3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
BVOH vs PA6/66
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | BVOH (soluble support)SUPPORT | PA66 (Nylon 66)PA |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $165.72/kg median; $165.72–$165.72/kg across 1 dated product listings | Not documented |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Butenediol vinyl alcohol copolymer — a vinyl alcohol copolymer that dissolves faster and in cooler water than straight PVA[1] | Polyamide 66, condensed from hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid; melts around 40 °C above PA6[2] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.14 (extruded unfilled PA66 stock)[3] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 166[1] | Not documented |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 166 at Fiberlogy's 500 g pricing on 3DJake[1] | Not documented |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[1] | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide — no unfilled PA66 filament appeared in any catalogue searched, and the 3DXTech nylon range offers PA6, PA12 and a 6/66 copolymer but no straight PA66[4][5] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.5 kg spools[1] | Not documented |
| Typical applications | Dissolvable support where PVA dissolves too slowly, and for materials PVA bonds to poorly[1] | Not documented |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Open frame is fine[6] | Enclosure required (passive)[2] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile[7] | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning[2] |
| Extruder requirement | A second extruder or a tool changer[6] | Not documented |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass fine indefinitely[6] | Not documented |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Non-abrasive[6] | Not documented |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[7] | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[8][7] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %) — the vinyl alcohol backbone is what makes it soluble[7][6] | Very high (>2 %)[7] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | Not documented | 8.5 at saturation on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D570) — the highest uptake of any polymer in this dataset[3] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Not a structural material; no dry-versus-conditioned data is published[7] | Measured dry against wet on printed specimens at 6.16 % moisture (Polymaker CoPA): tensile 78.0 → 34.3 MPa, Young's modulus 2703 → 724 MPa, flexural strength 109.8 → 22.6 MPa, while notched Charpy rises 6.9 → 27.7 kJ/m² and elongation 12.7 → 13.2 %[9][8] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed with desiccant at all times[7] | Not documented |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 82.7 at yield and 84.8 at break on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638; converted from 12,000 and 12,300 psi) — no printed figure exists because no unfilled PA66 filament was found[3] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 2413 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638; converted from 350,000 psi)[3] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 50 at break on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638)[3] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 113.8 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D790; converted from 16,500 psi)[3] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 3034 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D790; converted from 440,000 psi)[3] |
| Other impact data | Not documented | Izod 53 J/m on extruded PA66 stock, converted from 1.0 ft-lb/in (ASTM D256)[3] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | Shore D 86 and Rockwell 85 (108) — the source does not name the scales on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D2240, D785)[3] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Not documented | Excellent — living hinges viable[2] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Not documented | Semi-flexible[8] |
| Wear resistance & friction | Not documented | Wear factor 200e-10 in3*min/(ft*lb*h) on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D3702); Ensinger lists very good slide and wear properties[3] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | Not documented | 232 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D648 at 66 psi; converted from 450 °F)[3] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | Not documented | 90 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D648 at 264 psi; converted from 194 °F) — the gap to the 0.45 MPa figure is the widest in the dataset[3] |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | Not documented | 255 melting on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D2133; converted from 491 °F)[3] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | Not documented | 85 long term and 149 short term on extruded PA66 stock (converted from 185 °F and 300 °F)[3] |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | Not documented | 81.0 (extruded PA66 stock, ASTM D696; source states 4.5e-5 in/in/°F)[3] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Not documented | UL 94 V-2 on extruded PA66 stock[3] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Dissolves or disintegrates — by design[1] | Not documented |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Not documented | Volume resistance 1e15 ohm-cm and dielectric constant 4 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D257, D150)[3] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; none of these materials was in the chamber study[10] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[10] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Not documented | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon; total VOC reached nearly 200 µg/min, the highest of the nine filaments tested[10] |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | Not documented | ≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[10] |
| Hazardous species emitted | Not documented | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament — the largest single-VOC emission rate measured in the study[10] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Open a window / occasional ventilation[10] | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[10] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Support material pairing | This is the support material[1] | Not documented |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Water: about 1 g of BVOH per 20 g of water, several hours; warmer water is faster but must not be too hot.[11][1] | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid above ~80 %, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — laboratory reagents.[12] |
| Softened or crazed by | Nothing else — a vinyl alcohol copolymer resists organic solvents, so IPA or acetone will not touch it.[13] | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack it — 10 % marginal, 37 % not resistant; alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it.[12] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — water is a removal solvent, not a welding one.[11] | None — nylon's only solvents are formic acid, phenol and HFIP, all of which degrade the part they wet.[12] |
Material entries describe families or representative grades, not an interchangeable specification for every spool. Test methods, orientations and conditions may differ. Unknown values are marked “Not documented”. Prices and source dates remain historical snapshots; check the linked guide for product details. Differences highlight text, not a universal winner.
Sources for this comparison
- Fiberlogy BVOH Natural — product page 3DJake International · 2026-08 · vendor
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- TECAMID 66 natural (PA66) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- PolyDissolve S1 Technical Data Sheet V5.4 Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- Emissions of Ultrafine Particles and Volatile Organic Compounds from Commercially Available Desktop Three-Dimensional Printers with Multiple Filaments (Azimi et al.) Environmental Science & Technology 50(3) 1260-1268 · 2016-01 · paper
- Water soluble (BVOH/PVA) — Knowledge Base Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- Polyvinyl alcohol — KURARAY POVAL application guide Kuraray · 2026-08 · tds