Air-tight storage boxes for nylon filament?

[jeffmorris]

I know that nylon filament is very hygroscopic. That means it readily absorbs water from the air. Are there air-tight storage boxes for nylon filament?

[Ama-fessional Molder]

Not that I am aware of as a final product, but you might be interested in these:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:457359

And filament clips, because I had them saved next to each other:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:12516

I know for a fact that there are a couple companies that sell drying/storage cabinets for this application, but they are expensive and (in my professional opinion in the plastics industry) do not dry the plastic in a proper manner.

[jeffmorris]

I started printing the parts to hold the spools inside the Ziploc Weather Shield box. I printed two parts using ABS filament last night and tried to print one part this morning but I'm surprised that there's too much humidity and the printed part had bubbles on it. I tried printing the part using PLA filament and so far, no problems.

[Ama-fessional Molder]

You can dry your abs in your oven as long as you don't exceed 170F. Beyond that you approach Tg and the filament will sinter itself together. There is also the smell to worry about, so I would advise against actually doing so.

And if your oven doesnt go down to 170F, then don't do it anyways. Good news is ABS isn't hydroscopically sensitive, so any moisture issues will be cosmetic only.

[jeffmorris]

My PowerSpec Ultra 3D printer has a heated platform. Can I dry the ABS in the printer? If so, what temperature?

[Ama-fessional Molder]

No.


Ten character minimum.

[Mjolinor]

Heat just excites the water molecules more so they are more likely to leave the plastic but they are also more likely to enter it. Reducing the number of water molecules outside the plastic is the way to do it, that means some kind of air conditioning / dehumidifier.

[curious aardvark]

Never keep your filament in the bathroom

[Mjolinor]

http://www.simar-int.com/files/vortrag_engl.pdf

Two types of dryers. One for hygroscopic plastic, that covers most of the plastics that are used in FDM printers and the other for stuff that is just wet and not hygroscopic.

[jeffmorris]

There is a filament dryer at http://taulman3d.com/drying-materials.html that I would like to build. I finished building the air-tight filament storage box that I "attach" to my printer. One end of the guide tube is inserted into the box and the other end is inserted into the extruder. I started printing parts from Taulman Alloy 910 filament for an automatic transmission shown at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1094616