Finally after all the hype and guessing Bambu Lab H3C

[Tony4597]

Well its here and overall a very nice machine by all accounts but with a few slight surprises. Couple of reviews from people whose views I trust:

Clough42

Made With Layers

Is it for me? I do not think so!
The price in the UK @£2199 is much lower than I guessed, seems to be sticking up a bambu finger at Prusa with 9 heads vs eight

Surprising that only 2 of the 9 chambers are actually heated.

I cannot think of a use for me of having 9 tool heads as i tend to print in single or two colour most of the time.

I think that I would get better value in buying an H2D for two colour printing and ASA ABS and CF filaments and even get a Snapmaker UI for the occasional 4 colour prints in mainly PLA. Currently the two would cost in the region of £1959 vs H3C at £2199 - leaving £240 for filament

Of course that's just my 2 cents with the right to change my views at any time

 

[Artur5]

I don't think that Bambu Lab thinks much about what Prusa ( lion vs. mouse..).
A very experienced 3D printer owning Bambu Lab and Prusa printers ( not me ! LOL ) said in the Prusa forum that comparing Prusa current printers to Bambu Lab is like comparing a clunky Skoda car of fifty years ago with the ultimate technology Japanese model. Rather exaggerated, but you get the idea.
About the new AMS,, consider that heating 9 chambers would consume a huge amount of energy. It takes at least 50W to dry a single spool of filament with a minimum of efficiency. That's near 500 watt for 9 chambers. Too much heat on top of the printer.

 

[The Hat]

The price in the UK @£2199 is much lower than I guessed,

At that Price.. There’s no chance of them ever cornering the market..

 

[Tony4597]

At that Price.. There’s no chance of them ever cornering the market..

Agreed, but for those that need or feel the need for all or most of the features the H3C arrives fully enclosed, fully assembled, and bundled with a 9-tool changing system and an active filament dryer. Is there currently an equivalent spec printer from other manufacturer at the same price point?

 

[Tony4597]

.......
About the new AMS,, consider that heating 9 chambers would consume a huge amount of energy. It takes at least 50W to dry a single spool of filament with a minimum of efficiency. That's near 500 watt for 9 chambers. Too much heat on top of the printer.

Ok but are you sure of the figures as I would not have thought you need 50w x 9. Surely you just need enough heat to reach a target temp for your particular filament requirements in the enclosure?

If you consider the current AMS2 Pro sustained target temp 40watt for 4 chambers (80W Peak) you could use 2 without requiring a separate power supply as the H2's have enough power in reserve from the main board.
Providing that you only used one at a time for drying. If you wanted to use more each would require a switched 24volt 4 amp supply. The temperature range of the AMS2 Pro is enough for PLA and PETG I think it max out at 65°C.
So for drying other filament such as engineering types you could use the Bambu AMS HT single unit which max out at 85°C

I just wonder if that 9 chamber single system could have been better designed to incorporate drying??

 

[The Hat]

Surely you just need enough heat to reach a target temp for your particular filament requirements in the enclosure? I just wonder if that 9 chamber single system could have been better designed to incorporate drying??

These heater boxes are very fanciful indeed, but once they have reached their desired temperature and humidity that’s all that’s required, I mean how bad are they at holding the humidity in them at constant given.

I use the single bog standard heater boxes and when the humidity goes down to 40% I turn them off, and they stay off until the humidity climbs back to 65%, which is usually several days later, not bad for a box that’s only €50..

I reckon if needed, one would ever want is a two colour printer, they can always be swapped out for more colours later if required, multiple nozzles means multiple headaches.. I’ll stick with just one nozzle thank you, I’m not one to chase the illusive butterfly..

The cost of electricity is only going one way,
“He says with solar panels on his room” !

 

[Artur5]

Solar panels in Ireland... you must have a lot of large panels to generate a decent amount of energy. Now, if it were in Arizona...!

A while back, I considered installing portable solar panels on my terrace, but the numbers just didn’t add up. Given my annual kWh consumption, it would take about twenty years to recoup the investment.

Dual-nozzle 3D printers are very useful for printing supports using a material that doesn’t bond to the filament used for the model itself ( PLA with PETG, or vice versa). This makes it easy to remove the supports without leaving marks and/or breaking small, parts of the model.
Is it worth it? That, of course, depends on what you’re printing.

 

[The Hat]

Given my annual kWh consumption, it would take about twenty years to recoup the investment.

3 years in fact, and we’ve got 5.52 kWp and selling back to the grid also..

 

[Tony4597]

.....
I use the single bog standard heater boxes and when the humidity goes down to 40% I turn them off, and they stay off until the humidity climbs back to 65%, which is usually several days later, not bad for a box that’s only €50..

I reckon if needed, one would ever want is a two colour printer, they can always be swapped out for more colours later if required, multiple nozzles means multiple headaches.. I’ll stick with just one nozzle thank you, I’m not one to chase the illusive butterfly..

The cost of electricity is only going one way,
“He says with solar panels on his room” !

Yes I got a couple of those heater boxes as I had a couple of issues with some filament which I assumed could have been moisture related. I think that around 40% is seen as fine for PLA (or so Ive been informed), but for some of the engineering filaments and TPU I believe that 40% may not cut it. AFAIK TPU for instance will start sucking up moisture as soon as it is released from its packing 10% humidity levels quoted as ideal with 20%'ish being OK?

FWIW, "The H3C printer comes standard with a 2.85 mm filament diameter PrintTool.If you need to print 2.85 mm TPU using additional 2.85 mm filament diameter ..." So I guess that is what one of the two heated chambers is aiming at

Due to having a couple of PLA filament print failure due to heat warping I am looking at ASA as an alternative. Advice seems to be keep it at or below 20% RH and a heated enclosure is highly recommended.

I have nearly convinced myself that a dual nozzle printer is in my future

 

[Tony4597]

....
Dual-nozzle 3D printers are very useful for printing supports using a material that doesn’t bond to the filament used for the model itself ( PLA with PETG, or vice versa). This makes it easy to remove the supports without leaving marks and/or breaking small, parts of the model.
Is it worth it? That, of course, depends on what you’re printing.

Exactly what I was thinking about alongside the occasional 2 colour print. Is it worth it is still a question for me