MakerGear Forum

It looks like the Polymaker website has been updated with an announcement for a new filament called PC-Max, which isn't available yet. From the terse description I gather it's even tougher than PC-Plus.

It says:

Polymaker PC-Max™ offers the absolute best in toughness that is simply unobtainable from other 3D printing materials of similar stiffness. This makes Polymaker PC-Max an excellent choice for real-world, engineering applications.

I wonder if that means they trade a bit of stiffness for toughness, in which case it sounds like ePC, which definitely isn't as stiff as PC-Plus but feels like it has better impact resistance.

~Justine

I am actually not too happy with PC-plus. Subjectively e-PC seems stronger, the layer bonding seems rather low, especially for white color. Black seems better. I do not have the transparent one.

Surprising! What temperature are you using for white? The packaging says 250-270 but I'm finding 272 to be good for white. Lower and yes, layer bonding can be an issue.

It was pointed out to me in another thread that the colors make a difference too for emissivity reasons. I would expect black to loose heat faster and need higher extrusion temps but I'm finding the opposite to be the case... I run white about 8 degrees hotter than black. So there might be a chemical difference too.

As for transparent, I just tried that for the first time today on another machine and like it very much. Now printing on PEI at 95C with no brim.

~Justine

I was using 270 C on 85 C PEI for white, it printed fine with some warping, however when it came to stress it behaved worse than PLA so I reside on white eSun PETG for that project. So overall beside slightly higher melting temperature - no advantage to PETG plus warping, plus hotter bed etc ...
Black one with the same settings was much better, less warping and slightly stronger.
So currently for high stress items ePC is my choice
My fridge shelf test: ePC - holds, PLA broke, PLA+ broke, PETG broke, ABS still hold other shelf

BTW is there a simple way to to 'unlock' temperatures above 275 on V4 ? This might allow to bring PCplus to 275 or so - who knows it may print better...

Modify max temp in firmware. At.your own risk of course.

Rick has stated in no uncertain terms that the V4 is rated you 300C operating temperature -- perfect for this!