Dry it well. PLA is not super hydroscopic but over 6 years it will soak up a lot of water.
Comment on 3D Printering: Why Is My PLA So Brittle?
zorflieg@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I have a bunch of 6yo pla, not kept well, I’m slowly getting through. It loads and prints fine but snaps in the pipe overnight after the print finishes and everything cools. I’m planning on just unloading it after every print.
roofuskit@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Klajan@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago Funnily I have a similar PLA (maybe 8 years old), it’s very brittle, but if I can get it loaded it print’s fine, though a bit stringy.
I doubt it’s moisture though, I had in a filament dryer for 2 days and it still behaved the same.
roofuskit@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Brittle and stringy are hallmark signs of wet PLA.
- Klajan@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Yeah, I know, but I was in a dryer for over 48 hours at 50C , and multiple times afterwards when I was drying other spools and it never got better.
I think it’s just so old and damaged that that is just how it is now. It’s from the previous owner of my printer and just sat out in the open for 7 or 8 years
papalonian@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yup. I don’t have a tube (really should make one), filament sits on top of my enclosure and just goes straight into my extruder, and the following morning after printing old PLA there will be PLA confetti all over my print bed and a tiny bit sticking out of the hot end.
zorflieg@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Ha. My second printer is a DD ender 3 pro, I made a little clasp that holds cotton wool and clips around the filament so it cleans it as it goes into the head. It’s surprising how much dirt ends up in the wool. Anyway if it snaps overnight the clasp yeets off in a random direction and is waiting for me on the print bed in the morning. As my octoprint doesn’t have great night vision it being missing is the only way I can tell the filament has snapped. 🙂
talentedkiwi@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
If you have a dryer give that a try. I had the same thing and it was just because it was too wet. I bought a dryer and it was just fine after that.