3D Printing Toolkit › Filament settings › Polycarbonate

Polycarbonate print settings

Engineering grade: the highest heat resistance and impact strength you will print on a hobby machine.

Nozzle260–300 °C

Bed100–120 °C

Part cooling0–10 %

EnclosureRequired

Drying80 °C for 6 h

Shrinkage~0.7%

Density1.20 g/cm³

Enclosure: Expect warping, splitting layers or failed prints without one.

Bed surface & adhesion

PEI with a glue-stick release layer. It bonds ferociously when hot.

Retraction starting points

Direct drive0.5–2 mm

Bowden3–6 mm

Retraction speed25–45 mm/s

Dry the filament first — with these, stringing is far more often moisture than retraction, and no retraction value fixes a wet spool.

Good for

Parts that must survive over 110 °C
Transparent, impact-resistant covers and lenses

Watch out for

Needs an all-metal hot end — 300 °C degrades a PTFE-lined one and releases fumes
Warps and delaminates without a genuinely hot enclosure
Dry it — wet PC prints cloudy and weak

Where to buy

Polycarbonate filament1 kg spools from printer makers who ship worldwide.Shop ↗Printer enclosureThis material warps or splits without a stable, warm chamber.Shop ↗Filament dryerThis filament absorbs moisture and prints badly once it has.Shop ↗

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Problems this material is prone to

Other filaments

PLA PLA+ / Tough PLA Silk PLA PLA + carbon fibre Glow-in-the-dark PLA PETG PETG + carbon fibre ABS ASA PC-ABS blend TPU (95A)Nylon (PA)Nylon + carbon fibre Polypropylene (PP)HIPS PVA (dissolvable)Wood-fill PLA

These are widely-published starting points for the generic material, not a specification. Individual spools vary by brand, colour and additive package — always defer to the figures printed on your spool.

Every number on this page is in the app too — next to the calculators that use it, working offline at the printer.

Get it onGoogle Play