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A tip for storing filament (and pellets)

Discussion in 'Printing Filament' started by Seshan, Jun 10, 2013.

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  1. Seshan

    Seshan Active Member

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    For those of you that don't know plastic filament absorbs water/moisture in the air , some plastics more then others, This isn't good for printing as it will cause your filament to pop and create bubbles and other ugliness in your prints. You will want to store it in a low humidity environment. One way to do that is to store it in a container with a desiccant, Those have limited use, and can be toxic. The other option, and what I will probably end up doing is getting a dehumidifying rod a small one is good up to 100sq feet http://amzn.com/B004QUDTZI get that stick it in a good seal-able tub, add maybe a hygrometer to check your humidity level, and you'll be set.
     
    #1 Seshan, Jun 10, 2013
    2 people like this.
  2. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    This will be very true for those of us who want to be printing in a multitude of types and colors in other words the NOOBIES. For those of you who have overcome the novelty of 3dprinting already, you probably keep it all sealed up until you use it and then you probably use one at a time, the way we all will learn to do. Thanks for the warning and I am sure many of us will probably lose significant amounts of filament because of this but oh well I guess that will be part of the learning curve.

    LOL

    Good luck to us NOOBIES

    at least a lot of us seem to be getting extruders so the cost will be less because we will be using pellets but .....
     
    #2 tesseract, Jun 10, 2013
  3. Seshan

    Seshan Active Member

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    You can also bake your filament in the oven at a low temp to get rid of any moister, keeping it in a container with the dehumidify will eventually remove all the moister from the filament, but if you need it fast, the oven will be the best choice.
     
    #3 Seshan, Jun 10, 2013
  4. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    neat tip thanks. this stuff needs to go into the tips n tricks forum topic as well
     
    #4 tesseract, Jun 10, 2013
  5. CAMBO3D

    CAMBO3D New Member

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    i used my dryer today, to dry my nylon filament.. haha
     
    #5 CAMBO3D, Jun 10, 2013
  6. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    so was that on the HIGH heat or the air dry only mode LOL
     
    #6 tesseract, Jun 10, 2013
  7. CAMBO3D

    CAMBO3D New Member

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    actually medium heat for 2hrs
     
    #7 CAMBO3D, Jun 10, 2013
  8. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    Oh actual instructions say I have a nuwave convection oven any idea on the time there LOL
     
    #8 tesseract, Jun 10, 2013
  9. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    Jeff, just try baking little pieces in 1 hr increments until you're happy with the results. FYI, the pellets will also need to be stored dry or dried before use. Every commercial extrusion process I've seen has involved some kind of a drying process.

    Also, a warning on the bake out. Be careful with PLA, it sags and deforms at a much lower temperature than you extrude it at. Not that I've ruined a whole spool or anything...
     
    #9 Printed Solid, Jun 11, 2013
  10. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    something tells me you HAVE learned from experience LOL
     
    #10 tesseract, Jun 11, 2013
  11. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    http://www.natureworksllc.com/~/med...Sheets/TechnicalDataSheet_4043D_films_pdf.pdf

    They recommend 4 hrs at 80C for pellets. I'll fess up and say that I tried a spool of natural 3mm PLA for 2 hrs at 200F (93C) in my small convection oven and found it pretty well ovalized and stuck together. Not melted but pretty messed up. I've never actually checked the temperature in my oven, so its also possible cal was just way off.

    That same profile did work really well for ABS though.
     
    #11 Printed Solid, Jun 11, 2013
  12. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    that is a unique way to describe it LOL sorry shouldn't laugh the way I like to experiment who knows what I'll be seeing
     
    #12 tesseract, Jun 11, 2013
  13. James

    James Member

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    Hmmm How about using rice instead of a chemical desiccant?
     
    #13 James, Jun 12, 2013
  14. Seshan

    Seshan Active Member

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    Well, rice does absorb water, but I'm not sure how well it will work compared to the electronic dehumidifier or chemical desiccants. It's also messier, and could leave a residue on your filament (depending on how you use it).
     
    #14 Seshan, Jun 12, 2013
  15. JDM_

    JDM_ New Member

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    Humidity is going to be tough on my filament here in Florida. I'm going to have to come up with a good system for storing my filament. I do have one of those food saver vacuum sealers. I guess I'm finally going to use it.

    Does anyone know which plastic filament types absorbs the most moisture and which the least?
     
    #15 JDM_, Jun 15, 2013
  16. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    the way I understand it is this
    Most
    Poly carbonate
    Nylon
    Abs
    PLA
    Least
     
    #16 tesseract, Jun 15, 2013
  17. CAMBO3D

    CAMBO3D New Member

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    slight correction i think abs should be last on the list
     
    #17 CAMBO3D, Jun 15, 2013
  18. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    Ok I wasn't sure but I am glad to know that I was planning on focusing on ABS and was concerned about moisture. Glad to learn it is not as big an issue as I thought
     
    #18 tesseract, Jun 15, 2013
  19. Ben Lindstrom

    Ben Lindstrom Active Member

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    I noticed this storage system for filament on Thingaverse while wandering. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:62826 I suspect this tied with the original poster's idea may be a way to still have a usable filament while still being mostly protected from moisture.
     
    #19 Ben Lindstrom, Jun 16, 2013
  20. JDM_

    JDM_ New Member

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    Thanks Jeff. This helps.
     
    #20 JDM_, Jun 18, 2013
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