Silica gel

[Screwdriver]

Where are people getting their little silica gel dessicant? eBay has thousands of them but they are stupidly expensive and I don't want to spend all day trying to decode the hidden cost per packet.

Example: prices seems to hover around £7.50 for 10x 50g sachets. That seems stupidly expensive imho. (I might be wrong I guess)

 

[RWD3M]

I found a 500g tub on the bay of evil a year or so back. If I still have a record of it I'll dig out a link.

Edit: Actually, it was about 18 months ago and pricewise, that seems about right.

Pardon our interruption...

 

[MattF]

I found a 500g tub on the bay of evil a year or so back. If I still have a record of it I'll dig out a link.

Edit: Actually, it was about 18 months ago and pricewise, that seems about right.

Pardon our interruption...

What do you put it into, to contain it, when you use it?

 

[hotponyshoes]

What size sachets are you after?
The 5g ones are supposed to be suitable for a cubic foot so one of them should be fine for a roll of filament for example.

They should be close to 1p each if you buy in bulk.
Ebay have forced tracked postage onto everything now so it's going to directly cost a seller about £4.50 so I think £7.50 is fairly reasonable if you want 10 delivered to the door
I expect you'll find the price drops off rapidly per sachet as you buy more..

If you want it 'loose' then proper job / home bargains/ pound land sell dehumidifier plastic pots for £1 and they must have 100g or so in.. not sure if that's actually silica though if it matters?

 

[RWD3M]

What do you put it into, to contain it, when you use it?

Ah, now that is a really good question!

I originally bought it to put in a sealed container that would house the electronics for my towbar as the boot had/has a propensity to fill with water. However! I couldn't make it work so I relocated the electronics box and pulled a bung out of the boot floor!

 

[Screwdriver]

I tried some poundland tubs and they're actually quite good. But they last no time at all and the whole tub turns into a sticky mess full of water!

I just want some little sachets for other use (other than filament drying), to bag up some superglue and other random threadlock compound before I bung em in the fridge or freezer. I ended up with too many bottles when the seller first sent the wrong thing, then sent the wrong thing again - except with an extra bottle (high viscosity instead of low) so I need to store them for a long time.

I think 50g is probably too big after reading some of the comments.

 

[hotponyshoes]

I think 50g is probably too big after reading some of the comments.

A 50g is about the same size a a 2 finger twix bar (the current ones, not the old proper size ones)

I think the ones in a new roll of filament are only 1g. Certainly no more than 5g.

 

[iNf]

What do you put it into, to contain it, when you use it?

An old sock

 

[Screwdriver]

Thanks all, bit the bullet and went for these:

TYVEK 10g Silica Gel Desiccant Packs - Moisture Absorber Bags Sachets UK Seller | eBay UK

10g TYVEK Silica Gel Desiccant Sachets - Moisture Absorber .

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Spuddevans]

I bought this from amazon, 3d printed some holders https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trustleaf-Orange-Indicator-Silica-Desiccant/dp/B08X1Z5L2B

Worked out pretty reasonable, and they change colour when they are saturated, but you can "recharge" them in the microwave (put the microwave on low or defrost, and spread the beads out on something that doesnt melt like an old bowl, keep checking them every 4-5mins and agitate them)

I've used them for about 4 years now, still working well.

 

[Robotstar5]

We used to get 4 big bags free with every 205 litre drum of PU to keep the air space above the PU dry and we'ed probably get through a dozen drums a week so enough bags for everyone.