Guys, please get yourself a 0.2 nozzle now!

Bambu Lab A Series Bambu Lab A1 mini
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Guys, please get yourself a 0.2 nozzle now!
I got it years too late!

Not only does it print great, it will also save you tons of time and worries!

  1. Tolerance
    The first time I used the 0.2 nozzle my settings were all wrong (I couldn’t wait to try it out), but to my surprise the print result was still great!
    Soon I found that, unlike the 0.4 nozzle, the 0.2 has extremely high tolerance.
    You can have totally wrong settings for printing speed, temperature, etc. and still get a perfect result with a 0.2 nozzle.
    I spent years fine-tuning the 0.4 nozzle just to get good results. Now all those worries are gone—simply set it to max speed and print.

  2. Speed
    Many people complain that the 0.2 nozzle is too slow, which is not true (at least not entirely).
    The issue is that the factory default settings for the 0.2 nozzle are way too conservative.
    I found (I don’t know why) that unlike the 0.4 nozzle, the individual speed settings (inner/outer/infill etc.) on the 0.2 DOES NOT matter. Only the max flow rate needs to be considered.
    Practical way: test and set your filament’s max flow rate (normally 4–5 mm³/s) and lock it. Then in the print settings, set all speeds to the printer’s maximum (500 mm/s, except for overhangs).
    Because it prints faster in difficult areas vs 0.4 and uses less material, you can get similar print times compared to a 0.4 nozzle.

  3. Filament
    When printing at similar strength (0.2 × 4 walls vs 0.4 × 2 walls), the 0.2 nozzle uses about 20% less filament. I’m not 100% sure why—partly because it wastes less material in thin areas and infills.

  4. Quality
    Needless to say, it prints glass-like surfaces—smooth sides and tops even at crazy speeds.
    The 0.2 nozzle is so fine that it hides minor defects much better than a 0.4 nozzle.
    The super-fine results I used to spend days tuning a 0.4 nozzle for now come easily, and even better.

  5. Addon
    The K-factor (PA value) is about 5 times higher than on a 0.4 nozzle. It’s around PA ~0.2 (a crazy number) for most filaments I’ve tried.
    The 0.2 nozzle doesn’t like “smooth speed” (it prefers constant high speed all the way). After you set the correct PA value, consider turning “smooth speed” off (or set velocity adaptation to 999999).

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You should upload a project with your settings as a demo. On the A1 did you disable the built-in PA?

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Test and find the max flowrate your filament can handle (test print some small things). Once the flowrate is fixed, change all the print speed to max 500. (The fixed flowrate will slowdown the print automatically to the speed it can handle)

I mean, on 0.4 nozzle I need to set different speeds for inner/outer/infill/gap etc. to reach a good quality result. But on 0.2 nozzle all these settings doesn’t matter as long as your “flowrate” is acceptable.

No no no, not removing PA, instead, set the PA carefully!

What I mean is: remove the “smooth speed” (disable the slow/smooth change of the speed).
You want the speed to be either 500 or 100, not 500-450-400-350-300-250-200-150-100.
It is because that the bambulab doesn’t calculate the pressure during the speed transits correctly for 0.2 nozzle. (many of my test prints indicates that, I analyzed them line by line)

In order to get the print speed change from 500 to 100 (like a sudden overhang) sharply and print perfectly, you need an extremely accurate PA (how much the pressure changes in advance before the print speed changes)…But on 0.2 nozzle, even you set it wrong, the defect will be so tiny that you barely notice it comparing to 0.4 anyway.

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A 0.6 has its purpose, a 0.4 has its purpose, and a 0.2 has its purpose. Many people consider 0.4 to be the sweet spot in terms of print time, quality, and the durability of the print.

I’m not so sure about that, because it really depends on the object being printed. I’m happy to be proven wrong, though. That’s why, as mentioned earlier, it would be a good idea to upload a project (3mf) for comparison.

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Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

You’ll need to post a file and your print results showing that these claims are true.

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Well, my prints look worse with a .2 nozzle compared to a .4. doesn’t matter the speed or any other setting. I would love to get my hands on a working .3mf file just to verify my concerns about a faulty-printer.