I love the creative engineering I see in the H2C, and I know they have done stress tests on the system, but I can’t help but feel like there are alot of places things could go wrong and result in reduced print performance or work stoppage.
One of the things I love about my P1S is that it is a tank (Sherman tank, not a Tiger 2), by which I mean it just works, over and over and over, without needing to be fiddled with and fawned over. The H series is having some teething issues, as all new products do, but the H2D and the S are still enhancements of what came before. The H2C is different. Yes, induction heating has been done before, but not at scale.
I guess my big concerns are that, first, the teething period for the H2C is going to much longer, and second, that the H2C is going to need more maintenance and on a more compressed time frame than the P and X series, and even the HS and D.
Its very similar to H2D, minimal differences. They also said they were working on it for 3 years. They probably wanted to introduce it a year ago. The capabilities teased for the Bambu Lab H2D that were presented as “not possible in 3D printing”, I think they meant the H2C but it was not ready yet. I think it will be a well polished market ready product.
The Vortek system is more simple and elegant than I expected. There’s only one moving part to it so I don’t expect much maintenance and so far I have done 30,000 nozzle swaps on it without any issues
What I like is it’s become obvious the H2S, H2D, H2D Pro, and H2C were all under consideration/development at the same time. Hopefully this translates into a well thought out product line that isn’t a bunch of hacky additions made to react quickly to market demands.
The Vortek system looks like a mix of simplicity on the mechanical side and technological advancements in specialized areas (inductive hotends). I think I have more concern for the lifespan of the hotends than I do the rack and swapping system. If I had to pick between the two, that’s what I’d want. Thankfully we can more easily replace hotends with new ones.
True, but they are still $40 each. I am very curious to know if a clog means throwing out the nozzle. I have not had a clog in a very long time, but I mostly print PLA (which is the most forgiving of all filaments). Has anyone seen an official process for removing clogs in the H2C?
Seen on some reviews that someone tried to unclog that nozzle by heating and cold pull and it stopped working (magnetic bit/being recognised by printer)
I have only seen the H2C in photos and videos. It looks like a nice simple design.
But I am concerned with the complexity. Even if you assume the nozzle change system works perfectly. It still depends on an AMS system. With an AMS has a failure on a bay, just use the others. that gets much more complicated with the two systems (AMS, nozzle system).
Time will tell the reality. I am guessing the reliability, and longevity will be fine for a hobbyist. But for engineering throughput it will need something. I am on the engineering side for the past 40 years. Not saying it is bad. Time will tell.
It’s a simple design, but you’re concerned with the complexity? Which is it?
What type of engineering throughput are you dealing with, it’s either the right machine for the job or it isn’t. Usually this is a clear-cut case based on material requirements and part sizing.
The big value I see in the H2C as an engineering/mfging user, is multi-nozzles dedicated to specific materials. Up till now with these small machines, I’ve been solving this with machine-per-material, and manually swapping dedicated nozzles per material. This is fairly niche case, but for some shops one H2C may be able to handle a variety of engineering filament types extremely well with even less changeover time…
That said, manual nozzle swaps are really quick in the H2D, which is why it’s become my daily driver. I think if I need more machines in 2026 at least one will be the H2C.
I didn’t say it was a simple design, I said it was creative and new. Creative and new things can often run into problems the creators did not envision when released to a larger user base. That is why I was thinking there might be a longer process of teething.
The design is actually very simple, and conventional. It’s not creative or new (thankfully!). New to Bambu customers and 3d printing folk, but the entirety of the Vortek system is features and elements that already “work” in other machine designs.
Also, since the features and elements exist conventionally, we can anticipate that most issues encountered by users will be predictable: stuff like, plastic getting into moving/mating areas may cause minor disfunctions with easy remedies.
I’m really glad the Vortek system is as simple as it is. Cost of nozzle is low. Everything is exposed and easy to diagnose. I think it will play out really well for users.
I have not seen one in person so it is hard to give an opinion where the problem will be. The more parts often equals less reliability. Much more complicated than that. A simplification of a statistical failure rate. You might understand, but the average person doesn’t .
I was saying it LOOKs simple. That does not mean there are not concerns that may or may not be realized. Both can be true.
My biggest concern is the AMS. Great for what I call low volume. (50-75hr a week) Filament choice is limited by AMS.
Right tool for the right job is correct. The C looks good, but yet to be proven. Keeping an eye on it.
The trick is to get it very hot, and insert and remove quickly so the heat will not be passed to the nozzle. I saw the video you are talking about, he did not get it hot enough and just stuck it in and kept fiddling with it while it was inserted.
Long term reliability can only be assessed long term
Even though Bambu Lab printers have a good track record on long term reliability, we should wait until enough H2Cs have gone through thousands of printing hours without major problems to reach a conclusion.
A lot of predictions can be made. There are engineering principles that help predict. Using statistical analysis. The big unknown variable in the equation is how is it going to be used. Multi filament printers have been around for a long time. BL made it popular. A game changer. Is the multi filament different colors, different material.
A detail I noticed is the two nozzles of the H2C are different. Not a problem, you need to have spares of two different nozzles.
