I don’t doubt there’s ample demand, probably at any price. As near as I can tell, none have yet shipped out to paying customers (soonest would be late April according to the product listing), although youtube influencers evidently received them earlier, as they were on display during the roll-out.
But for what it actually is? I’m not sure. How have you all decided for yourself this question? What are the arguments that it’s worth it, and/or the arguments its not worth it?
I’ve got a Sunlu S2 for most non-engineering duty. It can heat and be used at the same time… not so sure if we can disable the rotating drying mode on the HT. Granted, max temp isn’t as high as the 85C, but I’ve got the E2 on order for that. TPU, while useful is a pain to route from a dryer box. I don’t think the usual location on top of the printer is not a good place for that, so it really just comes down to being useful for nylons and PET - which again, some being so finnicky about pathway, just makes me think this’ll live beside the H2D.
The plus side is that it’s avg wattage is only 150W. Compare that to the E2 which I think came in at least peak 500W (probably 300s avg) This will be a godsend for those running the H2D on 120V.
Not sure the low wattage will be too useful as an H2D buddy, because you can’t print and dry at the same time, but I think I understand your point as it will pair well with the types of filaments an H2D user will have. Also, efficient power usage is always welcome.
I was planning to get one just because of the 85C max temp and reasonable price. But that last piece is out the window, so I’m not sure I’ll still get one. I’m currently using a PolyDryer box as my spool holder, so I really don’t need one. Not to mention, at $200, it’s a little more than I would like to spend, but I haven’t completely disregarded it.
What is the rationale for why it can’t both dry and be printed from at the same time?
Can it be heated to any temperature at all that’s above ambient while printing, or is the heater shut-off while printing?
The reason I ask is that I have so far been running my AMS2 without any heating at all, and the HS-PLA I have in there got wet enough in just a few days that I’ll have to re-dry it. And I had thoroughly dried it before putting it in to begin with. The itty-bitty desiccant packs that came with the AMS2 are evidently insufficient by themselves at keeping the PLA dry. I thought it would be more air-tight than it evidently is. Therefore, I replaced the wet spools with freshly dried ones and added something like eight 100g silica gel desiccant sachets, and so far that’s doing a good job of keeping the interior RH at around 8%. So far, so good.
[As you can see from this picture, the RH evidently dropped out even more, for, as you can see in the screen scrape, the AMS2 is reporting the interior chamber humidity at 0%RH!
Why am I telling this? Well, I found enough space inside the AMS2 by currently having only two spools in there. The AMS2 HT isn’t going to have all that free space for stuffing in extra desiccant to keep everything nice and dry inside if its heater can’t be run while printing. Also, AMS2 HT can’t do an auto-switchover to a backup spool if the one spool inside it runs out. So, worst case, what net benefit remains? Like @maximit said, what’s left is the extreme convenience of adding new spools and easy removal of spools that are no longer needed. AFAIK, that’s something that only a Bambu AMS, of one stripe or another, can offer.
Anyhow, just thinking out loud here. I’m still mulling it over. There’s usually at least some leverage that comes from running on a common platform, so there’s that also.
Our team is working on further optimizing the drying capabilities of the AMS units, and updates will be provided soon but it will take a bit more time to deliver.
The main concern for drying PLA while printing is due to the fact that PLA has a lower glass transition temperature, and the feeder gears can crush the filament which becomes softer when drying, which can cause feeding issues.
How about letting us dry and print when nothing loaded is at risk at the drying temp in use
IE if we’re drying PLA but printing PETG, or if we’re drying PETG with nothing but PETG loaded, or we’re drying PETG while printing ABS. Make it a warning not a block as well - let us go “we’re sure, we know what we’re doing”
That’s right, it would be really appreciated if the choice is ours and not yours. A clear warning and then you do what you want.
Limiting job opportunities in the name of who knows what advantage is absurd.
I think many printing PA regularly will find it worth the price - not having to pre dry at 70 for 3 days before starting a print sounds great, with the higher max temp, especially if drying while printing function is enabled
I think a giant sticker on the HT warning people not to dry/run PLA at or near the glass transition temp might be enough to disspell ignorance. Whether they want to be boneheads after that is up to them.
I’d love to be able to dictate my own dry temps while still printing as well, unfortunately I dont think Bambu Lab is much of an “up to them [user]” kinda ecosystem lol
Sounds right, but as far as I know, the system has all the infos:
it knows the loaded filament (type)
it knows the currently used filament (type), which is used for printing
it knows the usual lower glass transition temperatures of the most filament (types)
So it should be possible to take care of this (by the software). And maybe it is a option to lower the drying temperatures by 10 to 15 degrees while printing to prevent feeding issues.
Isn’t it possible to use a filament from a second AMS HT as backup spool? Is the filament backup functionality limited to the AMS containing the used filament?
Not really. Normally you configure at least the type of filament (PLA, PETG), which is sitting in the AMS, to be able to use it with the Slicer. So you have the generic values and these can be used for drying. Like generic profiles for printing, they can define generic profiles for drying for PLA, PETG, … And if the system knows, that Bambu filament is loaded, it can use the individual settings for the loaded Bambu filament.
I’d be curious to know whether the AMS2 HT uses the same TH sensor as the regular AMS2. In the case of the latter, my measurements suggest that it uses one of those humidity sensors that reports 0%RH when the relative humidity in the box is less than 10%. I say that based on the 0%RH reported by the AMS2, which in my test case I have with just one spool of filament and otherwise packed with something like eight 100g sachets of silica gel desiccant, as compared with the 7%RH reported by a Yolink and a Switchbot wireless TH sensor that I sealed in the same AMS2 to generate a second and third opinion for comparison: