Page 1 of 1
Printing with Polycarbonate
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 6:44 am
by duvdev
Hi all,
I have some project for one of my customer that need to be printed in Polycarbonate.
I tried to print in 3 or 4 times but I had some problems.
It is very hard to get the polycarbonate stick to the bed I tried a range of temp and also kapton, ABS juice...
some can tell me how to get it stick to the bed?
a glue that is rich with PVA can work?
Re: Printing with Polycarbonate
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 7:38 pm
by IMBoring25
Did you promise it before you knew you could do it? In an enclosure, I've had some success with a Kapton bed at 130-140C. It'll take more voltage, from a dedicated PSU and run off an SSR, to get you there if that's the avenue you decide to try, and I suspect the enclosure is a requirement with that approach as well. I think I've read PVA glue helps, but I hate liquid adhesion promoters. I've also read a PEI bed will do the job with less-exotic temperatures and no funny-business, but I haven't personally tried it yet.
Re: Printing with Polycarbonate
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 12:22 am
by McSlappy
Is it pure Polycarb or PC/ABS blend?
I'm not experienced with pure, but based on the blend you should have:
- an enclosure. It's like ABS on steroids. See 3rd point.
- at least 270ยบ to bond well enough.
- FAST. If PC cools much it won't bond to itself. You may have to sacrifice quality to get the speed necessary
- larger nozzle and thicker beads. Go fast & get plenty of surface area to bond.
If you don't nail the temp/speed you'll end up with parts that break apart like weak filament.