Prusa HT Hotend: 400°C Turns the Core One Into a PPS-CF Printer
3D PrintingPrusa’s most consequential upgrade this year may be the cheapest one. It costs $199 and takes under a minute to install. The new HT Hotend lifts every Core One printer to 400°C. That moves a desktop machine into the material class usually reserved for industrial printers: PPS, PPA, and carbon-fiber nylons. It also makes clear which customers Prusa is chasing while Bambu Lab takes the consumer market.
Why This Upgrade Matters
Stock Core One printers top out 110°C lower, according to ALL3DP. That ceiling covers PLA, PETG, ASA, and standard nylons. It shuts out the high-performance thermoplastics engineers want for parts that sit near engines, carry flame ratings, or live in hot and wet environments. The usual answer has been an industrial printer or an expensive enclosed machine from a specialty vendor.
The HT Hotend fits the Core One, Core One+, Core One+ Gen2, Core One L, and Core One L+, 3DPrint.com reports. It is a tool-free swap that comes out in under a minute, and it is based on the E3D ObXidian 500 with a hardened steel nozzle. ALL3DP notes the exception: INDX toolchanger machines do not use the Nextruder hotend.
What Makes It Different
Prusa officially lists ASA, PC Blend, PC Blend Carbon Fiber, PA11 Carbon Fiber, PPS-CF, PPS-GF, and PPA-CF, while keeping everyday PLA and PETG supported. The case for running familiar materials hotter is layer adhesion. Prusa claims 7% better interlayer bonding for PC Blend Carbon Fiber and up to 23% higher pull-out strength for PA11 Carbon Fiber, with extrusion temperatures around 350°C for some profiles. Readers already running Prusament PA11 for its isotropic strength get a direct path to the carbon-fiber version at higher temperatures.
The headline materials are PPS and PPA. PPS has a 250°C heat deflection temperature and can reach UL94 V-0 flame retardancy. PPA is more water-resistant than other polyamides but usually needs drying before printing. 3DPrint.com frames the release as Prusa positioning itself for automotive, military, and industrial customers.
The Catch / Who It’s For
Three limits matter. First, 400°C is not enough for PEEK, which also needs far higher chamber temperatures than any Core One can reach, as ALL3DP points out. This is not an industrial PEEK machine. Second, PPS carries a real hazard: 3DPrint.com warns that overheated PPS can release sulfur dioxide and advises printing it only with the air filtration unit installed and working. Treat that as a hard requirement, not a suggestion. Third, the published strength figures are Prusa’s own. Independent testing has not appeared yet.
The upgrade is sold through Prusa’s store rather than Amazon. The kit is $199, and the Core One L+ it pairs with costs $2,169. For existing Core One owners who need heat-resistant or flame-rated functional parts, that price undercuts any route to the same materials. Hobbyists printing PLA and PETG gain little beyond a hardened nozzle.
The So What
The HT Hotend is the clearest sign yet that Prusa is building toward small manufacturers and engineering teams, not competing with Bambu Lab on consumer convenience. For a Core One owner outsourcing PPS or carbon-fiber nylon parts, it pays for itself on a few jobs. Buy it with the filtration unit, start with PC Blend CF or PA11 CF to learn the higher-temperature profiles, and keep the stock hotend for everyday prints.
Source: 3DPrint.com
Content created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.
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