Prusa Research launches two high-temperature products

Prusa Research is offering two new high-temperature products, which are already available to order. The HT Hotend Upgrade for its CORE One and CORE One L printer families, and a CORE One L+ pre-assembled with the same hotend and an advanced filtration system have come to market at price points of $199.99 for the hotend and $2,169.00 for the L+ configuration.

The updates come after Prusa refreshed its entire 3D printer line up over the summer, with a focus on improved everyday usability, and this latest product release continues with that philosophy.

The hotend reaches nozzle temperatures of up to 400 °C and works with the CORE One, CORE One+, CORE One+ (Gen 2), CORE One L and CORE One L+. It can be swapped without tools in less than a minute, letting users move between standard and high-temperature printing. 

The kit includes the hotend with a hardened 0.4 mm ObXidian 500 nozzle, two idlers (one for standard materials and one for high-temperature filaments), a main plate printed in PC Blend Carbon Fiber, gloves to protect the hotend from grease stains, and a printed user guide. PLA, PETG and other standard materials print normally with the hotend installed, so it does not need to be removed, according to Prusa.

Prusa claims higher temperatures strengthen parts from materials the printers already handle. Printing Prusament PA11 Carbon Fiber with the hotend raises interlayer adhesion by 23%, while PC Blend Carbon Fiber printed at 350 °C gains 7%. The company also cites better layer strength for acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA).

The hotend adds print profiles for polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) filled with carbon fiber or glass fiber, and for carbon fiber-filled polyphthalamide (PPA). PPS has a stated heat deflection temperature of up to 250 °C and a UL94 V-0 flame-retardant rating. For some materials, the company recommends extra equipment: a high-temperature print sheet, a USS Drybox for hygroscopic filament, and high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) and carbon filtration for materials that off-gas, such as PA11.

The CORE One L+ comes with the HT Hotend installed. Prusa lists a build volume of 300 × 300 × 330 mm (29.7 liters) and active convection chamber heating up to 60 °C. Its comparison table states that the CORE One+ (Gen 2), which has passive chamber heating up to 55 °C and a 250 × 220 × 270 mm build volume, supports high-temperature materials for small-scale parts only.