Hi All. I would like to share my thoughts with H2S with you after getting sufficient usage [172 print hours]. Quick summary: As expected of the Bambu brand, It Just WORKS. It is an upgraded X1C with features tested on A1. I printed with PLA, ABS, PETG, TPU with no issue at all.
A1 was an interesting decision by Bambu since one of their Kickstarter words was no more bed-slinger. It did feature new things not in the X1C such as silicon nozzle brush wiper and Active Flow Rate Compensation [X1C used a lidar to calibrate filament but that seemed more like a niche gimmick. It used space on the plate where the Active Flow Rate Compensation doesn’t]. Both features made a return in H2S. Bambu certainly saw how people made mods to use A1’s nozzle brush for the X1C, and made it as a default thing in H2S [which is both nozzle wiper brush and a wiper]. Though, it appears the nozzle wiping & brush for HS2 still need to be updated on Babmu’s wiki / store
About myself first: I been with Bambu since I got my X1C in Kickstarter [Backer #59]. I’m a more casual user, so my printer isn’t always printing, nor am I picky about the print quality. I have no interest at the moment to test cutter / plotter & laser features atm. When I said it just works, that all that needs to be said about print quality.
Packaging & Unboxing:
Major things to consider when setting up is printer weight and removing everything [foam, tape].
H2S, as everyone can expect, is heavy. You should get a 2nd person to carry. Though I solo carried it by putting more weight on my left hand, and used my right hand to control. There should be 4 box fasteners, but mine only had 3?.Maybe it fell off in shipping.
Unboxing itself was uneventful, especially when scanning the QR code for instruction. A few hiccups I had was with removing the inside foam. There are some foam you can’t remove without turning on the H2S and moving the bed. Yet when you first turn it on, the first motions goes straight into calibration mode. This led to movement issues from foam not removed. I had to force turn off the printer mid calibration to remove the foam. Maybe there will be updates so there is a pause step to remove the foam, or just basic movement so you can remove the foam before going to calibration?
Noise:
H2S is significantly quieter than X1C. While the X1C noise doesn’t affect me much [I can sleep with the X1C printing in my room], it makes enough noise that I can hear it from my living room. I use that noise to know if X1C is printing, or stopped due to finished printing or if it is paused due to an issue. I cannot do that with H2S, as I have to go into the room to hear it print.
Failure:
I had a few prints fail, but filament was barely wasted as the AI detection works to pause the print when it detects spaghetti On the X1C, that detection wasn’t reliable, either not detecting or having false positives.
My print failures were not due to the printer, but simple printing knowledge or random chance. By printing knowledge, I had a plate filled with petg parts fail due to major travel distance, and resolved that by splitting the parts to 2 print jobs.
Firmware’s Toolbox:
The software toolbox on H2S has a few more options compared to X1C [see picture]. One useful addition is the guided cold Pull. Doing cold pull on X1C is more manual work, setting the temp, and telling the extruder to retract or retract. On the H2S, it does the temp control for you, beeping when it is time to manually feed or retract filament. This is helpful for beginning who might know the main set up. I like the alerts since there is less chance of making a mistake, it makes sure you know what you are doing.
TPU Experience
H2S gives an alert when printing TPU, with on screen info and QR to the wiki. Without that alert, I would have tried putting the TPU in the buffer instead of the TPU bypass. I forgot the buffer is built into the H2S compared to being a separate part in X1C. I liked this alert as it wasn’t in the X1C. With the reminder TPU need more work, one can then do their own research into preferred TPU printing methods, such as using bypass port, printing from the top down, or adding a low fraction feed guide H2 Series TPU Low-Friction Feed Guide - Free 3D Print Model - MakerWorld [which i opted for ease]
I had no issues with my TPU prints as i sufficiently dried most of them [though of my prints i didn’t dry enough]
Print Zone:
With a 340Ă—320Ă—340 print zone you can print most things without issues. Less need to split into parts.
I saved at least 15g by printing a part in H2S compared to printing in X1C [Where It would have needed 2 prints, and more walls at the split zone].
Do note that the large print plate does make things more costly if one gets many plates. I collected many plates for my X1C, but I wouldn’t do the same for H2S as the plates are about 2.25x more.
3rd party aftermarket plates:
I used phaetus Conweb build plate since Bambu doesn’t have a cool plate for H2S sized yet . It gave an error of build plate, which is somewhat expected of an aftermarket plate which may not have correct QR. Except further research note this is specific to H2S and not H2D. It appears the OEM plate have lines the printers check for to confirm plate alignments, which aftermarket plates may not have. You can still print with aftermarket plates and ignore the warnings.
Final thoughts:
H2S is well worth it as upgraded X1t. If one is under a budget, maybe consider A1 instead, especially with all the plate options. If one wants multi material [including support material], consider H2D or H2C in the future. But H2S should be sufficient for most needs.
It useful for both functional prints [see the tumbler accessory] and fun prints