1 Topic by kszwab (edited by kszwab 2016-08-04 18:41:28)

  • kszwab
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-07-31
  • Posts: 115

Topic: PC+ABS extrusion question (crap filament output)

I have a question about making filament from PC+ABS (polycarbonate).

I got some pellets (stupidly thinking that ABS vs PC+ABS should make no difference). Filament came out like crap, brittle, took a while to clean and flush the Filastruder. Even a mix of ABS with the PC+ABS was brittle.

Can one make good filament from PC+ABS ? If yes, what is the catch ? It reminds me of Ebonite as far as properties.

Thanks,

2 Reply by elmoret

  • elmoret
  • Filastruder
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-10-11
  • Posts: 6,048

Re: PC+ABS extrusion question (crap filament output)

PC is a lot more moisture sensitive than ABS. Were you drying the pellets? How?

PC-ABS success here:

http://www.soliforum.com/topic/10862/pcabs/

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

3 Reply by kszwab

  • kszwab
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-07-31
  • Posts: 115

Re: PC+ABS extrusion question (crap filament output)

Outstanding, this describes exactly my problem.

"I noticed that drying was absolutely necessary. Without drying, the filament came out bubbly and crispy. It was brittle and the diameter was all over the place. "

I did not do any drying, the only "drying" would be the flow of air as I was cursing trying to figure out what was wrong. Also, my temperature was only about 205.

I will stick to ABS.

Thanks for the link, Tim.

4 Reply by Barafu Albino

  • Barafu Albino
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Mordor
  • Registered: 2014-04-06
  • Posts: 18

Re: PC+ABS extrusion question (crap filament output)

The other problems you will encounter:
PC/ABS filament will still be brittle even if dried up. If you wind up rolls by hand and drill, its not a problem. If your spools have too small internal diameter or you use mechanical winder, you will need to release winding tension to avoid snapping.
PC/ABS requires about 30C higher extruder temp. Otherwise layers do not stick together.
PC/ABS can not cross gaps properly when printing. If your print has flat top surface, you will need to use at least 40% infill and about 6 top solid layers to get proper top surface.