Bambu 3D Printer

General Information

The Bambu Labs 3D Printers can be found inside the Clean Room.

Most of these notes apply to both the X1C and the H2D Printers. See below for H2D specific notes

Filament

Berea Makerspace has three Bambu Labs 3D printers. One printer is equipped with an Automatic Material System (AMS). The AMS is a multi-filament automation system that supports printing with four different colors in a single print.

Material - PLA, PETG, ABS, Nylon, TPU, etc

• CF, GF, and other abrasive filaments CANNOT BE USED IN THE AMS. It will wear out the feeder components internally
• TPU and other flexible filaments CANNOT BE USED IN THE AMS. It will jam
• PLEASE do not use old, moist filament in our printers. PLA especially. It will break off in multiple locations - both ends of the PTFE tube, inside the extruder, between the extruder and hotend. If I find a filament roll doing this, it will be retired

Brand - Most PLA and PETG available these days is of adequate quality. Sunlu, Polymaker and Overture are commonly used at the space

• • IIID Max is a great option if you're buying a lot. Free shipping and the lowest per kg prices right now
  • PushPlasticis my preferred vendor for large rolls. The filament spool holder I have available for the cr-10 max supports their rolls. Be wary, as the hole size for various vendors for 5kg+ spools can vary drastically.

Using the printer

• Bambu Labs has an academy of their own covering each of their printers in depth. This requires a (free) Bambu Labs account - you should check it out!
• Bambu Lab Academy - X1C
• Bambu Lab Academy - H2D

Loading / Unloading filament (side spool)

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/x1/manual/loading-filament

• The filament tab is the easiest way to load filament, but the instructions above still work.
  • You can configure your filament type, and then select load or unload to begin the process
  • The printer will preheat to the required temperature (usually 250 for most filament), and prompt the user to insert the filament into the PTFE tube
  • Once you've pushed it into the extruder, it will grab and feed the filament into the hotend
  • You will be prompted to check if the filament fed properly (you should see old filament coming out of the nozzle). Hit ok, and it will further purge the nozzle of any remaining previous filament

Loading and Unloading filament (AMS)

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/x1/manual/ams-setup-and-filament-loading

Troubleshooting Issues

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/ams/troubleshooting/ams-loading-unloading-failure

Installing a print surface

• We have multiple build plates available (For the X1C - our options for the H2D are currently only the Textured PEI)
  • Cool Plate - A polycarbonate sticker. PLA only (despite what the plate says). Sticks really, really well. MUST have a layer of gluestick on it, or it can damage the surface from over-adhesion
  • Engineering Plate - original surface we had for non-PLA. Works with petg, abs, nylon, tpu, etc. Must have some glue stick on it to work well at all.
  • Smooth PEI (high temp plate) - great all-around surface, works well with or without gluestick. Smooth surface on bottom.
  • Textured PEI - works with many filaments without glue, not as reliable for really big, really tall or really long print times.
• If it looks particularly gummed up with glue stick, its probably a great time for you to clean it!
  • Warm water, some hand soap and a sponge is everything needed to wipe the glue stick off
  • Let it completely dry, put a fresh, minimal layer of glue stick on (if required) and continue
• When installing, make sure it lays between the two indexing tabs on either side of the bed
  • If its sticking up, you've installed it wrong!
• Make sure you configure Bambu Studio to the correct build plate before sending the file over

Using Bambu Studio

Bambu Lab Academy - Bambu Studio

(Advanced) Printing in multiple colors with the AMS

Manual for the AMS

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/ams/manual

Configuring Bambu Studio for multicolor 3d prints

Bambu Studio 101 | Beginners Guide to Bambu Slicer Software | AMS & Multi-Color Prints

H2D Specific Notes

• Bambu Labs has a wiki specifically for diagnosing issues with the H2D - https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/h2d. When errors pop up, they should give you a QR code that directs you to the link direct in the wiki.
• The H2D is a dual nozzle system. It can be fed two filaments at once for multi color, or multi material projects. Please only use the H2D when necessary.
  • The build volume is weird. There are areas each nozzle cannot reach, and are indicated in Bambu Studio. The common space is 300*320*325, and the single nozzle space is 325*320*325
  • Specifying which nozzle does what filament in your project is done under the "Slice Plate" Button. Custom Mode will let you manually assign each nozzle. Convenience mode will auto assign based on what you've already configured on the machine side (This requires loading your filament and synced it via the Sync Info button)

Bambu Labs H2D - Configuring Nozzles

Multi Material Printing, and Which Nozzle to Use

For the Bambu Lab H2D toolhead, there are specific filament restrictions for the left and right nozzles, as well as crucial rules about which materials cannot be printed together due to temperature differences.

• Please do not use TPU or other flexible filaments in the H2D at this time. A bypass process is required, and needs some implementation in our space to work well. Thank you for your patience

Nozzle-Specific Filament Restrictions

The following table summarizes the key nozzle restrictions for specific filaments:

Filament Type	Recommended Nozzle	Reason for Restriction
PPS/PPA-CF (and other carbon fiber variants)	Left Nozzle Only	Material is brittle; the sharper bend in the right nozzle's PTFE tube can cause filament to break.
TPU (85A, 90A)	Right Nozzle Only	Using the left nozzle presents a higher risk of clogging.
PVA (when used with PETG)	Right Nozzle Only (in single hotend mode)	PVA has a low heat deflection temperature. Printing PETG on one nozzle while PVA is loaded in the other can cause the PVA to soften and clog the idle nozzle.

Key Rules for Multi-material Printing

Beyond single-material restrictions, understanding temperature groups is essential for successful multi-material printing.

Never Mix High-Temp and Low-Temp Filaments

The printer's software, Bambu Studio, will prevent you from slicing models that combine these materials.

• High-Temp Filaments: ABS, ASA, PC, PA (Nylon), and all their CF/GF variants.
• Low-Temp Filaments: PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA, BVOH.

Use Caution with High-Temp and Mid-Temp Combinations

While not blocked by the software, mixing these can be risky. The high chamber temperature needed for high-temp materials may soften the mid-temp filament, leading to clogs.

(A "mid-temp filament" is an informal category that sits between the standard "Low-Temp" and high-performance "High-Temp" materials. It's not an official classification, but a practical one used by the community to describe filaments that require higher temperatures than PLA but don't need the extreme heat and enclosed, heated chamber of true high-temp filaments. The most common and definitive example of a mid-temp filament is PETG.)

Pro Tips for H2D Printing

• Check Your Filament's Specifications: For third-party filaments, the official advice is to consult the supplier's guidelines. If the filament's heat deflection temperature is below 80°C (per ISO 75 standard), it should be treated as a low-temperature material.
• Nozzles Are Identical but Usage Differs: The left and right hotends are physically the same and interchangeable. The restrictions come from the different paths the filament takes and how the printer manages temperature around the toolhead.