New or Used Hotend?

Bambu Lab P Series Troubleshooting
1

Hello everyone,
today for the first time, I replaced the hotend on my P1S and I installed a hardened steel hotend that I purchased on the official Bambulab Europa website.
I was surprised to see that the first time I brought the nozzle temperature to 220°C, some molten filament already came out, without me having loaded my filament…
Is all this normal? My thought is that my hotend had already been used…
Maybe they are tested in the factory before being sold?

2

While that’s a possible theory—and one you’d expect from a company genuinely committed to quality control—it doesn’t square with Bambu’s track record of cutting corners. A more likely explanation is that the part was either a return or pulled from a refurb unit.

But I guess the bigger question is: if it works, do you care? Well, you might—especially if it was used with abrasive filament and has unseen wear. That’s where it gets murky.

The real problem is the hassle of dealing with Bambu’s return process. If you haven’t experienced it yet, brace yourself. First, you have to prove you’re even a customer. Then you’re asked to open a support ticket, upload your logs, and wait. Eventually, you may be asked to write a note—yes, an actual sticky note with specific text they give you—and place it next to the part in question and send them a photo, like you’re proving a hostage is alive.

Absurd? Completely. But that’s the Bambu way: meticulous when it comes to gatekeeping support, indifferent when it comes to customer satisfaction. :man_shrugging:

3

I replaced my stainless hotend a few months ago with a hardened steel version bought from Bambu USA website. Mine also had some filament ooze out when first brought to temperature. Maybe they are paying more attention to quality control?

4

Thanks for the precise and detailed answer and sorry for my delay.
I have two complete hotends with hardened steel nozzle that I purchased (always from the Bambulab Europa website) a few months apart.
Aesthetically they are perfect, looking closely it doesn’t seem like they’ve already been used… but I can’t be 100% sure
I installed one yesterday and after your answer I also checked the other one.
I didn’t install the second hotend on the P1s but trying to pass the cleaning needle provided, the nozzle seems to be clogged and therefore I can think that almost certainly the second hotend already has material inside…
Does it work? Yes.
Do I want to return it? I would say no.
One, because I can’t be sure that it has already been used.
Two, because I didn’t think the procedure was so complicated…
At least let’s hope it can last like the previous one that I used for more than 1100 hours…

5

Thanks for your feedback,
it seems like everything is working fine ?
how many hours of work have you already done with this hotend?

Thanks

6

I’d say your risk is very low that the product wouldn’t have a full lifespan, even if it were a customer return or part from a refurb. Bambu states that one should use the hardened steel nozzle for abrasive filaments, but based on the very few complaints about worn nozzles, I would consider that risk an outlier concern.

7

Thanks for helping me understand the situation

8

Everything is working fine. I have printed PLA, PETG, ASA, and TPU with it. I have probably used it 300 hours so far.

9

Let’s hope it continues like this then…
I normally only print PLA and PETG
Thanks for the reply

10

A few months ago I bought a 0.6 nozzle and recently the 0.2

The 0.6 came clean where as the 0.2 had white filament in it. My search brought me here to this thread so just wanted to share my experience. Either way I’m not returning the 0.2 as it seems to be working fine and I don’t want to deal with the hassles.

Hoping it’s just QA work and not Bambu selling used / refurbished pieces as “new”.

11

And that right there is my beef with the Chianese Business model. It is not just Bambu, it is China in general. They give this 2 year warranty on things, then make you prove the item is defective. But first, that you ever bought it.

But whatcha gonna do? One answer I found.

But tested or refurbished parts are NOT new parts. I’d be P.O.

They could at least do a cold pull on it after testing.

12

I’ve never had a spare basic nozzle have filament already in it. Most of the time, the nozzle that came prepacked in the printer itself has had PLA in it, but I assume thats from a factory test. Any spares are dry and empty. I don’t think its nefarious, but its curious for sure. P1 has the electronics with it and so maybe theyre testing them now?

13

I don’t know if all spare nozzles are factory tested or by production batches or by sampling but most and may be all of my spares had filament in them. When I ordered my very first BL spare nozzle a long time ago, I asked support about it (I had loaded black with it but it initially purged white filament…). Support responded that nozzles were tested at production level, it might not mean all nozzles but it’s not surprising to find filament in a brand new nozzle.

They also assured me that BL does not recycle used product and does not sell any used or returned product.

14

My spare, unused nozzles have filament inside.

15

I believe it is normal. I just loaded 2 new hot ends and a white ooze comes out before my fillament. So yes its normal.