How moist filament behave when 3D-printing!

What's up everyone!

I did a test over at my Youtube Channel and website concerning filaments and how they behave in different level of moisture. I also show what happens when you use bad filament and how you can spot it onto models and extrusion.

There's a bunch of "science" behind all this and I hope that could be of interest. I did a video and article already, but wanted to open up a discussion on how you store filaments and if you even care about bad filaments due to moisture?

Before you read about the tests, I recommend you watch the video, it shows most of the processes, but the data is available below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTLBPUJfTJg

The first experiment is what’s probably the most scientific test. It really shows each sample and how it’s affected through the tests. Using a digital caliper and a nice spreadsheet I could register quite a few data points. 306 data points to be exact… This is how it went by

1. First off, cut off samples. 3x 5cm strips of each brand/type
2. Tag all the samples in random order. Control – Wet – Room
3. Place all the filaments in the dryer to make sure they are dry. Leave over night at 50 degres celcius
4. Measure all filament samples in the same order;
   
   1. Upper measurement (close to tag)
   2. Turn 90 degrees, measure middle
   3. Turn another 90 degrees, measure lower
   
   
5. Add those data points to the excel sheet and calculate the average value to get a basepoint for that filament.
6. Put the Control samples back in the dryer
7. Put Room samples on a plate in the room
8. Place the water samples exposed in water to speed up absorption
9. Again, measure all the data according to step 4.
10. Review results!

So, the results are quite interesting. See for yourself! NOTE: Alot of the control samples show an extra decrease due to sitting longer in the dryer. We’re seeing a tiny bit more being extracted for most of them. Also, due to non-exact measurements, some of the values are fluctuating. You should ignore last value and round up. Values are in 10’s of microns. So 177 = 1,77 mm. I know that’s weird, I just don’t wanna process the excel file again…

File is located here (can't embedd here, sry)

A few interesting comments to do about this! Normal/standard PLA seems to be quite unaffected, but Filametives rPLA (that is recycled high quality PLA) absorbs more water. The print experience I have it is still amazing, and the colors to. Just take not to store your filament well, and if you experience issues, moist could be the reason.
It’s commonly known that ABS and NYLON is absorbing moist depending on recipes and it’s interesting to see that it’s actually a big increase for ABS and NYLON. Exception is Makerbot ABS. I guess they might have some additives to avoid absorption. Interesting!
Woodfill is also quite absorbent. Something that you would expect with wood in the filament i suppose.
PETG is behaving well, I guess that’s another reason why I believe it should be more used for anyone who wants the characteristics of ABS.

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The second experiment is much more visual and quick to notice.

I just took the same ABS, put one in a dryer for two days or so, another in water for the same period. Then extruded both of them to see some difference. (cant embedd info here either, please see link)


Experiment 3 is the last one and really shows what you can expect to see from a bad/moist spool.

To run this test I again put a few meters of filament in water, and a few meters in the drier.
I decided to use the Flashforge Dreamer since it has a nice window to help me film everything. I setup the cameras and ran both prints with the same sliced file just after each other. In this case, standard ABS settings (so the dry one isn’t perfect either). The result is quite clear!

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3



Credits: http://www.antonmansson.com/2016/08/moisture/
And Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTLBPUJfTJg

Quote:

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Normal/standard PLA seems to be quite unaffected

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:-)

As i have said all along.