PC vs ABS vs PC/ABS for Electronics Enclosures

Concept render

PC/ABS is a blend of polycarbonate and ABS. It handles more heat than ABS and keeps more impact strength in the cold than PC. ABS usually costs the least and molds to a glossy finish. PC has the most heat resistance and room-temperature impact strength but poor chemical resistance. Test molded parts in your exact grade.

Many plastic device housings are molded in ABS, polycarbonate or a blend of the two. The choice sets how the part survives a drop, a hot car, a sunscreen-covered hand and a safety review. This guide compares the three from resin datasheets and molder design guides, including skin products, cleaners, flame-rated grades, radios and the tests to run on molded parts.

Each datasheet number below belongs to one named grade. Other grades of the same resin can differ a lot, so compare the exact grades your molder quotes.

What is PC/ABS, and how does it differ from PC and ABS?

PC/ABS is a blend of polycarbonate and ABS. Protolabs says the blend combines the strength and heat resistance of polycarbonate with the flexibility of ABS. It also says the blend has better low-temperature impact resistance than PC, and that it can reduce the thick-section molding problems of either resin alone (Protolabs, as of November 2026).

From the Protolabs selection guide, the Protolabs ABS vs PC article and the Covestro Makrolon 2405 RE page, as of November 2026.

How do PC, ABS and PC/ABS compare on datasheet numbers?

The table puts four real grades side by side: a general ABS, a general PC, a general PC/ABS and a flame-retardant PC/ABS. All values are typical values from each maker, read in November 2026. Test bars rank materials. Only molded parts show how your housing behaves.

Sources, as of November 2026: SABIC Cycolac MG47 datasheet (Europe, revision 2017-07-06, typical values, ISO methods where the sheet gives them); Covestro product pages for Makrolon 2405 RE, Bayblend T85 XF and Bayblend FR3010. The PC impact values were measured on 3 mm bars and the ABS values on 4 mm bars. The ABS sheet gives HDT at 0.45 MPa only by ASTM D 648, a different test, so the table shows no value there. Its shrinkage is SABIC's own method on 3.2 mm parts.

Charpy and Izod are different tests, so do not compare the FR3010 Izod value with the Charpy values. Shrinkage plaques also differ between grades. Ask your molder which shrinkage value the tool will be cut to.

ABS vs PC: which holds up better to impact and heat?

At room temperature, PC leads. The Makrolon 2405 RE page lists a notched Charpy value of 65 kJ/m², against 26 kJ/m² for Cycolac MG47. In Protolabs' molded comparison, PC also wins on heat deflection, at 138 °C against 102 °C for ABS, though the page does not state the test load (Protolabs, as of November 2026).

Cold changes the picture. The same PC grade drops to 14 kJ/m² notched Charpy at −30 °C, while the PC/ABS grade Bayblend T85 XF lists 37 kJ/m² and the ABS grade Cycolac MG47 lists 9 kJ/m² (4 mm bar), both at −30 °C. The PC page states a 3 mm bar and the blend page does not state one, so treat the gap as a direction. That matches Protolabs' note that the blend has better low-temperature impact than PC. If your device ships through winter freight or lives in a car, run the drop test at the coldest temperature your spec names. Our drop test guide covers heights, surfaces and pass criteria.

For heat, compare the heat deflection temperature at 1.80 MPa with the hottest place the device will sit, such as a dashboard or a charger dock. The ABS grade above lists 81 °C, the PC/ABS grade 107 °C and the PC grade 124 °C, as of November 2026. HDT is measured on a test bar under one fixed load, so check the warm case on molded parts with their real loads.

How do skin oils, sunscreen and cleaners affect PC and PC/ABS?

Covestro's guide to the chemical resistance of Makrolon polycarbonate (edition 2016-12) explains the mechanism. Some chemicals enter the surface in small amounts and loosen the bonds between molecules. Stresses in the part then relax by forming cracks. In opaque grades these cracks are often impossible to see, so mechanical tests are needed to find them (Covestro, as of November 2026).

Damage depends on the chemical, temperature, exposure time and the stress in the part. The guide says a part that is completely stress free, or only under compression, does not form stress cracks. So molded-in stress and the load from screws and snap fits matter as much as the resin.

What the Covestro table says for polycarbonate

Covestro tested Makrolon 2800 for 6 days at 23 °C, and at 50 °C where shown. A chemical that caused damage below 1.0% outer fiber strain was classed as incompatible. These results apply to that polycarbonate. Ask your PC/ABS supplier for its own data.

The same guide says Makrolon resists normal soaps but not amines, ammonia and some solvent components found in cleaning agents. It says some disinfectants, drugs and cosmetics contain solvents or active ingredients that damage it, and names nail varnish remover as one. None of the pages cited here gives sunscreen or skin oil data for any grade. Covestro's advice is to test the finished part whenever no experience values exist (as of November 2026).

Parts inside the device count too

The guide warns that plasticizers from soft PVC, blowing agents from some foams, and amines that outgas from rubber can damage polycarbonate on contact. A PVC cable jacket pressed against a PC boss, or a rubber gasket in a sealed housing, belongs on the test list. Protolabs adds that PC parts in general have poor chemical resistance, while ABS has good resistance to acids and bases (Protolabs, as of November 2026). Covestro describes Bayblend FR3010 as having improved chemical resistance and stress cracking behavior. Ask what that claim was tested against before you rely on it.

What changes when you need a flame-rated grade?

Flame ratings belong to a grade at a thickness. The Covestro pages show three different results: Makrolon 2405 RE is V-2 at 0.36 and 0.75 mm and HB at 2.7 mm, Bayblend T85 XF is HB at 0.85 mm, and Bayblend FR3010 is V-0 at 1.5 mm (as of November 2026). For what each rating means and how to check a listing, see UL 94 flammability ratings. Whether a device needs a rating at all depends on the safety standard that applies to it.

Flame retardants change other properties. Compare the two Covestro PC/ABS grades. FR3010 lists a heat deflection of 90 °C at 1.80 MPa against 107 °C for T85 XF, and notched Izod at −30 °C of 10 kJ/m² against 35 kJ/m². FR3010 is stiffer, at 2,700 MPa against 2,300 MPa. These are two specific grades, and other flame-rated grades will differ. If a flame-rated grade becomes necessary late, repeat the cold drop and heat tests.

How do radios, finish and wall thickness affect the choice?

Radio transparency

The Covestro PC and PC/ABS grades list a relative permittivity of 3.0 to 3.1 at 1 MHz, with dissipation factors of 85 to 90 × 10⁻⁴ at 1 MHz for the two general grades (as of November 2026). The pages give no values at radio frequencies, so tune the antenna in the molded housing, in the final resin and color. Our PCB antenna design guide covers how the housing detunes an antenna and how to measure it. Keep metal paint, plating and metallic colors off the antenna area unless the antenna design accounts for them.

Cosmetic finish and color

Protolabs says PC accepts high cosmetic finishes, and that ABS comes in opaque tones with gloss from matte to high gloss (as of November 2026). Clear parts such as light pipes and windows need PC or another transparent resin, because standard ABS grades are opaque.

Wall thickness and thick sections

Protolabs recommends 0.045 to 0.140 in (about 1.14 to 3.56 mm) walls for ABS and 0.040 to 0.150 in (about 1.02 to 3.81 mm) for PC, and lists no PC/ABS range (Protolabs, as of November 2026). Ask your molder for the range of the exact blend grade. For the other wall, boss and knit-line rules, see weld lines in injection molding.

Which plastic for electronics enclosures fits your device?

Start from how the device is used, then pick the resin family, then the grade. The rows are engineering reasoning from the sources above. They are starting points to test, and none describes a specific project.

Run the chemical and cold impact tests on parts molded in the production grade. Printed or cast look-alike resins cannot stand in for it. For what printed materials can stand in for in earlier builds, see 3D printing materials for device prototypes.

Questions for your hardware team

Bring this list to the enclosure review, before the tool is cut.

• Which exact grade is on the drawing, and is its datasheet in the project folder?
• Which datasheet values support the choice: heat at our peak temperature, impact at our lowest temperature?
• Which chemicals will touch the housing, and when will we test them on molded parts under stress?
• Does the applicable safety standard call for a flame rating? At what thickness and in which color does the grade hold it?
• Where is the thinnest wall, and is every wall inside the molder's recommended range for this resin?
• Is any metal paint, plating or metallic color planned over the antenna area?
• If the device goes outdoors, which grade has weathering data, and who has read it?

Material choice sits inside the mechanical work. For how that work is organized alongside electronics and firmware, see engineering.

If you want the housing resin chosen and tested against how your device will be used, tell us about your device.

Sources. All pages accessed November 6, 2026. Datasheet values are typical values, and makers revise them, so confirm current values for the exact grade before you decide.

• SABIC, Cycolac resin MG47 technical datasheet, region Europe (revision 2017-07-06) (link)
• Covestro, Makrolon 2405 RE product page (link)
• Covestro, Bayblend T85 XF product page (link)
• Covestro, Bayblend FR3010 product page (link)
• Covestro, Makrolon: The chemical resistance (edition 2016-12) (link)
• Protolabs, ABS vs. PC: Comparing Two Common Thermoplastics (August 4, 2022) (link)
• Protolabs, Selecting a Thermoplastic for Your Injection-Molded Part (link)
• Protolabs, Injection Molding Wall Thickness Guidelines (link)