Pika Hotend For Bambu X/P1 Series

For all the PLA prints I've done (at least 30 hours worth) the Pika worked flawlessly. I didn't try pushing it, just getting a feel for it. However when I tried a PETG model with PLA interface for supports (4 filament swaps) it clogged severely which I am still trying to clear out. Maybe that swap isn't the designed use case for the Pika, but my standard P1S hotends handle it just fine with the same settings Bambu wiki recommends when mixing PLA and PETG on the same nozzle. I do love the swappable FIN nozzle, but the clog is in the hotend itself.

This is by far the best hotend I've had on my X1C, and by far the best one with swappable nozzles — especially the Fin. I love the Fin standard and how easily I can swap nozzles.

I've had my Pika since RMRRF 2026 and have been using it since then. Great support when I was having issues printing PETG with it — I was able to work with them to get everything working. Also love the anodized wings for it as well.

It's been going great so far, swapping nozzles is a lot easier now!

It's been a long rode getting from there to here! Last year I saw Luke on a 3D Printing Nerd video, and I was very interested in what Luke had to say about his Pika hotend. With excitement I went to Kickstarter and backed the Pika hotend project. Then I waited. Then Luke posted a progress video of the project, it looked like he was literally working out of a garage, I was excited once again! Then I waited and waited. Then another update video!! Yay! Then I waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually I forgot that I had even backed the project. Then there was an announcement that shipping was going to start soon!! YAY!! Then I waited, and I waited, eventually I emailed Luke asking for an update, and I may have sounded a little harsh in my email. Honestly, I didn't expect a response, but to my surprise I got one within 24hrs!! Luke explained to me some of the things going on behind the scenes and he was very open to explaining the whole process. This gave me renewed hope that I would be getting the hotend soon! And in a couple of weeks, it was delivered!! YAY! I rushed to put it in my X1C and pump out a max flow rate test! Then my heart sank, the max flow I was getting on the Pika was the same as what I was getting on my Micro Swiss hotend. This was very disappointing. After all this time I had no improvement at all. I even went so far as to come here and give a one-star review to express my feelings about the whole experience. I expected that this would be the end of my little adventure. But to my surprise, again, Luke emailed me! He wanted to know how I did my testing, what filaments I were using, what machine, etc. He also asked if I had reached out to support before posting my review, I felt bad because I hadn't. So, I removed my one-star review. Luke then proceeded to assist me in troubleshooting my problem. He had suggested that I take my X1C extruder apart and perform some cleaning maintenance found on the Bambu Wiki page. So, I did, and I discovered that my idler gear had a really bad bearing, it was flopping all over the place! Luckily, I had a spare! So, I installed the spare and did another test and EREKA! I had about a 30% increase in speed! As the photo shows the lower test, using the Micro Swiss nozzle, had a max flow of 28mm3/s. The top was with the Pika, using the very same Gcode, it had a max flow of 38mm3/s! Both using Marswork PLA with a print temperature of 220c. The only thing different between these two prints was the hotend. The test settings had a start flow of 20mm3/s, with a step of 1, and a max of 45mm3/s.

It has been a long wait, but it's been worth it in my opinion. What I really liked was the customer support I got from Luke!

The only thing I don't like about the nozzle is that it requires a hot tightening. This is really just a minor issue, and something I can easily live with. I've become spoiled with quick changing nozzles that do not require heating. It's a small price to pay for the increased speed.

Do I recommend this nozzle? You bet I do!

Thanks Luke!

Always clogs. I've taken apart my extruder so many times now I went back to the original hotend. Now it's printing fine.