Another 'Should I Upgrade?' Post

[donmegel]

I’ve had my P1S for over a year and am very happy with it. I have an AMS, 3 different build plates, hardened steel upgrades, and .2, .4, .6 nozzles.

What tempts me to move to the H2D is the A1 style nozzle swapping and the second print head.

With the P1S, I only change nozzles if I absolutely must because I hate messing with all of the tiny connectors. I’d love to change to a .6 for less detailed prints, or a .2 for miniatures but its such a pain (to me) on the P1S.

With the P1S, I rarely use multicolor prints because I can’t stand all the wasted filament and massive increase in print time from filament changes. I am a hobbyist so time to print should not be a problem, but my child sleeps in the room next to my printer and the AMS swapping in and out all night can be disturbing. That means when I do multi-color prints, I try to start them in the morning and look for them to be done before my child goes to bed. Each change also invites the possibility of a problem (failed to retract, overloaded spool, broken filament, etc). The H2D might allow more flexibility there. The H2D would also allow me to use support interface on everything (PETG support for PLA, for example) which is very tempting because I HATE supports and love how cleanly they come off when I use a dedicated interface material.

Is the H2D worth $2,300 (plus nozzles/build plates, etc) for that? I’d have to sell my P1S and all of the many upgrades/accessories that I’ve collected for it to help finance the purchase.

Alternatively, I had thought of buying an A1-Mini with a .2 nozzle to go with my P1S. I have enough gift cards for that and I could print miniatures or other, smaller, models using PLA when the P1S is busy. That would address my nozzle swap incentive for getting an H2D but not the time and waste associated with multi-filament prints on the P1S.

Am I missing anything? Is there some other advantage to going from a P1S to a H2D that I am not realizing? I know the print bed is bigger, the camera is better, it has a touch screen, etc. but what about real world use?

I welcome your opinions and feedback, thank you.

[KYZ_Design]

@donmegel

but my child sleeps in the room next to my printer and the AMS swapping in and out all night can be disturbing

I’ll just add that the new AMS is quieter and the H2D is significantly quieter than the P1S

[donmegel]

Regular printing is not loud enough to be an issue after the startup calibration and filament feed is complete. That said, I personally would love for it to be quieter.

[krellboy]

@donmegel

but my child sleeps in the room next to my printer

Do you mean your child sleeps in a room adjacent to the one that contains the printer, or in the same room as the printer?

[donmegel]

Adjacent room. I wouldn’t put the printer in the same room.

[krellboy]

@donmegel

With the P1S, I rarely use multicolor prints because I can’t stand all the wasted filament and massive increase in print time from filament changes.

https://www.youtube.com/live/lVMFjQRcRzc

Please open this video, grab the slider and move it to a random position and watch 5 minutes of it.

[donmegel]

I’m not sure I follow, are you saying there is not much in the way of time savings or filament waste with the H2D?

[krellboy]

It’s just a video of a H2D printing mulitcolor, you’ll need to be the judge if it looks like an improvement to you.

You can also tell Bambu Slicer you have a H2D and 1 or more AMS and it will slice a model for you and tell you how long it takes. Give that a shot if you don’t want to watch the video, but I think you’ll reach the same conclusion faster just watching the video.

For the exact case of printing just 2 colors the H2D can be much faster.

[donmegel]

Oh I see, thank you, I did watch a bit of the video. For me, the speed is only important if I am trying to complete a print while my child is awake. If the printer doesn’t need to change filaments, or is quieter while changing than my P1S, time isn’t a problem because it can run all night and day without disturbing my child’s sleep.

[rwijnhov]

adjecent room will be more then enough for 24/7 printing. H2d is extrmely quiet

[donmegel]

I have thin walls. When in the next room, I can clearly hear the “WhRRRRRR” of the AMS retracting filament during changes. Is the new AMS alot quieter than the old?

Maybe I should just get an AMS 2 for my P1S…

[Jenkins]

I would also recommend a 2nd AMS or AMS 2 pro. And maybe an A1, not the mini. At least you can swap plates - and don’t need to adjust your models.
IMHO the H2D is a bit over the top for an average hobbyist. Not if one is looking for the extra capabilities of course…

[donmegel]

@Jenkins

At least you can swap plates - and don’t need to adjust your models

Oh wow, I did not think about the plates being usable on both printers. That could be really handy. There are also times when I just don’t want to wait for my P1S to get done before starting another print. With a full A1 I could swap out the nozzle and start printing over there…

[StreetSports]

The h2d poop chute is the loudest part of the operation. Its much louder than p1s. If you dont print with more than 2 colors, should be less noise overall still

[donmegel]

@StreetSports

If you dont print with more than 2 colors,

That is part of my dilemma, I don’t print with more than 1 color now because of all the time and waste, but I think I would print with at least 2 colors much more frequently if I didn’t have those problems.

[Asynchronism]

So, similar situation here. Love my X1E, hate the nozzle changes and I tend to do very little in multi color because of the filament swaps.

There’s nothing I miss about the old printer when I’m using the new one. It’s a tiny bit slower in some cases, but I find myself using multiple colors all of the time… just because I can. It’s a joy. I’ve already swapped nozzles a handful of times for other sizes, where I own every size for the X1 and have never used any of them. It is far quieter running at night than the old printer, not silent but a huge upgrade… the noisy part is when it wipes the nozzle for a color change.

One big upgrade from yours is the heated chamber, that’s useful.

Otherwise… I love the new technology, the new AMS is nice upgrade, the cameras are better, the build quality is great. 100% happy, there are some quirks but I expect it will only get better with software over the next few months. I’ve found myself using the larger build area more than I expected.

X1E moved to my office at work, it’s here on my desk loudly making fixtures and other single color functional parts.

[KYZ_Design]

@donmegel

I don’t print with more than 1 color now because of all the time and waste, but I think I would print with at least 2 colors much more frequently if I didn’t have those problems.

Yeah absolutely. And it’s not because of the cost of the purged material - it just looks and feels wrong. I rarely did filament changes on the P1S, now I do it all the time on the H2D.

Also - you can fit more on the plate, so even if you do need to purge, it’s less purge per item if you fill the plate.

(I could have fit more on here)

[tomp61]

If you have to ask the question “should I upgrade” of others here on this forum the answer is simple! NO, you don’t need to upgrade. You are asking others to justify the reasoning for you to upgrade!
It seems like you are playing the want vs need scenario!

[KYZ_Design]

Haha I would say the answer is simple: YES!

Life is short and your enthusiasm won’t last forever either, if the items lower on the hierarchy of needs are already met, buy it and enjoy it.

[donmegel]

@tomp61

It seems like you are playing the want vs need scenario!

Well, by that logic, I didn’t “Need” the P1S either, its a hobby. The debate I am having is really over value for money. Is the H2D worth the expense for my set of “wants”?