Back to the PolyCarbonate Question

[HyperSnyper]

I asked this question a long time ago and decided to bring it back up.

I know Polycarbonate is suppose to be more durable because of its more flexible nature.

What I want to know are 3 things:

- Is polycarbonate a neccesity that all industires should convert over to (I know Rico is slowly converting, right now they have an ABS Poly Carb blend as they have told me)?

- Is there a visual difference between ABS plastic and polycarb? How can you tell the difference?

- Are there any Cons to Polycarnoate? If there isnt, why isnt everyone using it?

LMK All.

-Hyper

[petefol]

i found this information on a science supplies site
"A crystal clear and colorless, amorphous engineering thermoplastic notable for its high impact resistance (which remains high down to -40C). It has reasonably good temperature resistance, good dimensional stability and low creep but somewhat limited chemical resistance and is prone to environmental stress cracking. It also has poor fatigue and wear properties."
a bad thing about it is i think its more expensive then normal plastic. a 150x150mm sheet costs 75$ im sure if a company bought it in much larger quantities tho it would be alot cheaper.

[kevdupuis]

It's kind of funny that you posted that question, Because I work with it every day. Polycarbonates are also prone to uv degradation and require special coatings to protect them. If you've ever seen a mustang or tempo headlamp lens yellowed and showing fine scratches, it's because the uv coating has worn or peeled off.These special uv and hardcoatings are expensive to use, and aren't used much in the paintball industry except "I believe" for goggle lenses.
At Skyball, I talked to the System X reps and they were looking for a place at the time to coat their polycarb barrels. I don't know if they found one yet? We only design and build for the automotive lighting industry, with the inclusion of Harley Davidson and Bombardier.

[HyperSnyper]

Originally posted by kevdupuis
Polycarbonates are also prone to uv degradation and require special coatings to protect them.

Exactly what rate does the polycarb degrade at from the UV? Something noticeable after a couple months?

-Hyper

[pito189]

What kind of plastic is the HALO made out of? It is very much harder than the Revvy and the Ricochet. It reminds me of those hiking bottles that are able to withstand falls of 50 feet onto sharp rocks.

[kevdupuis]

To answer the first question, depending on the grade of uncoated polycarbonate, surface degradation can be noticed within a few weeks of continuous exposure to uv rays. This is very apparent on the clear and light tints, opaques withstand this a bit better due to the coloring introduced to the materiel. Remember this is surface degradation and can usually be cleaned/polished off, then given a protective clearcoat to help preserve it better.

Second question, there are so many grades and mixes of polycarbonates that you would have to ask them, it may not even be pc. plexiglass and lexan are both polycarbs for example, and cycoloy is a pc/abs mix.

['Mag]

I think Pito189 is reffering to Nalgene bottles, which are supposedly unbreakable and have a lifetime replacement warranty. I'd like to know what they are made of, because I really don't think my Halo would do to well if run over by a car or thrown against a brick wall, but Nalgene's do fine.

[NightStalker]

hmm

Sounds like those bottles might be made from APEC or a similar polycarb material. We use to play with it all the time at AMI. You could hit it with a sledge hammer, runover it with a forklift or throw it at walls and it would just bounce. I believe it has a higher degradation with UV rays but you get an amazing amount of strength instead.

Hoppers look like a simple polycarb maybe a Black Makrolon material ((Kev might be able to correct me here)). It's easy to mold as it has a lower melt teperature. Degradation is only based on constant exposure to UV Rays so it's really hard to say but a few weeks to a month straight would destroy it.

It's all fun stuff