I had been saving up my gift cards for an H2 but recent events have made me think it might be a better idea to spend them on filament and spare parts for my P1S/AMS instead.
If you thought you wouldn’t be able to get parts for your AMS or P1S in the future, what parts would you stock up on now? I am guessing the AMS is the most likely to break, but I am not really sure.
I’m not really looking for upgrade recommendations, I already have a textured and smooth build plate, as well as a super tac plate. I have a .2, .4, and .6 nozzle (stainless and hardened steel where appropriate), and the upgraded extruder gears. I have a single AMS, but don’t think I’d use a second one enough to justify the price unless it would be for spare parts?
A complete hot end assembly is just much easier to change as it comes ready to drop in where a stand alone nozzle has to be assembled from the old hot end parts as well as cleaning and redoing the thermal paste.
Also add to the list is replacement PTFE tube set for the AMS and Printer.
It more depends on how valuable time is to you. If you think you have a clog and want to swap the nozzle to find out, if your time is free it might be more appealing to take it apart and swap the nozzle only.
Olias pretty much nailed it, just know what you are doing instead of blindly replacing things with what you read online as “better”.
OP was probably trying capricorn which has a smaller ID and jumped to an incorrect conclusion that there was something magical about Bambu PTFE when his unit stopped working. So far only the H2D has shipped with anything other than normal PTFE, and maybe only the reviewers got that tubing.
It’s possible the wiki also warns against using tubing with even a wider than bambu ID, so just duplicate the bambu specs to be safe. I use larger ID in some applications on my printer, but I know what to watch out for. The pre-cut AMS pieces are nice, but really just having a coil of it and cutting off the amount you need is the way to go since then you have every possible size. You can also get entirely optically clear PTFE which assuming it has equivalent low friction might be a nice upgrade.
I have extra tubing and a cutter. Fortunately i dont often print abrasive filaments so ive only had to replace 2 tubes in the AMS in about 1k hours of printing. I still have the spare cutters and wipers that it came with, which makes me think its time to replace the originals that are still installed.
IMO, spare hotend part alone without heater/thermistor that came with the printer is just a cunning way of tricking you to buy a complete hotend set later on.
When the time come you need to change hotend due to accident or clog, you will find the thermistor on the old hotend already damaged, or the process transplant that thermistor on to spare hotend is very challenging. By then you wish you bought complete set before hand
I sold my last P1S after 1100 hours and replaced during the time I used it only the PTFE tubes and changed the hot end once as it clogged up (until i found out how to do a cold pull on the P1S). But I greased the spindles all two month and cleaned them very well before that. As I bought it I also ordered to many hotends (0.2mm and 0.6mm and 0.8mm) that I rarely use. I would recommend to not stockpile to much. If you print ASA/ABS+ maybe a smooth print plate. As it could be ASA/ABS sticks too well to the structured build plate.
So:
I normally would not stock up on parts, especially with a hobby printer, but bambu is the only source for these parts and i am concerned that may be an issue in the short to medium term.