I know there has been a lot of speculation topics and such, but I wanted to get everything under one roof.
Some of the basic things expected are:
5ghz wifi
Faster processor
Better lighting/camera
Bigger screen
UI change (Probably to match the other printers)
Nozzle Compatibility (To match P and H series)
No fire risk
6 Pin AMS ports (No more weirdly constant out of stock AMS hubs!!!)
Switch Micro SD card to USB
Swap extruder motor to match the other printers.
Far fetched things that has a possibility:
A2S or A2 Max: This one has the highest probability of this list of a reality. Everybody wants a bigger printer, but is too poor to buy an H2S. This will use the same print plate as the big guys to make it easier to design. In order to make it work, they will need to use two z axis motors to move the X axis. It will be similar to the Elegoo Neptune 4 Plus. Edit :The laws of physics say no on this one, but I do want a cheaper version of the H2S. Perhaps a H2H?
A2D: Basically slap an H2D print head on an A1. Edit: the X2D print head would be better for space saving despite the Bowden (eew) extruder.
A2C: This one is going to be hard to explain, so bear with me. (If anyone who is wanting to try and sketch this, please do.) My idea to make this work is to move the purge wiper from the far left to right next to the filament cutter on the right. Then put a drum that can rotate where the purge wiper was that can hold four nozzles. In order to bring the nozzles up and down, there will be one strong solenoid to mimic the swapping like on the H2C.
Chamber compatible???
If there is anything else I missed, new ideas, please let me know.
I’m warming up to the “D” printhead slapped on an A1 as “good enough for a new generation”, but I don’t think bambu is done milking the apple tax out of it yet. There needs to be competition in that space before it’ll show up on their value box. Right now they’ve captured anyone who wants excellent and fast 0 distance supports into a $1.5k+ tier. And the businesslizards are right to do it, the only competition is out-of-stock snapmaker, TBD-prusa/INDX, 3k+ prusa XL, and 20k industrial machines.
These are all very easy and if you skip the bigger screen, and left out sd or USB ports they could even achieve a lower than the ultra cheap price now.
Bambu probably has stats of how many are using the ports or SD cards to prints, I would imagine is a very low amount of people.
As far as that point is concerned, the answer is almost certainly no, since the maximum weight that the printer can handle would need to be increased. Remember, it’s about volume, which increases by the square. This would push the current design beyond its limits. Significantly stronger axes and motors would need to be installed, which would increase the cost. However, that wouldn’t make sense, given that the P1/P2 already exists in terms of pricing - not size. They certainly wouldn’t want to be more expensive than the P series. A larger P2 would make more sense, but that probably won’t happen either.
Yes, I expect if an A2 Max were to exist, there would need to be a dual motor setup on each axis, it would be considered the “Budget version” of the H2S. The H2S Costs $1,249 (No AMS). If there is a P2M, the cost would be around $999-$1100 easy, so it would be only $300 off at best. An A2M would cost roughly $599-$899. It would be much cheaper because there is less material used to manufacture. (I used edge of the napkin math)
Consider that an A1 has a volume of 16,777,216 at 256 256 256.
H2S has a volume of 36,992,000 at 340 320 340.
That’s an increase in potential load of 120%. The important thing is the ratio, not the absolute numbers. Therefore, the entire design must perform at least 120% better. We’re talking about CoreXY versus Bed Slinger here, where completely different forces come into play due to the bed shifting.
Bambu, Pursa and other companies have decided against giant bed slinger for precisely this reason: at some point, it just becomes physically impractical. There are exceptions in the low-cost sector, such as the Elegoo Neptune 4 Plus. These companies hope that customers will never use the printer to its full potential and prefer to rely on large numbers, such as print volume, regardless of whether it makes sense. However, ask yourself whether it is really suitable for heavy-duty applications.
It will never reach the maximum print speed of 500 mm/s for larger objects with the Elegoo, unless you want it to fly off the plate. Yes, there were people who tried that, let’s just say it looked like pure destruction.
No reputable manufacturer with an understanding of physics would build such a device.
Consider the stronger adhesion needed for that; this is another factor to take into account. I know many customers want bigger bed slinger, but physics says no at some point. It’s not as if clever people haven’t already tested this.
