Dry Boxes
In another thread it was suggested that a spool of filament that was breaking/brittle had dried out. I have noticed that new spools always come with desiccants. I have about five "open" spools of filament kicking around and I discovered that there's a thing called a "dry box". Looks like just what I need. Problem is: looking on amazon they seem to all run $40-$50 each. Is there a less pricey alternative?
RE: Dry Boxes
I have a design that you may find interesting. See: www.thingiverse.com/thing:2858676
I have been working on a new version for the past 8 months and will post it in the next 10 days. The newer version has many more features (such as humidity gauge) and can be easily transported.
RE: Dry Boxes
@jimbo70
I have used these and some that are designed for filament. All work.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Dry Boxes
@jimbo70
I'll check out thingiverse. Thanks for the pointer
RE: Dry Boxes
@cwbullet
These look great!! AND they're unbelievably inexpensive. What about desicants: is an hour in , say, a 150° oven enough to keep them happy? I'm guessing that if that's true, the easiest thing is to simpe re-bake them every time I open on of the bags to use a spool.
RE: Dry Boxes
I'm having good results with inexpensive reusable vacuum bags and reusable desiccant packets. It scales well and I never worry about having unused space in a box that's too big, or having more spools than bag space. If I have a leak, only one spool is affected. I just stack them on the floor or on a book shelf when not in use.
I was using 2 gallon Ziploc bags with good results, but the cheap vacuum bags seem to be working.
RE: Dry Boxes
@bobstro -- What are you using to pull the vacuum?
RE: Dry Boxes
I just published my shot for a dry box solution:
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/65039-another-dry-box-solution
The idea here is to combine storage and operational use. I am presently testing how good it works.
For longer storage I use vacuum bags from Tangan. Here in Switzerland you can buy up to 2 liter bags, meant for food storage, in the grocery market. Also available is a battery operated pump. Unfortunately the largest size is not big enough for a 1 kg spool. Those big bags I found in a regional 3D supply store. It looks exactly like the Tangan bags, only big enough for 1kg spools. The battery operated pump works good on these bags. Here more info: esun-eVacuum-kit
The regular food bags with battery operated pump are here: https://produkte.migros.ch/tangan-n60-hand-vakuumiergeraet
RE: Dry Boxes
@berniec
I refresh my desiccant with a microwave. Set to defrost and run for 40 minutes. If you can use your oven but be careful, too much heat will destroy the desiccant.
Also, you can not dry 'wet' filament with desiccant alone. You need to warm the filament and provide air circulation. The warm air will carry more moisture and the airflow will carry it away - in the same manner, a clothes dryer dries the clothing.
RE: Dry Boxes
My lower (not low) cost solution is large [Ziploc Weathershield storage boxes]( https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MWTJXHS/) that can hold 10+ spools, combined with [renewable mini dehumidifiers]( https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H0XFD2/). As long as you keep an eye on the color of the dehumidifier and recharge it as needed every month or so, I have had filaments in there for more than a year with no apparent degradation in performance.
RE: Dry Boxes
@bobstro -- What are you using to pull the vacuum?
I tried this set as a lark. I initially thought it was a waste of time, but after a recent post here gave it another go. There's a trick to getting a good seal, but once you do, the vacuum pump is effective. This one's been sealed up for a bit over 3 weeks now:
I've since ordered 30 more bags. The flimsy hand pump is a little too evocative of the Swedish appliance featured in the Austin Powers movie, so I'm going to try to preserve my dignity with this little battery powered unit. There's a nice set on Amazon, but on careful reading, the pump is only powered by USB (no battery) with a very short cord. I'm hoping the cheap Chinese model will suffice.
I toss the color-changing desiccant packets into the dryer whenever preparing a spool of PETG, so I've got a fresh set ready to go.
RE: Dry Boxes
@bobstro
What brand of filament is that in the photo?
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Dry Boxes
@bobstro
What brand of filament is that in the photo?
The 1st pic with the purple spool is 3DGST, a "mystery brand" that runs a $10 for 10 spool deal on occasion. Unfortunately, one of the two spools I purchased clogs, even through a 1.2mm nozzle, so I've given up on the stuff. The 2nd pic shows a spool of Overture.
RE: Dry Boxes
@bobstro
I knew of Overture. I did not recognize the other stool.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Dry Boxes
It's definitely an odd brand. The spools are 3D printed, some sort of soft material.
RE: Dry Boxes
My lower (not low) cost solution is large [Ziploc Weathershield storage boxes]( https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MWTJXHS/ ) that can hold 10+ spools, combined with [renewable mini dehumidifiers]( https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H0XFD2/ ). As long as you keep an eye on the color of the dehumidifier and recharge it as needed every month or so, I have had filaments in there for more than a year with no apparent degradation in performance.
These are good s0lutions for a large number of spools, but the more open area, the less well it works. I use it for the humidity-sensitive spools I am waiting to use and I use a camera dry box for the ones that are open. I use a Slinger Camera Dehumidifying Dry Cabinet for my open spools.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Dry Boxes
I use the same boxes, but I discovered that the blue gasket they use is porous. I replaced the gasket with Qishare Silicone Rubber Weather Strip. For desiccant I used Dry & Dry" [7.5 LBS] Premium Orange Indicating Silica Gel Desiccant Beads inside of these bags. I like this thermometer/humidity meter. That particular weather strip makes for a really tight fitting lid. You could probably go down a size and still get good results.
I have a couple of boxes setup that way to store pre dried filament and a third that feeds the printer via a PTFE tube.
That combination keeps the relative humidity in the box between 10% and 20%.
My lower (not low) cost solution is large [Ziploc Weathershield storage boxes]( https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MWTJXHS/) that can hold 10+ spools, combined with [renewable mini dehumidifiers]( https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H0XFD2/). As long as you keep an eye on the color of the dehumidifier and recharge it as needed every month or so, I have had filaments in there for more than a year with no apparent degradation in performance.
I have three dry boxes that I made out of plain vanilla Home Depot storage tubs, each with an inexpensive temp/humidity gauge, mounted to the side with a 3d printed bracket.
Each one has four of those silica gel dry packs.
When the humidity in them starts creeping up into the high 20s, I'll dry out the dry packs, originally in the oven, but now in the air fryer.
I converted one of these to a makeshift dehydrator with a light bulb, but shortly after that we got an air fryer as a new kitchen toy and it fits a spool just perfectly, so I've been using that when I need to dry filament. I'll probably remove the lamp to reclaim the space for 1-2 spools.
