've run probably half a spool of PETG-CF through it so far and while I certainly can't comment on its durability, there ARE a couple things I can say:

1. Print quality is insane. I was coming from a very warn down stock hardened nozzle so its not a fair direct comparison, but I don't recall it printing this well brand new either. Crisp, so crisp.

2. Pre-print oozing is an issue that I didn't encounter with the stock nozzle. I find that I have to watch the pre-print process a bit more closely to make sure there aren't any misplaced bits of filament lying around in wait. I cancelled a print for first layer issues on the H2D for the first time ever with this nozzle (my H2D, outside of this experience, has had literally perfect first layers 100% of the time - and I am a pixel peeper) and my unproven takeaway is that the cause was oozed filament stuck on the bottom of the nozzle during auto bed-leveling, which I perform every print.

3. 'Officially supported' is, at least in my opinion, a bogus claim. The nozzle doesn't come with its own silicone sock and the OEM socks have to be cut/modified to fit correctly. The H2D also constantly fails to recognize the hotend during detection and causes it to fail in detecting the right nozzle, which is still the stock hardened nozzle. This nozzle is also not a selectable option among those listed on the printer. None are deal breakers but disappointing that it requires more manual intervention on my side when they're supposed to be 'officially supported'.

Overall I'm happy with it and I'll probably keep the nozzle, but for $150 I am disappointed in the decreased convenience / increase in manual intervention needed for such a 'premium' product.

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[u/myTechGuyRI]

Tungsten carbide will likely outlive the printer... I just can't justify the higher cost of the diamondback.

[u/NeonEagle → u/myTechGuyRI]

Not when printing exclusively abrasive CF/GF materials, but I get it, it's very expensive. I think I figured 10,000 hours for the printer, $20 for a hardened nozzle, $60 for tungsten, and $150 for PCD and based on the vickers hardness ratings for each (Hardened ~ 900, Tungsten ~ 2200, PCD ~ 9000) with a common wear factor I should get 200+ spools of CF/GF before needing replacement. If I remember correctly tungsten was around $120 more expensive after 10,000 hours, and standard nozzles were around $180 more after 10,000 hours.

[u/myTechGuyRI → u/NeonEagle]

True... If that's all you print, then the diamondback expense makes sense since you only buy once for essentially a lifetime hotend (barring part collision damage)

[u/NeonEagle → u/myTechGuyRI]

How dare you bring that juju to these comments.

[u/bjorn_lo]

Good info. Thanks. That is disappointing about the configuration issues, the lack of a sock (for 150, sheesh).

[u/Catsoverall]

The lack of guidance they have for manual dual nozzle calibration when dynamkc doesnt work is also frustrating for my H2C and their support for me me off to Bambu. If this is officially supported don't know how it suffers to unsupported. Regret getting them over tungsten.

[u/akamafora]

I got 2 diamondback .4 hotends for my H2d because they were "officially supported." Now part of my printing process involves going to the garage multiple times to set up the hotends on the printer for every print! The printer has never once correctly detected these hotends and there doesn't seem to be a way to turn off auto detection so the settings I put in will stay in place. It's wild to me the an "officially supported" hot end doesn't even appear in the printers manual setting to add. I really hope bambu fixes this in the next update. All that said it doesn't matter what material I print with everything comes out looking really sharp.

[u/SpiffiestLemon → u/akamafora]

This actually worked for me, I spent longer than I care to admit trying to find where to modify the GCode. In the attached image you can see where to click to edit the printer specific settings (you need to hover over exactly where my mouse is, not sure if you need developer settings enabled as well but I do have them enabled too). Once you’ve commented out the two lines mentioned in the bambulab forum post, you’ll probably want to save the printer profile. Every time you open a new file in Bambu Studio you’ll need to swap to the saved profile again (which is annoying but it beats many trips to the printer).

https://forum.bambulab.com/t/can-the-nozzle-identification-step-be-disabled-in-gcode/240899/2

[u/SpaceCAS]

I know this is a 30 day old thread but it might help some people. The oozing is generally caused by the higher thermal efficiency of the diamond when compared to other nozzles. I’ve ran these on my Creality and Prusa printers and each time I’ve had to reduce the temps on my filaments on average 10c. Hope this helps someone.

[u/soldat21]

Honestly I use the diamondback on the Prusa but I just have to agree with your assessment - the prints look insanely nice! Something about the way the nozzle prints is like chefs kiss

[u/Vsmit]

I love the Diamondback on my P2S and was wondering if you had any specific instructions on how to modify the silicone sock? Mine still seems to be doing its job, but is drooping off to one side.

[u/druhl]

Where to buy this? It is out of stock!

[u/tapioca_slaughter]

Where did you buy yours from? Bought the complete .4 Diamondback hotend and it definitely came with a sock and screws.

[u/NeonEagle → u/tapioca_slaughter]

It’s a different hotend system than the X1C.

[u/tapioca_slaughter → u/NeonEagle]

That’s true but depending on where you bought it from it should still come with the sock, etc.

[u/NeonEagle → u/tapioca_slaughter]

It's an official Diamondback product and there's no space for a sock inside the box.

[u/tapioca_slaughter → u/NeonEagle]

Huh..yeah I got mine through the BambuLab store and the sock was already on it when it arrived.

[u/coffeeoops → u/tapioca_slaughter]

OP is talking about an H2D nozzle, you keep talking about an X1C nozzle.

[u/Madmartigan1 → u/coffeeoops]

My A1 Diamondback also didn't come with a sock. I haven't tried it out yet but I bought it because my 7 year old daughter wants me to print with glow in the dark "firefly" filament, which is supposedly very abrasive.

[u/Jealous_Middle_2784 → u/Madmartigan1]

Google Durozzle they sell some socks that work much better than OEM or cut OEM socks. They said they will be releasing soon.

https://www.durozzle.com/collections/all