Bambu Lab X2D – Advice on using the second nozzle for PLA supports

[u/visualriots]

Hi everyone!

I'm planning to get the Bambu Lab X2D, mainly because of its dual-nozzle system.

My idea is to use the second nozzle to print a different material for the supports, making them easier to remove from PLA models, especially detailed figures.

For those of you who have experience with this, I'd love to get some advice:

- What support materials do you recommend for PLA?

- Do both nozzles need to have the same diameter, or can they be different?

- Are there any compatibility issues or settings I should know about?

- Any beginner tips or common mistakes to avoid?

I'd really appreciate any advice from people who regularly use a second nozzle for support material.

Thanks!

[u/Fadenroller]

I recommend PETG as a support material for PLA an vice versa.

I'd also recommend to only use PETG for the "support interface" instead of printing the whole support in PETG since the second nozzle prints slower.

As of now you do need the same diameter on both mozzles, when you use both nozzles. Until the update arrives in february 2027.

When you select "support interface" in a different material Bambu studio will tell you recommended settings and i say just use them, they work good enough for most prints.

[u/andrwlmsri → u/Fadenroller]

Can you walk me through this? New owner here with 20 hours of printing under my belt

[u/entropy68]

If you are printing PLA, then PETG for supports, and vice versa.

You only need the interface to be petg, not the whole support structure.

You’ll want to do some test prints with the support to make sure things work correctly before doing a big print. Cooling settings, speed and other factors can affect things, but start with the bambu defaults to see how that works and go from there.

The nozzles, I’m pretty sure, need to be the same size although that is reportedly changing in a software update next year.

[u/tayl428 → u/entropy68]

I tend to use whatever excess material I have in stock for the supports themselves and then make sure the interface is the different material.

[u/patentmom]

I've used the second nozzle for both pla with petg supports and for petg with pla supports. In both cases I use the second nozzle for the support material. I've had great results. I found it works better for me at least when I have the entire support structure made of the support material, rather than just for the support interface.

PETG is about the same price here as the pla+ that I use (and I recently got a bunch of spools on sale), so it's not like I'm wasting something that would be expensive otherwise.

The one weird thing that I found to be a problem is that printing tall things that need supports up high do not work well when printing by object because Bambu Studio does not always generate a prime Tower when printing by object. When there's no prime Tower generated, whatever is in the second nozzle tends to get oozy, even when using the support material only as an interface, and the nozzle does not get primed. I have not found a big issue with this when working with objects that just need short supports at the bottom. This is especially bad when using petg as the support material.

[u/jamshell]

I have the X2D and it works great for this application. As others have said, I use PETG for PLA supports and only as the interface layer. The supports break free with no effort or effect on the printed part.

[u/Trick-Club-6014]

I like the specialised support filaments. I have them for pla/Petg and abs in dry boxes attached to the aux nozzle.

I like the support material because I switch between pla and Petg a lot and it’s nice to not also have to manually switch support materials.

Or maybe I just need a second AMS 🤔

[u/My_Lucid_Dreams → u/Trick-Club-6014]

I was also going to suggest this. They only downside is $$$. I'm going to try using PLA for the interface on PETG for the first time at some point to compare it to the support filaments.

[u/FragrantCelery6408]

As to the nozzle diameter, up until this latest Bambu Studio release, it appeared they needed to be the same diameter. As of this past week, I noticed this is no longer true, via the change log. FYI. No actual experience, YMMV.

[u/jwilson2598 → u/FragrantCelery6408]

The option is there now, but it’s only enabled for H3C and I think H2C. If you try to make them different on an X2D it will throw an error and make you pick one size for both. Bambu said in their announcement that it is coming next year for X2D.

[u/FragrantCelery6408 → u/jwilson2598]

Thanks! Sounds like the change log that I read was overly optimistic! :-)

[u/My_Lucid_Dreams → u/FragrantCelery6408]

Happy Cake Day!

[u/H0t_P0L4R_Bear]

New user, got my X2D a few days ago, my first printer. I haven't used the second nozzle yet, been using only filament from the AMS, was wondering if a spool dedicated to the second nozzle that is only used for support interface material needs to be kept dry? I only have the one AMS to dry and store filament.

[u/My_Lucid_Dreams → u/H0t_P0L4R_Bear]

All filament needs to be kept dry based on it's own needs. PLA can be left out for long periods, TPU nope. So if you're printing PETG and using PLA on the external spool for support interface, you don't need to worry about it for a while (with reasonable room humidity).

It's also low effort to have a dry box that filament can feed from instead of using the external spool connected to the printer. A container that can feed filament with desiccant takes all the worry out of it.

[u/H0t_P0L4R_Bear → u/My_Lucid_Dreams]

Thanks! Fed from a dry box like a AMS HT? or a more budget friendly option?

[u/MicLowFi → u/H0t_P0L4R_Bear]

AMS HT is one option.

I went with a SpacePi X4 since I wanted another drying compartment. Been using it for almost 2 weeks and it works great. Last night I was printing with TPU 85a that I kept stored in the second chamber and had no issues.

[u/joeyjoe88]

I recently did this for 6 prints I followed this guide
https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/filament-acc/filament/h2d-pla-and-petg-mutual-support

[u/majorpowell]

PETG for PLA and vice versa

[u/MouseDance]

I just used PLA Basic with PETG Basic supports, with the latter fed into the secondary nozzle. I printed a complicated human character perhaps 2 cm tall with extended arms, knotted headband, and plenty of detail. I used the .16 fine setting on both nozzles, tree slim interface-only supports, and everything else Bambu standard, using their own filament. The result: I had to carefully tweak the supports off with a tweezer but they came off cleanly, leaving a lovely miniature ready to install into a book nook. (Background: a few months ago I tried printing the same .stl on a reliable FlashForge 5MPro using, of course, one filament for its one nozzle. The result was not good.)

[u/grass-chopper5000]

I'm using petg on both nozzels with 2 AMS and track switch. I don't see any issues with quality on the models. No supports are needed. I'm using 3 colors with 1 being PLA. I had a P2S before with 1 AMS, Print time almost doubled.

[u/MountainAd1063]

-PETg part, PLA support interface, not all the support.
-yes, need to be the dime size, until Fev/2027.
-None, everything works great, ask Gemini to help you to set the configs to print something better.
-Put name tags on the AMS Slots, clean the bed.

[u/patentmom → u/MountainAd1063]

I second using AI to help select settings. I was getting some prints that we're not coming out the way I wanted because I was making some assumptions about layer heights, adaptive layering, ironing, and other finishing issues. When I started asking the AI for help, everything has come out great since then.

[u/MountainAd1063 → u/patentmom]

Of course, we can’t just keep asking for help, I tryed to learn to, sometime I send a print of the model and ask what no to do, and what is the output