Optimum PolyCarbonate Print settings

Hello,
I have successfully printed PLA and ABS with very good and clean results on my Ormerod 2 and am now trying to use Polycarbonate. I have the right hot end fitted to cope with the heat (E3D v6 all metal with a thermocouple fitted) and ive got past the setting in the firmware that trips the extruder past 300 degrees so i can print well above this temperature.
There is a 0.25mm nozzle fitted and i measured the diameter of the filament at 1.81mm however the results just arnt coming. I am aware that polycarbonate is a particularly fussy plastic to get right and was hoping some of you may have some recommendations on optimum settings that should be used or some examples of parts that have been printed using this material?
cheers
robla85g

What type of PC are you printing? I am currently using the new ePC from esun. It prints beautifully @255°C on a 110°C heated aluminum bed prepared with 3dlac. I am using my PEEK/PTFE Merlin hotend with an 0.3mm nozzle.

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[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]

hi thanks for the response, i cant remember exactly where i bought the filament but it could have been from Etsy.
Im currently trying to print onto an aluminium heated bed with kapton tape (standard supplied with the Ormerod 2). Thats interesting you say such a low temperature, ive been trying significantly higher than that so i'll give it a try. do you have any recommendations on how to make it stick to he bed because i find my prints lift off too?

As i said, for me 3Dlac is doing the trick directly on the aluminum plate.
I expect to need a heated enclosure for bigger parts since i notice warping at lengthes of 7+cm.

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[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]

Quote
Srek
What type of PC are you printing? I am currently using the new ePC from esun. It prints beautifully @255°C on a 110°C heated aluminum bed prepared with 3dlac. I am using my PEEK/PTFE Merlin hotend with an 0.3mm nozzle.

I'd love to see some photos of your prints.

p.s. I've been contemplating getting some of Polymaker's new PC-Plus polycarbonate. I'm not sure I have a lot of need for it (I've hardly used the PolyMax that I got from their Kickstarter campaign), but I guess I'm a bit of a new filament material junkie.

Here are some parts i did

I consider the front most part a failure, but only because i choose perimeter thickness 1 and it wasn't up to the forces i needed. It was still stronger than a correctly printed ABS part
The part on the left is an idler for my slot extruder.
On the right a lens holder and tripod mount for my Thermal Camera.
In the middle an extruder body for my slot extruder (this would have needed a heated chamber to be precise enough, it has a slight warp at the bootom)
In the back a failed benchy.


This is one of the main reasons i tried PC at all, it's a fan duct that is so close to the heating element that i had ABS gone very soft. The PC holds up to the heat.


Last not least a complete benchy, stronger than any i printed before.

I don't have any pictures of a small boat i printed in vase mode, it printed as nice as PLA, but for larger parts again a heated chamber seems neccesary.

Over all i found ePC very easy to print, i just wish esun had more than one color on offer

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2016 04:36AM by Srek.

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[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]

Hi Srek, is you slot extruder a dovetail for easy vertical adjustment in the mount? That looks like a great design!

Your PC prints look great, I'll have to get a roll.

Yes, it's a dovetail with an adjustment screw at the bottom.
I created it for my dual X setup because otherwise the Z adjustment of two independent printheads is a nightmare. It is also working nicely so far for switching printheads.
It only takes seconds to switch between printheads with different nozzle diameters or cooling systems.

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[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]

Hi,
those prints look amazing. alot better than i've been getting.
what sort if layer height and print speeds did you use with them?

They were all printed with 0.15mm layerheight and a base printing speed of 130mm/s

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[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]

130mm/s?? Wow, that's way faster than I've ever been able to get a decent print at!

Quote
JamesK
130mm/s?? Wow, that's way faster than I've ever been able to get a decent print at!

As i said, that is the base print speed. Most of the time the actual printing speed is lower. The outer perimeter for example only prints at 40mm/s.
I am pretty sure though i can go higer, this was just the speed i started with and since it just worked i haven't tried yet to go faster. I am not obsessed with maximum speed

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[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]

Srek, those prints look nice. Thanks for the photos and info.

I don't know if the eSun and Polymaker materials are the same, but I see that the latter has their PC-Plus in clear, white and black.