Nozzle & SpoolWhich printer to buy, what it'll really cost, and what to avoid.

Polycarbonate (PC) — 3D Printing Filament

Published · Researched 2026-09-20

Observation date: 2026-09-20. All prices and claims dated to this observation date; staleness flagged per item.

Overview — what it is, best uses, key context

Polycarbonate is the high-temperature, transparent-tough engineering filament of hobby/industrial FDM: strong layer bonding, high impact resistance, and heat deflection far above PLA/PETG/ABS. Best uses: functional prototypes, thermally stressed parts (fan shrouds, ducts, motor mounts), impact-loaded components, and parts needing PC's signature toughness rather than stiffness. It is a difficult print — high nozzle temps, serious warping tendency, moisture sensitivity, and it bonds aggressively to build plates (a release agent is required, or it can damage the sheet).

Pure PC vs PC-ABS blends (important distinction): Pure/unmodified PC (e.g. Polymaker PolyMax PC, MatterHackers' Polymaker-sourced PC) delivers the highest heat resistance and impact strength but needs ~270–310 °C nozzle temps, a bed at 100–135 °C, and a fully heated enclosure — it warps aggressively and delaminates without one. PC blends (e.g. Prusament PC Blend, PC-ABS) trade some peak heat/impact performance for much easier printing: lower warping, fewer layer cracks, and some (like Prusament's) are engineered to print on printers without a heated chamber. Treat any filament labeled "PC Blend"/"PC-ABS" as a different print profile from pure PC — and do not assume blend specs equal pure-PC specs. (Distinction grounded in manufacturer product positioning and Prusa/MatterHackers print guidance; specific PC-ABS blend property deltas are general community knowledge — UNVERIFIED against a single datasheet here.)

Key specs

Property Polymaker PolyMax PC (pure PC, Covestro Makrolon-based; PC-FR variant adds UL94 V0 flame retardancy) Prusament PC Blend (PC blend, engineered for easier printing) Pure PC (general guidance)
Tensile strength (MPa) 67 ± 4.5 (PC-FR datasheet) / 59.7 (3D Prima TDS listing for PolyMax Tough PC) UNVERIFIED (Prusa publishes comparative graphs, not a single TDS number here) ~60–70 typical
Heat deflection temp (°C) 99.3 (ISO 75, per 3D Prima TDS listing); Vicat 116–117 ~113–117 (Prusa: "high-temp resistance up to 113 °C"; reseller TDS table: HDT ~117) Up to ~135+ with proper setup
Nozzle temp range 250–270 °C (mfr TDS) 260–280 °C (Prusa/reseller guidance; community users run 265–285 °C, 275 °C with steel nozzle) 270–310 °C
Bed temp 90–105 °C (mfr); MatterHackers testing notes bed ≥135 °C ideal for pure PC, 90–110 workable with adhesives 100–120 °C 90–135 °C
Enclosure needed? Yes — mandatory for reliable results; fan OFF Enclosure required per reseller profiles; Prusa positions it as dimensionally stable "compared to other PCs printed without an enclosure" — an enclosure is still strongly recommended Yes — mandatory
Moisture sensitivity High — dry 75 °C / 6 h; keep sealed during long prints (absorbs enough in 24 h in humid air to become unprintable, per RepRap community notes) Low — Prusa: "does not need to be dried before printing (very little hygroscopic)"; reseller lists 70–80 °C / 8–10 h as precaution High
Print difficulty High Medium-high (easier than pure PC, still expert-level: warps on large models, needs glue-stick release layer) Very high
Abrasiveness Not filled — standard nozzle OK (hardened not required for plain PC) Not filled — hardened nozzle not required n/a
Other key props Impact: Charpy 11.7 kJ/m² (PC-FR) / 25.1 kJ/m² (Tough PC TDS listing); modulus ~2048–2634 MPa; print 30–50 mm/s; PC-FR = UL94 V0 ±0.03 mm tolerance; spool ships with free KORES glue stick; noticeable odor while printing; does not contain styrene Annealing: potential to improve crystallinity/HDT of PC prints exists in principle, but no verified hobby-FDM annealing protocol found — UNVERIFIED; do not anneal blindly (warping risk)

Sources for the table: Polymaker PolyMax PC-FR datasheet values via anodas.lt and 3dzone.in product pages (crawled ~2–4 months before observation date); 3D Prima TDS table for PolyMax Tough PC (crawl ~87 days old); Prusa official PC Blend launch blog (blog.prusa3d.com); siddament.com.au PC Blend product spec table (crawl ~153 days); atribecalledcars.com user print guide for Prusament PC Blend settings; MatterHackers "How to Succeed when 3D Printing with Polycarbonate" (crawl 1 day); RepRap wiki Polycarbonate page.

Pricing — per-kg spool prices (USD unless noted)

Normalized to $/kg. Observation date 2026-09-20.

Brand / product Listed price Normalized $/kg Source + date Notes
Polymaker PolyMax PC (black/white/red), 0.75 kg $39.99 / 0.75 kg $53.32/kg matterhackers.com Polycarbonate category (Black PolyMax PC 1.75 mm 0.75 kg, "was $42.65"), page crawled ~3 days before 2026-09-20 US street price; MatterHackers is the US retail channel here (MH does not list a house-brand PRO Series PC — the task's "MatterHackers PC" = Polymaker PC stocked by MatterHackers)
Polymaker PolyMax PC, 0.75 kg €47.50 / 0.75 kg €63.33/kg (~$68/kg equiv — UNVERIFIED exchange conversion) 123-3d.ie (EU), crawled ~19–46 days before 2026-09-20 EU street
Polymaker PolyMax Tough PC base €62.60/kg incl. VAT €62.60/kg 3dprima.com (EU), crawled ~87 days before 2026-09-20 — STALE-ish EU list; 3 kg spool format
Prusament PC Blend, 1 kg $49.99 / 1 kg $49.99/kg prusa3d.com MSRP — confirmed via Prusa forum member review "Review: Prusament PC Blend" (forum.prusa3d.com, crawled ~90–128 days before observation date); matches Prusa launch-blog MSRP 1 kg spools; free glue stick included
Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Black, 800 g price UNVERIFIED n/a 3dprintronics.com listing exists (image source only) PC-CF variant exists; price not verified — UNVERIFIED
Amazon US street price for PolyMax PC UNVERIFIED n/a Not checked against a live Amazon listing in this pass Flag for coordinator if needed

What's needed

  • Enclosure: mandatory for pure PC; strongly recommended for PC Blend on anything larger than small parts. Chamber heat-soak 20–30 min before printing (community practice).
  • Printer: all-metal hotend rated ≥300 °C (pure PC prints 270–310 °C); heated bed that genuinely reaches 100–135 °C.
  • Bed surface: PEI/textured sheet or garolite + adhesive (Magigoo PC, glue stick, or 3DLac). For Prusament PC Blend, a glue-stick release layer is required — without it the part can bond so hard it damages the sheet. First layer thick (0.28 mm on 0.4 mm nozzle), wide brim/raft, speeds ≤20–50 mm/s, part cooling 0–20%, aux fan off, cool down slowly with door closed.
  • Dryer: PC is hygroscopic — dry before printing (75 °C / 6 h per Polymaker; 70–80 °C / 8–10 h per reseller tables) and keep sealed with desiccant during long prints. PC Blend is notably less moisture-sensitive per Prusa.
  • Ventilation: PC emits noticeable odor/fumes at print temps — ventilate or filter.
  • Nozzle: plain PC is not abrasive — standard brass OK; hardened steel fine (run ~5–10 °C hotter).

Brand/support reality

  • Polymaker: global manufacturer (US LLC presence), publishes full TDS/MSDS per product, wholesale program (us-wholesale.polymaker.com). Support via support@polymaker.com (printed on spool labels). Warranty specifics for filament spools UNVERIFIED — typical industry practice is DOA/manufacturing-defect replacement via the retailer.
  • Prusa (Prusament): in-house manufactured, ±0.03 mm tolerance with per-spool QR traceability; community reputation for strong support (one forum reviewer cites "near-perfect support"). Filament warranty specifics UNVERIFIED.
  • MatterHackers (retailer): US-based, free US shipping offers, volume/bulk discounts, "Expert Pick" curation; stocks Polymaker PC rather than a house-brand PC. Return/support handled per MH store policy — specifics UNVERIFIED.
  • eSun: no PC product in scope per the task brief — not covered here.

Community verdict

PC owners treat it as the "last resort when PETG/ABS won't survive heat or impact" filament: extremely tough and heat-capable once dialed in, but warping and bed-adhesion failures dominate early attempts — the Sept 2026 Facebook threads on PAHT-CF warping read almost identically to PC troubleshooting (heat soak, aux fan off, draft shield, Magigoo). Prusament PC Blend is the community's pragmatic pick: genuinely easier than pure PC with "very rare" layer cracks per Prusa, though large models still warp and a glue-stick release layer is non-negotiable. Pure PC (PolyMax) earns respect for impact strength and the FR variant's UL94 V0 rating, at the cost of needing a real enclosure and 290 °C+ capability.

Sources consulted

Images

  • polycarbonate-01.jpg (800×800) — PRIMARY / exact-product shot: Polymaker PolyMax PC spool product photo (source: filament2print.com product listing; verified 200/image/jpeg 2026-09-20).
  • polycarbonate-02.jpg (800×800) — secondary: Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Black 800 g (NFC) spool (source: 3dprintronics.com via cloudfront CDN; verified 2026-09-20). Note: depicts the PC-CF variant, not plain PC Blend — a deliberate adjacent-variant inclusion; primary remains -01.

All images in the bundled image library/.

Deepening pass (2026-09-20)

Social pulse (Facebook first)

  • Failed source, substituted: keyword queries for polycarbonate/PC in the Engineering Filament Lab and the general "3D Printing" group returned no new threads this pass. Substituted with the Bambu forum's PC warping thread, a retailer review of the Polymaker PC lineup, and community discussion.

Forums

  • Bambu forum (PC warping thread): an owner exhausted the standard playbook with no improvement — nozzle 280→285 °C, cooling 30→15%, speeds cut from 200/300 to 125 mm/s — and the community's escalation ladder is instructive: brim distance to 0 mm, brims on the inside too, nozzle up toward 300 °C (some PC filaments go to 310 °C), 0.6 mm nozzle with 0.4 mm first layer, woodglue+water mix as the adhesion agent. The deepest insight: warping depends on the model — flat walls pull corners toward the center of each wall, so vertical slots or irregular features relieve the stress. When PC warps, redesign the part's stress paths, not just the profile.
  • Community note (ResetEra 3D-printing thread): Bambu's PC profiles run ~270 °C partly because at Bambu speeds the filament barely reaches the set temperature — a reminder that PC temperature numbers are speed-dependent, and slowing down changes the thermal reality.

Retailer review (Polymaker PC lineup)

  • A verified-purchase-style review of Polymaker's PC range maps the family: PolyLite PC (strength + heat resistance, light-diffusing), PolyMax PC (extra temperature resistance and toughness), PC-FR (flame retardant), PC-ABS (toughness + heat resistance with good surface finish), PC-PBT (low-temperature toughness, chemical resistance). Noted as budget-friendly against exotic CF filaments, low-odor, well-wound, dried and vacuum-sealed — with BuildTak recommended and an enclosure recommended. The lineup breadth matters: "PC" from Polymaker is five different materials, not one.

Failure modes and fixes (new this pass)

  • Warping as geometry problem: flat-walled models warp worse — add slots/irregular features to break up stress, brim at 0 mm distance, inner brims where the part has no bottom.
  • Temperature-speed coupling: at high speeds, set temperatures over-read the real melt temp — slow down before concluding the filament is bad.
  • Adhesion: woodglue+water or Magigoo-class agents; 0.6 mm nozzle and thick first layers help more than hotter beds alone.

Price verification (2026-09-20, dated)

  • Restated from this file's dated table: Prusament PC Blend $49.99/kg (1 kg, owner-review confirmed); Polymaker PolyMax PC ~$53.32/kg equivalent (0.75 kg at $39.99 via MatterHackers — normalize the 0.75 kg spool); PC-FR variant exists for electrical housings. Amazon US street pricing for PolyMax was not checked live — UNVERIFIED.

Deepening pass 3 (2026-09-21)

Facebook status update

  • groups posts --query "polycarbonate" returned zero in EFL and other groups (flakiness caveat per nylon findings). Manual browsing of EFL's newest posts (2026-09-19) surfaced one real PC thread below — summarized, not pasted.

Tinmorry PC-GF — colored glass-fiber polycarbonate from a budget brand

  • FB Engineering Filament Lab (2026-09-19, 0 comments, owner post): an owner calibrating Tinmorry PC-GF "which comes in COLORS" on a Snapmaker U1 — drying discipline 80 °C / 8 h before printing, early calibration "looking pretty great." Tinmorry appears repeatedly as a budget engineering-filament brand in this group (also recommended in the PETG-CF robot-arm thread). Signal value: colored PC-GF is no longer a premium-only product; a budget brand is shipping PC-GF in colors, and at least one owner is printing it successfully on a prosumer machine with an 8-hour dry. Long-term data and pricing for Tinmorry PC-GF remain UNVERIFIED — no price captured this pass.

Dated context

  • No new per-brand PC long-term owner reports this pass; the pass-2 warping escalation ladder (Bambu forum) and Prusa PC Blend owner review stand. The Tinmorry sighting is the only fresh social evidence for PC since pass 2.
polycarbonate — photo 01
polycarbonate — photo 02
polycarbonate extra — photo 01
polycarbonate extra — photo 02
polycarbonate extra — photo 03

Sources