1 Topic by TheNeck (edited by TheNeck 2014-07-17 03:55:30)

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Topic: 3rd party filament + humidity :'(

this is my 1st 3d printer which i got just 2 months ago, but i have been using only the xyz filament cartridges till now.

did the filament reset this week and tried some octave black abs, in which it worked great initially. But this week was pretty humid, which sucks because normally it's not humid in my area. Now the spool is really brittle and now won't even extrude the test strip either. I tried different temps for both the heat bed and extruder, but still having problems.

So i was wondering, can humidity really affect a spool of abs that dramatically? Is there anything i can do to get it back to when i 1st opened up the spool and started using, from just on Monday?

2 Reply by Weekend Avenger

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Re: 3rd party filament + humidity :'(

*Disclaimer*

This is purely information I've read, nothing I actually have tested.

As I understand it, you can put the spool in a low heat oven for a while to dry it out. According to this link on the wiki, http://wiki.solidoodle.com/abs-general suggested drying conditions for ABS resins are 80 - 90 C (176 - 195 F) for a minimum of 2 hours, but 4 hours is recommended.

I'm not sure how bad the humidity effect is on ABS, but in any case it's easy to get rid of.

3 Reply by grob

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Re: 3rd party filament + humidity :'(

Unfortunately my super fancy oven has a nasty habit of having it's control knob (which stupidly sticks out about 45mm from the front face of the oven at about knee height) bumped, which in most cases causes it to reset to default temp for the mode setting (160C). Which will melt the spool. smile

Be careful, and keep an eye on it! smile

SD3. Mk2b + glass, heated enclosure, GT2 belts, direct drive y shaft, linear bearings, bowden-feed E3D v5 w/ 0.9° stepper
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4 Reply by Downeasta (edited by Downeasta 2014-07-17 15:51:16)

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Re: 3rd party filament + humidity :'(

I cant find the vid from youtube that I have seen.  Yet there was a gentleman that had used a vacuum chamber he had bought from Harbor Freight with the drying silicate pellets.  He put some 26 negative pressure in the tank and had some success at storing.  He was able to store 2 spools per canister.

Otherwise people with arc welders use an old small apartment (or college dorm) type fridge that has a 100 watt light bulb inside.  You leave the light on all the time.  The light generates enough heat in the enclosed area to drive the moisture out of welding rod (about 100F).

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5 Reply by TheNeck

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Re: 3rd party filament + humidity :'(

Thanks guys for all your responses

also what kind of enclosures do some of you guys use to store your filament? just curious. again thanks