Hi everyone,
I just received my new BambuLab H2S, but I’m having serious first-layer problems and would like to know if anyone else has experienced something similar.
I’m not new to 3D printing — I already own a BambuLab P1S and an A1, plus printers from other brands, and I’ve never had any issues like this before. Both my A1 and P1S deliver perfect first layers every time.
After unboxing the H2S, I placed it on a perfectly stable surface, performed all calibrations, including the one with the Visual Encoder, and also followed every single step from BambuLab’s official wiki guide for first-layer optimization — but nothing has improved.
When printing a simple toolbox box using BambuLab PLA Matte White, the front area of the plate prints beautifully, smooth and clean — but the rear area becomes wavy, uneven, and full of defects, as if the bed were slightly warped or uneven in the middle.
I ran several test prints, even cutting just the bottom section of the model to isolate the problem, but the result is always the same — perfect on one side, terrible on the other.
Honestly, I’m quite surprised that a printer packed with so many sensors and smart features can’t manage to produce a consistent first layer.
I’ve already contacted BambuLab support, but I’d love to hear from other H2S owners if you’ve seen the same issue or found a reliable fix.
Throwing out sone questions that you might already have done but didn’t include in your original post…
Are you doing the same model for the test prints or have you tried different models?
Have you cleaned the build plate with water and dish soap?
Are you able to print the problem piece in a different part of the plate like the front to see if it prints ok?
I am guessing you don’t have a different build plate that fits to the H2S to try? Have you tried flipping the build plate and do you get the same results?
I have the same issue with my H2S arrived last week and already did endless calibration runs, screw adjustments, full bed tramming procedure but nothing helped. I do get the wavy patterns as seen on your images on the first layer (with Bambu PLA and other vendors) but not always on the same spot.
I invested countless hours already following all FAQ guides and wasted a lot of filament.
Bambu support did not answer yet, but I am returning this unit even I really wanted to keep the H2S that I was eagerly waiting for a long time (still super happy with my A1 that has 0 issues)
@GeekNJ — yes, I’ve already done all of that: cleaned the build plate with water and dish soap, flipped it to test both sides, and even ran multiple first-layer test prints in different areas. The issue always shows up on the same side of the bed.
I also tried creating a simple rectangular test model directly inside Bambu Studio to rule out any model issue — same result.
Honestly, these are all useless tests at this point, but I wanted to cover every possible variable.
Someone even suggested doing the calibration in a dark room (apparently the sensors could be affected by light).
As crazy as it sounded, I tried that too — absolutely no difference.
@godmax.2019 — I completely understand you. Unfortunately, these kinds of issues will never truly get fixed — if you get a defective unit, you’re just stuck with it. You can try everything, but nothing really changes.
I had the exact same experience with an Anycubic Kobra S1 — same first-layer problems, countless tests, forum discussions, and calibration attempts. In the end, I just returned it (luckily I bought it on Amazon, so it was easy).
I’m also waiting for a reply from BambuLab, but I’m already expecting the usual loop of endless tests and “try this, try that” just to buy time.
Are you planning to get another H2S to give it another try, or are you done with it?
And have you seen or heard of other users experiencing the same defect?
about the others I would bet on a filthy plate first and after I would start to check and rise the Z offset of the given plate beacuse those waves remember me a low nozzle
Hi Blaster,
just to clarify — in images 2 and 3 there are two boxes printed at the same time, on the same plate, with identical thickness and settings.
So can you explain why one came out absolutely perfect and the other a mess?
Same print, same filament, same moment — only difference is the area of the bed.
I am pretty sure there are units around the are perfectly fine right out of the box (especially for all the influencers and "reviewers"), but there probably also some units from the first batches like this. If I manage to return it I would not immediately buy another H2S but maybe some batches later I might try another one.
I feel like a newbie, even though I’ve had several 3D printers over the years and managed to manually level my former Neptune 4 Plus to under 0.2mm deviation over a even bigger build plate and failing on H2S…
You’re absolutely right — I feel the same way.
I’ve been into 3D printing for years now, with different brand and when you run into issues like this, you have to accept that everyone will treat you like you’re a complete newbie.
People immediately start asking if you’ve done calibrations or basic adjustments, as if it were your very first printer.
It’s kind of understandable though — nobody really knows your experience level or what you’ve already tried, and they’re not in your workshop to see what’s actually going on.
When I bought my A1 and P1S, I had decided I never wanted to manually level a bed again — and not even lose my mind tweaking endless parameters.
I just want to focus on my projects and prints, not on the tool itself.
With BambuLab, I honestly thought I had finally landed on the right platform — and it was true… until two days ago.
the lid with the text seems thinner and i don’t see any sagging and i see the huge logo that can offer support due to its layer’s penetration.
other part has just infill and not enough top layers, you can see the layers sagging into the infill’s geometry. for this just add enough top layers.
I printed a similar box in PETG and ASA and full, I mean without cavities. 10 full layers at 0.3 height. both parts had same height, 10 layers up to the bigger surfaces top
Hi Blaster,
just to clarify — both the box and the lid have exactly the same wall thickness (1.5 mm) and were printed together in the same job.
The profile is the standard 0.16 mm layer height, with a 0.2 mm first layer, and the model is completely solid (no infill at all).
So there’s no difference in geometry, thickness, or slicing setup — the only variable is where they were positioned on the bed.
Update:
I finally managed to fix the issue — it turned out to be a mechanical problem.
The bed was slightly tilted from the factory, so all the calibrations and tests in the world couldn’t fix it.
I followed the manual bed leveling procedure (the “H2S Bed Tramming” guide) and did an old-school mechanical calibration.
Now the bed is perfectly level — I’d say about 98% spot on, which for me is more than good enough.
I’m not a calibration nerd; I just want to design and print my stuff, and now it works exactly as I need.
For anyone facing the same issue, the guide is available here: H2S Bed Tramming | Bambu Lab Wiki
The print shown was made before I gave the rear-left screw another half turn.
That corner was still showing a very light unevenness, so I decided to tweak it a bit more.
I haven’t reprinted a full first layer yet, but I’m pretty sure it will be even better now.
Considering that before the manual calibration the entire back half of the plate was completely ruined, the improvement is huge.
At this point, I’d say my bed is about as perfect as it gets!
(Photo shows the area that needed the last small adjustment)
Huh that’s so funny that I would just stumble upon this. My 3-hour old H2S print failed because of the bed adhesion and tore up my tool head. Bamboo support said this was user error and they don’t warranty these type of things but seeing that my printer is so new they would make an ‘exception’. This is after me going back and forth with them for 4 days.
To top it off they’re forcing me to go back through all the support with retailer I bought it from. They’re not even sending me the head directly. I’m so soured on this company all together. I feel like they’ve paid all their influences everywhere to never say a bad thing about their printers and here we are eating costs.
I have reached the same conclusion there is actually different build and calibration quality evident in the production of both H2S and H2D. Reviewers and influencers get hand picked copies while the rest of us roll dice! Clearly there are plenty of these machines giving near perfect results out of the box - but far. too many examples struggling to give a decent print.
While the H2D is on my shortlist I have decided to wait until the H2C is released. Who knows I may even be tempted to buy one as apart from zero waste with colour this version will have other enhancements like induction heating that will improve performance.
One disappointment to me as a newcomer is the lack of visible participation by Bambu Lab in providing at least re-assurance that the various teething issues are noted, being worked on and will be fixed.
Blob of death that grew out from the printhead and blew it apart. It looked like the monster from the movie alien.
AI detection was on but again, bambu said this was user error.
For what it’s worth I’m currently staring at 6 or 7 other 3D printers that I have so this isn’t my first go around. Nowhere during all my research did anyone mention these printers having any problems at all. All of YouTube says that they are the Apple of 3D printers.
After replacing the heating element, build plate and nozzles it seems to be printing fine but I’m already soured on it and I’m not really sure why I spent all this money. Besides the issues I had with the printhead the AMS was constantly jamming and saying the extruder was overloaded. Zero faith that I could start a print and walk away and it would be fine. I completely disassembled the AMS and redid all the tubing ensuring the ends had square cuts and were reamed. The factory cuts looked like someone chewed the tubing off the roll then stepped on the ends for good measure.
So far so good. If bamboo wasn’t going to charge me $100 to ship it back I would have but I bet they know that.
), but there probably also some units from the first batches like this. If I manage to return it I would not immediately buy another H2S but maybe some batches later I might try another one.
