ESUN EPC polycarbonte filament

[Jules]

Those are some nice looking prints Will!

[zemlin]

Those are some nice looking prints Will!

I agree! Those look great.
Been running some 25mm test cubes with ePC. Using my PEI build plate and getting pretty good (but not outstanding) adhesion. Tried 80C first. Running another now at 60C on the bed to see how it compares. V4 nozzle temp is 270C. Haven't tried running cooler. I'm getting a small amount of lift in the corners, so I might try adding a brim to see if that will hold it down enough.

One thing I noticed on my first good cube at 80C is some flare in the first 1mm of build above the platform. It is about .2mm larger on all sides near the platform and there's a smooth taper that spans about 1mm until it hits the size where it remains for the rest of the build. It's not first layer flare, as the edge at the platform looks great and does not extend beyond the second layer except for the same taper I see between layer 2 and layer 3. The flare is less on the cube I just finished on the 60C platform - about .08mm per side, but adhesion wasn't as good and I got a small amount of lift all the way around the part. My layer thickness is .2mm

I've attached a photo showing the flare on the 80C test cube. Would love to know your thoughts on how to control this.

[Jules]

Haven't actually had a chance to print any ePC yet, but i thought those who were printing it were running the bed kind of hot (100C). Don't quote me on it - but check with the other guys/gals to see how they were getting it to stick.

[zemlin]

I've looked around and haven't found much about bed temps for PC.
Running another cube now with a 260C nozzle temp on a 70C bed. Taper at the base is looking better. and I don't see any corner lift.

[jimc]

Pc is about the worst warping material there is. Esun did a great job at getting that under control with this material. Its a hair less warp than abs. Your never going to get that completely gone though on boxy prints. Im not sure what that flare is about. Only thing i can think of is your first layer is tight and its squishing out then needs a few layers to get back to normall. Not sure with pei but generally the bed should be 100c as jules said. No cooling fan and extruder at 270. For dimensional accuracy you want to scale up in the x and y axis by .65%

[insta]

Pc is about the worst warping material there is. Esun did a great job at getting that under control with this material. Its a hair less warp than abs. Your never going to get that completely gone though on boxy prints. Im not sure what that flare is about. Only thing i can think of is your first layer is tight and its squishing out then needs a few layers to get back to normall. Not sure with pei but generally the bed should be 100c as jules said. No cooling fan and extruder at 270. For dimensional accuracy you want to scale up in the x and y axis by .65%

That's definitely an elephants-foot from a too-smashed first layer. Good eye, Jim

[zemlin]

That's definitely an elephants-foot from a too-smashed first layer. Good eye, Jim

Thanks for all the info, folks. Making progress for sure.
As far as an over-smashed first layer ... it looked good and didn't have any edge. It also hasn't repeated nearly that bad. The last PC cube at 270C and 90C on the bed had no flare. No height adjustments have been made. I'm not sure the Z-Stop microswitch perfectly repeatable.