Writing this in advance of the announcement today on the H2C (18/11), so I managed to sell my P1S recently for a a decent price despite giving quite a bit away and I was initially focused on buying the H2S but now I am leaning towards the H2D as a future upgrade path or possibly H2C price dependent.
I am still very much new to 3D printing, I don’t print all day every day but here is my use case:
Currently printing single colour models with odd multi-colour here and there using basic filaments e.g. PLA, PETG etc.
I have some model ideas (not yet designed) that are probably could be better suited to engineering materials over the likes of PLA or PETG but also that I would like to potentially sell at a later date or at least upload to MakerWorld.
Most of my designs currently need to be split in two and going forward I would want to make them in a large, single print for aesthetic reasons. The H2S will comfortably do this as will the H2D for almost all prints and always if I want to use the second nozzle to extend the print volume.
In the UK and with Black Friday deals, the cost difference between H2S/H2D is £400. At face value, I can understand that financially, the H2S probably makes more sense even if I need to purge filament, it would still take me a while to spend that much in poop to recover the £400.
However, I am interested in this multi-material support offering with the H2D but what I think is becoming more important in terms of value, is time. I have heard that the use of H2D over H2S in terms of multi-material and (maybe) multi-colour is that you can shave off quite a bit of time with the H2D against the H2S.
I’m trying to justify all of this in my head by saying the sale of my P1S pretty much covers the price difference for the H2D, but I also feel like I’m getting FOMO on the H2C. I’m not sure I am feeling comfortable spending the cost to upgrade the H2S to the H2C if it involves material changes to the printer.
Am I mad to consider spending that much on the H2D or even the H2C given my current use case and shall I just go for the H2S which seems like a bigger brother of the P1S that I had before?
h2c would be making the most sense or second hand, good conditioned h2d.
the true power of h2d or h2c isn’t multi color. the true power is the freedom of support materials. it unlocks the true potential of free forming 3d models. For PLA you have Support for PLA or PVA, for PETG you have Support for PETG or PVA, for ABS/ASA you have HIPS, for Nylon you have ASA. It’s a huge difference on freedom of design options. For example, it’s infinitely hard to print a round chamber shape like a tin of coca cola can without support material:
you would need to either design a large chamfer inside, or separate the model into two parts and suffer from structural weaknesses:
you have to either chamfer it until there’s no large overhangs:
With the H2D, you only save time when using two materials; with more materials/colors, you’ll have long filament changeover times again.
Furthermore, the print area of the H2D is smaller than that of the H2C—albeit only slightly, because the print heads simply can’t reach the very edge (left nozzle can’t reach the right edge and vice versa).
The print area of the H2C will be even smaller because space is needed for the filament changer system so the print head can move there.
Also, expect that upgrading the H2D/H2C to Vortek will be expensive because many parts need to be replaced and installed (new toolheat, new print bed, the entire mechanism, etc.)—I don’t know if the upgrade is worthwhile for you. For example, I don’t print much in multiple colors, and upgrading my H2D to Vortek would be a waste of money; I could buy dozens of spools of filament for that price.
Also, expect that upgrading the H2D/H2C to Vortek will be expensive because many parts need to be replaced and installed (new toolheat, new print bed, the entire mechanism, etc.). I don’t know if the upgrade is worthwhile for you. I, for example, don’t print much in multiple colors, and upgrading my H2D to Vortek would be a waste of money; I could buy dozens of spools of filament for that. Furthermore, we’ll see today how much the system actually saves – I think many people will be massively disappointed because only the nozzle is changed, but the filament still has to be changed via AMS – which takes a lot of time.
Bambu’s Vortek promise is simply that less waste will be produced.
I am in the same situation but in my case I kept my P1S because it is not worth to sale it for like 300€…
I agree to other comments, you can buy a lot of filament for the price of the upgrade kit, but today we will hopefully see how much the Vortek System and the H2C will cost, maybe Bambulab proofs us wrong. But for over 3k for the complete printer it will not be worth it.
I am printing a lot of Multicolor Prints with my P1S and I ran into a lot of problems with it, clogged poop chutes, poop on build plates and my models and stuff like that which is really annoying and cost a lot of time. That is why I am considering the Vortek System to hopefully run into less problems during color changes.
Also I am really into the 10W Laser Combo so we hopefully see that on the H2C as well.
The 2 nozzles have a huge advantage for separating the support material.
If you are using both with the same nozzle, you need to purge a lot to prevent support material traces in your part. And specifically engineering parts will suffer in strength.
My choice would be at least a multi nozzle system, so an H2D or an H2C.
A good point on the amount of filament or accessories that I could purchase for the £400 (I had an AMS 2 Pro but saved that). I can’t be sure how much multi-material/colour I will end up using in the end and I guess it’s possible that it could be periodically, which makes the H2S all the more viable over the H2D/H2C.
I just get this feeling that if I opt for the H2S I may somehow end up regretting the purchase as I have that need where it makes sense to use dual nozzle, and if I really needed a large single nozzle printer, I suppose I could always opt for the H2S at a later date or even consider alternative brands like Qidi or Creality or any other manufacturer that comes out with a competitive printer. I do have limited space at the moment which is another thing I am trying to account for as part of my purchase.
I think I’ll end up pricing myself out of the H2C based on the cost, but the H2D sounds more convincing as a form of future proofing in terms of future use cases with that upgrade path to the H2C even if I might not have a need for it right now, the fact that it’s available to me is appealing.
A separate though although not much of a dealbreaker for me, is the saleability of the H2D if I wanted to sell it off. Part of me thinks it’s potentially going to become a redundant printer with the introduction of the H2C and the H2S especially if the price drops over the next 12-18 months or discounts are on offer by Bambu.
Thanks for your reply. Really? I think for the ocasional usage as a hobby user it is worth it. I think i would use the laser maybe once a week or something like that to engrave something, just for fun and for some presents. When you use it more than that it is for sure better to get a laser but those things are pretty expensive so a do it all machine.
Isn’t the price for the H2C with AMS 2,400 USD?
Doing some simple math:
H2D with AMS (not on sale) is 2,300 USD
H2D with AMS (on sale) is 2,000 USD
H2S with AMS is 1,500 USD
All non AMS variants are 250 - 300 USD cheaper so
H2C without AMS is 2,100 - 2,150 USD
but then again, you’d need some AMS beforehand before even thinking about using this.
This means that Black Friday sales are here to stay since this price gap between H2D and H2C make no sense without it!
(or maybe the H2C’s sale is actually a Black Friday one and its going to go up substantially after December 4th…)
Just watched CNC Kitchen review of the H2C. I feel really disappointed with the nozzle changing system, looks like it’s a toss up betweenH2D and H2S for me I think, but I will check out other reviews too.
Wait, the build plate for H2C is different than the other H2?
I thought it was just the build volume.
Also I like how the extra toolhead fan works, its just like the Cutting attachment where you only need to plug it into the toolhead! I expect this to work with H2D
Yep, according to BL store build volume is 330x320x325 mm³
Given that I can upgrade the H2S for £790 or H2D at £702 or better if on sale at any point, which basically brings the cost in line with a new H2C, I think the H2C is out for me. Maybe an upgrade option in the future but if the speed of changing nozzles, purging and then carrying on with the print takes so long, that’s a critical issue.
