Polymax Polycarb - Printing it on MK3/MK3S
Yes, you can print in Polymax polycarb. There was an earlier thread about how polycarb can be printed with odd settings that squished the material onto the bed at lower temperatures. My success is with a little bit more conventional approach.
Requirements...
- Printer enclosure - Doesn't have to be separately heated. For up to 5 x 10 cm parts, you can get away with a regular LACK enclosure at 37 to 40 C. I've done smaller pieces at 33C in enclosure.
- Dry the filament for several hours before use. I get about two days printing time before I notice some rehydration issues.
- Hot end sockt - This helps get the nozzle up to temperature. Unfortunately, the E3d socks embrittle at my polymax polycarb printing temperature (273c")
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Bed adhesion - glue stick on smooth PEI. Spread over bed. USE CORNER OF WET PAPER TOWEL TO DISSOLVE AND EVENLY DISTRIBUTE OVER SURFACE. Glue will turn white, then clear again as it dissolve. Use same corner of paper towel to keep dissolving and spreading the glue into thin even coating.
Preheat bed to 100C for about 5 minutes to dry the glue.
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Z-must be dialed in perfectly for first layer to work. Polycarb is not forgiving as PETG or PLA for z-height.
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Grab my Polycarb printer settings from this 3mf.
Includes the following amongst other settings
Temp 1st - subsequent
nozzle 270 -> 270
bed 100 -> 110
Definitely use a brim. We are on a bed and enclosure that is pretty cold for polycarb. Bring helps with warpage.
Speed & fan info you can find in the 3mf.
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Hardest and most difficult is transitioning back to PLA or PETG after printing in polycarb. Every single bit of high temp material must be removed or it may clog your nozzle hours later. Also, my heat sock is routinely destroyed by the heat. (Must mold some higher temp socks one of these days)
Use cleaning filament and extrude about 15 cm at 273C. Let cool and do atomic pull. Repeat until no more crud on tip.
Replace heat sock.
Repeat PID calibration.
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Yes, the results are worth it when you need more stiffness, strength and heat resistance. Transitioning back is the tough part.
Below picts are with black Polymax Polycarb. Printed on MK3S with BNBSX short ears extruder + 0.9 degree X & Y motors.
White print is PETG for mass comparison of same items
Enjoy the new forum's image distortion. Ugh!
Here is link to 3mf with my polymax settings.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3645975/files and get
BS MK3S R4 hot fins plated.3mf
RE: Polymax Polycarb - Printing it on MK3/MK3S
Requirements...
- Printer enclosure - Doesn't have to be separately heated. For up to 5 x 10 cm parts, you can get away with a regular LACK enclosure at 37 to 40 C. I've done smaller pieces at 33C in enclosure.
- Dry the filament for several hours before use. I get about two days printing time before I notice some rehydration issues.
In another thread you laughed at the idea of paying someone to print extruder parts in PC for them, but I think these two points are why there are those willing to pay for it. Not all of us have enclosures and while we all probably have an oven, we might not all have wives/husbands/partners that would appreciate baking plastic in it 😆
I do appreciate your write up though as I'll save it for wen I eventually get to printing in materials other than PLA and PETG.
RE: Polymax Polycarb - Printing it on MK3/MK3S
Is PC one of those materials that has issues with fumes like ABS and HIPS? maybe just the manufacturers' blends but I've seen some say yes and some say no.
RE: Polymax Polycarb - Printing it on MK3/MK3S
Polycarb is one of the lowest for VOC release - much lower than ABS. However, it is similar to ABS for ultra-fine particle production. Only material that is low on both is PLA.
RE: Polymax Polycarb - Printing it on MK3/MK3S
I was under the impression PLA was quite bad and PETG was one of the lowest if not the lowest.
Seems this is for VOC's, but even then PLA is not too bad, but you can definitely smell it. I'm glad to see that my filament of choice PETG T-Glase has some of the lowest VOC emmisions, but could be better for fine particles. maybe it's time to get that enclosure built...
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.5b04983
Normal people believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.