Notifications
Clear all

moisture content?  

  RSS
stellr
(@stellr)
Trusted Member
moisture content?

I had four mk3s printers running fine last week before hurricane Ida came by and made the air very, very humid.  Then all the printers started performing the same behavior, the 3D-Fuel PRO PLA, began to not stick to the plate at random times.  On one pass it would stick fine and then later it would not.  I began to think with the high humidity that the PLA needed to be dried out.  I attach a picture of the first layer calibration, where it shows that most of the run sticks, but my pen points to an area where it did not stick.  It also did not stick right before it printed the square and you can see the color there is similar to where my pen is holding up the loose strand.  Suggestions?   I lowered my Z (less negative) and it did seem to do a little better.  I'm curious why all of a sudden all the printers behavior changed?  Why might a lower Z correct moisture problems...if that is indeed what I have going on...fishing expedition.

Posted : 03/09/2021 8:19 pm
cwbullet
(@cwbullet)
Member
Dedhydrate

You could put the filament in a dehydrator.  

--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog

Posted : 03/09/2021 11:50 pm
Diem
 Diem
(@diem)
Illustrious Member

It does sound like something environmental.  Humidity is a strong candidate as you suggest...

How 'clean' is your power supply?  Are your lights flickering or radios crackling?  Hurricane damage to power lines might be causing power surges or brown-outs..?

As to adhesion; there are smears on your build plate, a thorough clean might help.

Cheerio,

Posted : 04/09/2021 12:24 am
stellr
(@stellr)
Trusted Member
Topic starter answered:
thanks

Thanks for confirming and suggesting ideas.  Yep, I did clean the plate a little more and got some better results.  Yes, interesting observation about power.  An associate said there were some flickers during the bad weather.

Posted : 04/09/2021 12:53 am
fuchsr
(@fuchsr)
Famed Member
RE: moisture content?

I can tell you, humidity was a beast this year. I usually don't dry filament but this year was a different story. One in particular, Prusament Neon Green PETG... Took it out of the dryer in the morning, printed fine. By the end of the day, horrible. 

Posted : 04/09/2021 11:01 am
jsw
 jsw
(@jsw)
Famed Member
Posted by: @fuchsr

I can tell you, humidity was a beast this year. I usually don't dry filament but this year was a different story. One in particular, Prusament Neon Green PETG... Took it out of the dryer in the morning, printed fine. By the end of the day, horrible. 

I try to keep my filament dry, and occasionally I have to force-dry a spool in the air fryer on dehydrate mode.

However, earlier this year I found some filament that could not be saved.

This was the remainder of a 2kg spool of the FilamentPM Prusa sample equivalent that I had respooled onto two regular 1kg spools.

I had some left over, and for some reason (???) it sat in the corner of the spare bedroom exposed to room air for over a year.

When I found it I attempted to dry it out and use it, but (see photo below) it had many hairline cracks and could not even be loaded into one of the printers without breaking.

Posted : 04/09/2021 11:10 am
cwbullet
(@cwbullet)
Member
Food dehydrator.

 

Posted by: @fuchsr

I can tell you, humidity was a beast this year. I usually don't dry filament but this year was a different story. One in particular, Prusament Neon Green PETG... Took it out of the dryer in the morning, printed fine. By the end of the day, horrible. 

I am having the same experience.  I am building a new workshop and I resorted to installing a dehumifier that drains to the outdoors.  I will store filament in a dry box between prints if it is over 24 hours.  

Posted by: @jsw
Posted by: @fuchsr

I can tell you, humidity was a beast this year. I usually don't dry filament but this year was a different story. One in particular, Prusament Neon Green PETG... Took it out of the dryer in the morning, printed fine. By the end of the day, horrible. 

I try to keep my filament dry, and occasionally I have to force-dry a spool in the air fryer on dehydrate mode.

However, earlier this year I found some filament that could not be saved.

This was the remainder of a 2kg spool of the FilamentPM Prusa sample equivalent that I had respooled onto two regular 1kg spools.

I had some left over, and for some reason (???) it sat in the corner of the spare bedroom exposed to room air for over a year.

When I found it I attempted to dry it out and use it, but (see photo below) it had many hairline cracks and could not even be loaded into one of the printers without breaking.

A food dehyrdator works better for me.  

--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog

Posted : 04/09/2021 11:19 am
jsw
 jsw
(@jsw)
Famed Member

Actually, when I said 'air fryer' I was referring to the Ninja Cooker, a kitchen toy that we got a while back, which does function as a food dehydrator as well.

We got this shortly after I converted one of my dryboxes to a makeshift dehydrator by adding a light bulb to warm it up and force the moisture out.  I'm probably going to remove that to reclaim the drybox space.

Posted : 04/09/2021 11:33 am
cwbullet
(@cwbullet)
Member
Drying

I have a toaster oven in my shop that I use to dry hydrophillic chemicals.  It works at trying filament but I do not like to keep in on for hours.  

--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog

Posted : 04/09/2021 12:10 pm
stellr
(@stellr)
Trusted Member
Topic starter answered:
my car

I stumbled on a comment somewhere that said to put the spool in his car to try to dry the PLA out.      Since there's little control of this, it doesn't sound like a great idea, but it's all I have.  I tried it, but got mixed results.    https://3dinsider.com/dry-pla-filament/   refers to "PLA has a relatively low glass transition temperature of only 70 °C"    What temperature do these "dryers" run?

Posted : 04/09/2021 4:23 pm
bobstro
(@bobstro)
Illustrious Member
I wouldn't use my car
Posted by: @stellr

I stumbled on a comment somewhere that said to put the spool in his car to try to dry the PLA out.      Since there's little control of this, it doesn't sound like a great idea, but it's all I have.  I tried it, but got mixed results.    https://3dinsider.com/dry-pla-filament/   refers to "PLA has a relatively low glass transition temperature of only 70 °C"   

There have been posts from people that left nice new spools of filament in their car on a hot summer day only to find everything stuck together and unusable afterward. I wouldn't suggest using something as uncontrolled as a car to dry filament. Air circulation is also key. If the car interior is humid, it may not do much for drying out filament.

What temperature do these "dryers" run?

My PrintDry has temperatures starting at 35C up to 70C in 5C increments.

 

My notes and disclaimers on 3D printing

and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

Posted : 04/09/2021 4:32 pm
Share: