Life Expectancy of PLA

[ex-egll]

Hi, How long would you expect PLA to remain usable once it has been taken out of a sealed bag? I have some on the spool now that has got so brittle after 3 weeks out of the bag that it is unusable as it keeps snapping as it goes into the extruder.

[rhonal89]

Return it. Reason is that is a short little time for pla spool to go bad. If you look at the picture I posted here http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...-12-quot/page6
You would see some picture of a minion printed with yellow pla. I bought that 2 months or so ago. And it been outside the bag since then, I know it degrade life but. That minion was printed like 2 days ago and the pla prints great and is very flexible also.

[ex-egll]

Thanks rhonal89. I am in the process of sorting this out with the supplier. I was just trying to get some info on the life expectancy, as I expected, it is more than a couple of weeks!!!

[printbus]

ex-egil, care to reveal what brand this is? I have a roll of otherwise great Voltivo Excelfil that is now breaking apart any time I leave it sit. I thought one of our cats was catching on it overnight or our grand-daughter was breaking it, but then I happened to notice it break by itself when I wasn't even using the printer. The excelfil spools have a very small hub diameter, and I figured it was because I'm almost at the end of the roll.

[rhonal89]

This is the spool I bought. I buy from them. Every single spool I bought works great. HATCHBOX 1.75mm Yellow PLA 3D Printer Filament - 1kg Spool (2.2 lbs) - Dimensional Accuracy +/- 0.05mm https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J0GRREW..._hM15vbH11N0EN

This is the yellow you see in the picture. Bought it June 25. Got it 2 days later. Been outside the bag since and it still prints great. I also took the Filament and wrapped it around my fingers and it would not break only bend around.

[lakester]

"Freshness" is one of the reasons I seem to mostly print w/ ABS.

My print volume is not so high at the moment that I get through a spool of anything very quickly, so PLA becomes quite brittle, fairly quickly relative to my rate of usage.

Heh..., I've literally been in one room, 3d printer (off and not operating) in another room, and I've heard "click-tinkle-tinkle" as the section of PLA leading from the spool to the extruder just breaks..., in what seems a low stress and odd place.

Haven't gotten up the nerve to try any of the PLA "restoration" tricks.

So..., ABS it has been...

FWIW..., I've only used Makerfarm stuff thus far.

[PyramidDave]

I have been keeping my plastic in oversized ziploc bags with the silica bags that came with the plastic in them. Some of this plastic I have had for over 6 months without any problems. I can usually get 2 rolls of plastic in each bag. Think I bought these bags from Target.IMG_8742_800x600.jpg

[ex-egll]

Sorry for the late response, my computer threw a wobbly!

I have had further contact with the store, it seems this has been a batch problem, and they are now working with the manufacturer to ensure it doesn't happen again. Hopefully the new stock will be better!

Must go search PLA Restoration Tricks !!!