This is PETG, one was left out in about 40% humidity the other was dried to about 20%
As someone who happened upon this and doesn’t know anything about 3D printing, why? Does the moisture make the ink(?) print poorly?
Remember to dry your filament kids
Submitted 4 days ago by the16bitgamer@programming.dev to 3dprinting@lemmy.world
https://programming.dev/pictrs/image/ec6aa659-6786-41cc-be00-c8d25a2a47eb.jpeg
Comments
hddsx@lemmy.ca 4 days ago
Badabinski@kbin.earth 4 days ago
When the filament goes through the hotend, any moisture in the filament will boil and make the filament all bubbly and not extrude well.
hddsx@lemmy.ca 4 days ago
Do you ever mix two filaments for color fun? If so, do they have to have same moisture content
Typotyper@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
Yes. Stringy. Some filament types such as TPU are more sensitive to moisture. Dryers take around 7 hours to dry a role. If you had a way to know the moisture content I assume you could shorten that time. Again different filament types dry at different rates.
AnyOldName3@lemmy.world 3 days ago
You can weigh it before you start drying it and weigh it again every few hours until it stops getting lighter.
heydo@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I mean, it’s quite obvious from the pic.
The colors are totally different.
/s
Bluewing@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I see a bit of under extrusion and retraction and wipe issues and possibly even coasting issues.
Remember Kiddies: Unless you are printing some of the fancy engineering filaments or you live in a rain forest, it’s not always “the filament is wet.” Let the filament tell you it needs to be dried. If your printer needs to have PLA and to a lessor extent PETG dried to within an inch of it’s life every time to get a good clean print, then your printer calibration probably sucks. Do some filament calibration tests and get your printer right first.
But that takes learning and effort.
Whitebrow@lemmy.world 2 days ago
PLA does not need to be dried. You can dunk it in a water bath overnight and it’ll print fine in the morning.
PETG on the other hand will absorb moisture within a few days of opening, so it needs babysitting if it’s been open for more than a week.
Bluewing@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I agree with you about PLA, I have never dried a single gram of the stuff and I’ve got open spools being stored on a bathroom closet shelf for several years now. I’m more worried about the spools simply aging out than moisture.
PETG is more location dependent. If you live somewhere with higher humidity levels, you will need to be more careful about storage and use. My personal habit is that I take a spool of PETG out, run a quick test print and then decide if I need to dry it or not. It’s about a 50/50 thing. And for the practical things I make, a bit of stringing isn’t a big deal unless I decide the aesthetics really matter.
Marketing has really sold the idea that everyone needs multiple specialized driers, (that don’t really work nearly as well as a cheap food dehydrator for actual drying). And if you don’t spend all that money on those things from driers to special vacuum storage bags and desiccants, you simply can’t print anything.
BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 2 days ago
“fancy engineering filaments” translates to PETG or TPU
It very often is that the filament is wet.
Bluewing@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Only in your mind.
I do dry the TPU I have when I use it, simply because I don’t use it much. I’ve had my spool of TPU for a couple of years now. And I might drag it out a couple of times a year. So, it gets dried.
PETG I dry as needed when it demonstrates the need. But if it shows the need, I do dry it. A few hairs on a finished print don’t really bother me much. But I’m not really into printing knickknacks. As long as the part is fit for purpose. Again, if you need to dry your filament to within an inch of it’s life every time you use it, you either live in a rain forest or need to do better with calibration.
And the longer I do 3D printing the more I find that if I spend a moment of thought about the materials I might choose and the expected longevity of the item, the more I realize that those things I might have chosen ABS/PETG can just as easily be done PLA without the need for extra effort. And I still get the expected function and longevity I need.
Dima@feddit.uk 3 days ago
Is the one in the middle the dried one?
adhocfungus@midwest.social 4 days ago
Is the one on the left the dried one?
BlueMagma@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
Crazy how much humidity changes the color
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Anyone tried one of those AMS filament driers that sits atop the AMS? It’s really humid where my printer is and difficult to keep stored filament dry.
OR3X@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Weird. I’ve never dried my filament and never have this issue.
the16bitgamer@programming.dev 4 days ago
It’s PETG and I’ve moved to a very wet environment. Stringing and popping and a big issue here. My last place though was a lot dryer and didn’t need this solution.
clb92@feddit.dk 3 days ago
It also depends how humid it is where you live.
Sxan@piefed.zip 2 days ago
Maybe it has someþing to do wiþ þe fact þat you live in Death Valley
KingRandomGuy@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I strongly recommend printing out of a sealed dry box as well. There are lots of good designs based around cereal containers and molecular sieves. For extremely hygroscopic filaments like PET-CF, this is the only way I’ve been able to get good prints.
the16bitgamer@programming.dev 4 days ago
They are, Polydry box
TragicNotCute@lemmy.world 4 days ago
At first I thought it was a pretty glitter green and then I zoomed in. Oof
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Is the one on the right the dried one?
the16bitgamer@programming.dev 4 days ago
No
Vex_Detrause@lemmy.ca 4 days ago
Will someone divulge their drying technique pls.
MysteriousSophon21@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I use a food dehydrator for most filaments (50-60°C for PETG, 40-45°C for PLA). Works great and cheaper than dedicated filament dryers. For storage, airtight containers with dessicant packets keep things dry. You can also check out portable power stations on gearscouts.com if you need to run your dryer in places without easy outlet access - some printers draw a lot of power during long prints.
ikidd@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Air fryer at lowest setting, like 150. Then store it in a sealed bag with a dessicant pack.
Honytawk@feddit.nl 3 days ago
Secondhand food dehydrator.
Much cheaper and works perfectly fine.
the16bitgamer@programming.dev 3 days ago
Mine is just Polydryer. Keep the box low humidity keep the filament low humidity.
Need more testing to see how well this works though since swapping filament in these boxes is inefficient and the beads quickly get used before you need to reset them.
Only do this if you have money to burn, or you are doing 3d printing as a business and at scale
floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 days ago
Place the spool on the bed set to 60-80°C, then put an empty filament box that’s missing the bottom side (when flat) on top of it. Place silica, make some holes on the top side. Some youtuber made tests and this method lands pretty nicely in between low-end and high-end dedicated dryers
nesc@lemmy.cafe 3 days ago
I have a dedicated box with a heated carpet for reptiles that can regulate temp between 25-60 C, two 12v coolers and two boxes with silicagel, this one runs constantly. If there is a need to dry multiple spools - oven at 50 C for 4-5 hours. That’s my setup for petg.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I love my printers, too, but I think it’s a bit much to act like the filaments are your children.