Downsides of the Bambu Lab H2D Printer – After Months of Printing

When I first reviewed the Bambu Lab H2D printer, I focused on the highlights: fast prints, excellent quality, and some impressive dual-extruder magic. But after several months of heavy use, I’ve had plenty of time to uncover the less glamorous side of ownership.

I’ve been documenting every hiccup and failed print I’ve encountered including issues with the printer itself, the AMS (Automatic Material System), and even the broader Bambu Lab ecosystem.

In this post, I’ll share what’s gone wrong, how often it’s happened, and in some cases, what’s helped fix it. Some problems I’ve solved. Others… not so much.

I bought the H2D with my own money and with a fair bit of hesitation. It’s a pricey, relatively new model, and I wasn’t sure how reliable it would be long-term. So, here’s a real-world look at the downsides and challenges you might face if you’re considering one.

The Cooling Fan: Louder Than Expected

Most of my printing involves ABS and PAHT filaments, which don’t require active cooling. But when I switched to PLA and PETG, the printer’s cooling fan became impossible to ignore.

Even with multiple doors shut (the printer enclosure, the storage room, and the basement door) I could still hear it throughout the house. It’s about as loud as your neighbor running an electric leaf blower two doors down.

TPU Printing: Doable, But Not Easy

TPU is definitely not the H2D’s strong suit. Bambu Lab’s official AMS-compatible TPU works well for feeding and produces decent prints, but it’s far too stiff for applications needing flexibility. When I tried using it for flexible treads on my Cyber Brick forklift kit, the result was like making tank tracks out of a frozen garden hose. That said, it’s still useful for semi-rigid parts like a belt I designed, or phone cradles where you want a scratch-resistant surface.

But if you want to print with softer TPU, prepare for some frustration. You’ll need to remove the printer’s top cover, detach the PTFE tube, and feed filament manually into the extruder. It's an awkward process. Even then, TPU tends to ooze in places it shouldn’t. About one in three prints end up with stray TPU where it doesn’t belong. If you don’t need perfect aesthetics, it’s manageable, but far from ideal.

TPU Belt

You can download the TPU belt from MakerWorld or Thingiverse

ASA Filament: A Rough Experience

I haven’t done much printing with ASA, but one of my first attempts tore off a chunk of the print bed. I waited until the bed cooled to room temperature before removing the print, so it may have been a calibration issue or perhaps I should’ve used a glue stick for adhesion.

If you’ve had similar ASA issues with the H2D, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

AMS Frustrations: Spools and Supply

While the AMS isn’t technically part of the H2D, it’s practically essential. Unfortunately, it has its share of quirks.

When using cardboard spools, the filament sometimes jumps out of the rollers near the end of the spool, causing extruder motor overload errors. This happened four or five times before I gave up on that spool. There are fixes like 3D-printable ring adapters or rewinding the filament onto plastic spools but they’re extra hassle I’d rather avoid.

And speaking of spools, Bambu’s official filaments work beautifully with the AMS. They’re RFID-tagged, so the printer automatically detects filament type. The downside? Shipping takes three to four days. This is pretty slow compared to same-day Amazon delivery. That delay makes it tempting to grab generic filament locally, even if it means dealing with cardboard spools and AMS compatibility issues.

Parts Availability: A Bit of a Gamble

If you visit BambuLab.com looking for replacement parts, you’ll find an unpredictable assortment. Some days, key items like print nozzles, beds, or AMS parts are available. Other days, they’re not.

It feels like shopping at a swap meet. You never know what you’ll find. For a printer in this price range, that’s unsettling for long-term maintenance.

Cloud Connectivity Glitch

In months of use, I’ve only had one cloud issue: a model that refused to transfer from Bambu Studio to the printer. It was an early, unnerving experience, but luckily fixed by loading the file via USB. It’s only happened once, but worth mentioning.

No Onboard Storage

It’s 2025, and yet the H2D has no built-in storage for print files or camera recordings. You’ll need to keep a USB drive plugged in. It works, but it’s clunky and one accidental bump could easily damage the port or the drive.

Filament Breaks

I had one case where filament snapped between the buffer and the extruder head. This caused endless loading failures until I discovered the broken piece lodged inside the tube. Fortunately, it was easy to remove once found, but it’s a reminder that even small things can derail your print session.

Left vs. Right Nozzle Limitations

The H2D’s dual-nozzle system has physical reach limits. The left nozzle can’t travel as far right as the right nozzle, and vice versa. This means if you slice a model using one nozzle setup say, left for primary material and right for supports and later swap materials between nozzles, you’ll need to re-slice the model. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s an inconvenience that feels like it could be fixed with smarter software.

Print Failures and Material Reliability

Now, for actual print results. PLA and PETG have been my least reliable materials on the H2D, while PAHT-CF, ABS, and ASA have been rock solid. Oddly enough, PLA and PETG are supposed to be easier to print with yet they caused the most trouble.

Example: The Vampire Teeth Candy Bowl

A large glow-in-the-dark candy bowl printed flawlessly in ABS three times. When I ran out of ABS and switched to PLA, every attempt failed. The print kept lifting from the bed, eventually colliding with the nozzle until the printer forced a recalibration sequence. I tried drying the filament, cleaning the bed, and printing with the door open with no luck. After three failed PLA runs, I gave up and ordered more ABS.

Example: The Realistic Horse

I tried printing a realistic horse model for my daughter four times with PETG. Each time, the tail broke off at the same weak point where it attached to the print bed. Increasing brim size or adding a raft might have helped, but I eventually stopped trying. The silver lining: the H2D’s sensors did detect when the print failed and paused automatically, saving filament.

Example: Small Part Adhesion

Printing the Cyber Brick controller in one go caused tiny joystick knobs to pop loose from the bed. My workaround was to print the main body separately and run the knobs afterward. Not ideal, but manageable.

The Human Element: Where the H2D Shines

Despite its flaws, the H2D consistently saved me from my own mistakes. It’s smart enough to detect when I’ve installed the wrong nozzle, print bed, or filament and as a result prevented me from starting a doomed print. That’s the kind of reliability that’s hard to appreciate until you’ve owned a printer that doesn’t catch those errors.

Final Thoughts: Worth It?

So, would I still recommend the Bambu Lab H2D after months of printing?

Yes, but with eyes wide open.

It’s a phenomenal printer, capable of excellent results, but it’s not without quirks. Between noise, TPU hassles, filament issues, and part shortages, it’s far from perfect. Yet it’s smart, fast, and overall dependable.

If you’ve had your own experiences, good or bad, with the H2D or AMS, I’d love to hear about them.

Thanks for reading and happy printing!