Filament Dryers

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Do any of you use filament dryers for your filament.  If so what dryers do you recommend, if any.

I keep my filament in vacuum bags but am thinking that a dryer would be worthwhile.  I have left filament on the printer for 6 months or so without printing.  I did end up with filament breaking several times just prior to the hotend.  The last time it was not possible to remove without taking the hotend off the printer., during which process I think the thermistor was damaged.  This causing temperature anomaly.  My printer is in my upstairs office so is in a dry, warmish, draught free environment.  Printer is  currently a Prusa MK3 which is about to become a 3.9S.

Thx,

Colin

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

I made mine from a plastic storage box. It sits on a shelf above the printer. Has some printed boxes that contain silica gel. Keeps the inside of the box below the outside RH but won’t take it down much below 40RH. The silica gel needs drying out in the microwave form time to time.

The digital readout for RH is obtainable from the usual sources. The boxes are nothing special just printed from PETG, the lids are perforated. Don’t put the boxes in the microwave though they get hot enough to deform. The reels sit on printed stands with ball bearins cliped in to allow easy rotation. The filaments are fed out through suitable brass connectors and PTFE tube used for air-lines.

You can find a bit more info from my website Journeyman’s Workshop half way down the page.

John

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Been meaning to get something. Fruit desiccators are recommended as an alternative to the specialist products but I’m not sure which is big enough.

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

I use one of these:

Amazon food drier

Had the advantage of going to a higher temperature than the filament drier options available at the time I bought it – useful for drying nylon.

Rod

[FulmenParticipant @fulmen]

I’ve noticed that PLA filament turns brittle over time as well, but I’ve always assumed it to be an age-issue and not moisture. Air “tight” storage could help I guess.

Wet filament usually involves oozing and uneven extrusion.

 

PS: If you put a lid on the heated bed you should have a heated chamber perfectly suited for drying filament.

[Roderick Jenkins]

On Roderick Jenkins Said:

I use one of these:

Amazon food drier

That looks suspiciously like an actual print dryer that I bought some years ago:

 

 

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

The food drier linked seems to have lots of shallow sections. This is where I got to last time I looked. Anyone know if they fit together without the internal supports to give a big enough chamber. Peter’s specific filament dryer might have been the key adaptation with different big sections.

And yes it is definitely the moisture that makes PLA brittle. A well known problem which is why they sell dryers. Also the moisture flashes to steam in the bot end causing a characteristic popping sound and blowing gaps in the continuous flow of melted filament and hence holes in teh print.

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Bazyle,

as you surmise, the grids pile on each other, supported around the perimeter.  I cut the middles out of a couple of the grids to give space for the filament roll.

Regarding PLA, I find the behaviour perplexing.  If I leave the filament in the printer for a few days, I find that only the first 6 inches of the roll becomes brittle.  The rest seems to be fine.  It’s as if the moisture is absorbed up the length of the filament, which I find hard to believe.

Rod

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Rod,

Will it only hold one single 1Kg reel or is there enough height for two reels to fit in

Is there a fan in this dryer or does the heat just percolate up from the base.

Is there a moisture vent at the top.

Thanks,

Colin

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Hi Colin,

There is a fan and the top has vent holes.  There is about 6 inches clearance between the base and the lid.  I haven’t taken the middle out of all of the grids so I can’t say with certainty that you can put 2 reels in on top of each other.

Hope this helps,

Rod

[Fulmen]

On Fulmen Said:

 

PS: If you put a lid on the heated bed you should have a heated chamber perfectly suited for drying filament.

I took the time to make one of these: Amazingly Simple Free Filament Dryer -You already have one! (youtube.com)

[FulmenParticipant @fulmen]

Yup, that’s the basic idea. Not the best solution in the world but cheap and quick to implement. If it solves your problem you can buy a better one.

[Author]

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