Moisture in filament?

[skotl]

Kicked off a new 3D print with a spool that had been in a vacuum pack bag with desiccant, and had to stop it after this is what came out

(there was another mess in the hole that I cleared out that was just a birds nest)

This was a spool I'd used before that I put in a resealable vacuum bag with two bags of desiccant. Does this mean I need to invest in a keep-them-dry-machine?

 

[skotl]

okdokey - looks like it is moisture, per my thread over here: https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/filament-goes-brittle.127396/
I had sealed that filament already so I'm guessing it's gone into the bag with moisture and the silica gel bags aren't drying it - simply not letting it get any worse.

So do I need to spend a ton of cash on a fancy dryer or are there better options (stick it in the oven)?

Edit: Oooohhhhh! I have an idea! The new air fryer has a dehydrate setting that goes as low as 40 degrees and can run for up to 12 hours.

I've a small spool that led to the mess above, so I'll put it in the fryer at 45C for 4 hours tomorrow and see what it does.

 

[Ross365]

Are these bags just polythene or something better? Most thin-film plastics are fairly permeable to water vapour which is why even crisp bags have a thin film of aluminium. A mate who works in the food packaging industry tells me that ordinary food packages may look simple but are often complex layers of various materials.
If you want a better desiccant, look in to using "molecular sieves", which if used properly, are miles better than silica gel.

 

[m_c]

I use Lock n Lock sealed food storage boxes, along with reusable desiccant sachets. I also stick a cheap temp/humidity meter in each box.
HPL889 takes 4 standard 1kg reels, and HSM952 takes a single reel.

I do have a filament drier, which I will use if I need to use a new reel quickly, but I normally try and put them in a single sealed box for a few days, or until the humidity shows as around 20%

 

[Bladevane]

I bought a cheap food drier off Amazon and made some higher walls in 3 sections to allow rolls of filament to fit which then feeds through a hole in the wall. Works well and can be used as originally intended, to ferment yoghurt in my case.

 

[ChrisBailey]

Can you hear popping as it prints?
That is a give away tgat its moisture.
The hotend evaporates it as it extrudes and it makes a sound, also ruins your print.
Ive not experienced it with PLA and Ive got some old stuff just left ontop of the print enclosure. Its normally more evident eith PETG and Ive had brand nee sealed spooled experience it.

 

[tflnemesis]

I rarely have an issue with filaments, usually if i am gonna have a problem it surfaces pretty much straight away. Its usually cheap filaments that I have problems with (as in on offer etc rather than just a cheap brand).

 

[knighty]

get a load of little silica gel packets on ebay/amazon and stick it in a bag with those?

you can re-use them, I put them in with dry dog treats we sell to keep them dry in the packets.... just found a pile of silica gel which had been sitting for about 4 years (in sealed bags, but not great) - an hour in the oven at 100'C dried them right out :-)

 

[skotl]

Thanks all

Put the PLA in the air fryer at 45C dehydration cycle for five hours and here’s the same print with the same filament, at the same stage as last night’s mess:

Much, much better!

 

[fractured]

Which air fryer is that?

 

[skotl]

Which air fryer is that?

Ninja Foodi 9l multi cooker - https://ninjakitchen.co.uk/product/ninja-foodi-9-in-1-multi-cooker-6l-op350uk-zidOP350UK

The dehydrate setting goes down to 40C. When I had it running at 45C the surfaces were recording just over 40 so I reckon it's pretty accurate. Definitely seems to have done the trick!