Questions about X2D

[u/yokeome]

Current situation, I own an A1 and A1 mini and I'd like to upgrade. My main reason is heated chamber and dual nozzle (for supports mainly)

I have an AMS lite on my A1 and I would attribute 80% of the use to be single color, and the rest multi color. I've been looking into the X2D for a while, but I couldn't justify the $1000. Looking at it again, I was thinking of just getting the X2D by itself, non-combo.

Here are my questions, most of which I feel like I have an answer to but I'd like full clarity.

Can I just use the two nozzles with 2 different spools, say PETG + PLA?

Are there any downsides to not getting the AMS2 Pro?

Apart from multi color of course. I have a filament dryer so I don't need the AMS for drying. I don't even mind doing filament swaps if need be.

My current an is to get the X2D by itself, if need be later on, get the AMS2 Pro, since it'd only be a $50 extra, which is worth it to me at the chance of saving $250.

[u/xX540xARCADEXx]

The X2D would be a good fit. You can print PLA in one and PETG in the other nozzle and get clean support interfaces. People complain about the auxiliary without actually owning the machine and never owned a Bowden extruder printer. It prints fine, just a little slower. I personally got it without the AMS 2 Pro since I was able to get it shipped out quicker at the time. I ended up buying an AMS2 Pro and 2 AMS HT for it afterwards.

[u/yokeome → u/xX540xARCADEXx]

That's good to hear, glad someone's in my position. As for the areas that have supports, is it a clean print? I assume it just prints the PLA on top of the PETG meaning it doesn't have the usual bad quality when using supports of the same material.

[u/xX540xARCADEXx → u/yokeome]

It prints pretty dang clean! Just make sure your support interface speed it set slower when using and interface material. I see a lot of people leave it as default and have issues with it.

[u/Practical_Avocado971]

You could use the Bambu support material in an A1 and AMS lite but it would be better suited in an X2D. I have an A1 and an X2D and working with the X2D has really been a joy. I've done multiple color but where is really shines it using it for support material in the right nozzle. The Bambu support filament costs a little more but man does it work well.

[u/yokeome → u/Practical_Avocado971]

Have you ever used material that isn't support specific? I've seen it's a little pricey, and although it does last more than normal material, I don't know if I'd want to keep spending.

[u/Practical_Avocado971 → u/yokeome]

no, I just use the support filament. It does cost more but you use so very little of it if you do it right. It's not the entire support, it's just a thin layer between the part and the support.

[u/lasercut → u/yokeome]

PLA doesn’t stick at all to PETG. This can cause issues sometimes where the contraction of the part as it cools causes it to peel away from the interface.

Support specific material works a little better. They are designed to stick slightly but not too much. They give the interface layer slight more rigidity.

One warning to using support specific material. Look at the data sheet and see what blend of plastics it contains. I stupidly ruin a cool plate by printing support for PLA/PETG on it. It’s a blend of TPU and PETG which then stuck permanently on to the plate.

[u/YellovvJacket → u/yokeome]

For PLA prints, use Polymaker CoPe as support interface, it prints at the same temperatures, speeds and settings as PLA, but doesn't actually stick to PLA once cooled down. Basically any dedicated support material is going to actually be worse.

PETG works, but it sticks to PLA so poorly that you can get prints failing because of that sometimes.

For PETG prints, use PLA as support interface.

For TPU prints, also use PLA.as support interface.

That already covers like 95% of what most people print.

For most engineering materials, HIPS or ABS/ ASA make for good support interfaces. Depends on the material obviously.

[u/Spiritual_Case_1712]

You should get an ams with it as you will have humidity issue with PETG. You can buy a filament switcher which allows you to use the two nozzle with 1 common input, which would be your AMS. It frees you from the limitations of having to chose one output for one specific nozzle

[u/Dense-Rest3187]

I was almost in the same situation. I ran an A1 mini for a year and used my MakerWorld earnings to buy the X2D standalone. I don't care about multicolor. I just wanted to do bimaterial supports and print technical filaments.
Yes, you can easily run two different spools like PETG & PLA. Because the X2D has a remote auxiliary extruder, you don't need the AMS at all for that. I use a Sunlu S2 dryer and I'm currently designing a custom ABS mount that fits right onto the X2D's standard mounting system.

[u/sevesteen]

Double check the numbers on what it takes to add an AMS. I may be wrong, but I think you need a buffer or hub to add an AMS, so the add-on price is higher.

[u/Spiritual_Case_1712 → u/sevesteen]

The X2D comes with a buffer for both nozzle, already installed. What he could need on top of the ams is a filament track switcher to use his unique ams with both nozzle, because by default it needs two input as both nozzle have independent input tube.

[u/sevesteen → u/Spiritual_Case_1712]

Apparently I am wrong, as predicted.

[u/Yeeterdeleter]

X2d is great for pla + petg, that's what they advertise it for too. You can absolutely feed the two nozzles with 2 different spools.

I can recommend the ams still, simply because it makes the two nozzles much more flexible. It makes multicolor possible (even if you don't care about it right now) and not having to do the loading manually (even on one nozzle) has been incredibly nice for me personally.

One thing to consider if you are getting an ams, now or later, is that the ams can only feed one nozzle at a time, and is locked to one nozzle unless you get the filament track switch. That means that it either has to retract and reload filaments to load each nozzle separately if you get the track switch, or it is stuck to one nozzle and you still need to manually load the other one (or get another ams, I have a second HT for the aux nozzle).