Post-Printing Protection of 3D-Printed NYLON Objects
Most people know about the need to keep filament dry - especially nylon - and there's a LOT of helpful info on the internet on that subject.
Because of that, I can print reasonably good nylon objects on my Prusa Mk3 (+MMU2S), using Taulman Bridge.
BUT, how do I protect finished nylon objects from moisture? Does anyone know?
When I Google for answers, I get loads of hits about nylon filament, but not about keeping finished items in good condition.
Specifically, I've made some custom nylon clips as part of a cable-management setup for a marquee/tent: this works well but, unsurprisingly, a marquee is a pretty humid environment (especially when left overnight, following a party on a hot evening) - the net result is the nylon clips become quite soft and lose a lot of springiness by the morning.
Does anyone have any idea how I can prevent this from happening? These need to flex in order to clip onto the tent frame poles (37mm), so what ever I do, it needs to account for that. To make matters worse, any "magic" coating needs to be either transparent or white(ish).
When this has happened, I've managed to dry affected clips in an oven but a) this is a pain for regular use, b) I'd prefer the clips just kept the same level of flex/regidity all the time and c) I'm pretty sure regular soaking and drying won't improve the clips' longevity.
All help and advice gratefully received. Many thanks
RE: Post-Printing Protection of 3D-Printed NYLON Objects
I'm surprised no one has any thoughts on this. I'm kind of assuming anyone who's printed with nylon would have encountered similar issues - or am I experiencing unusual behaviour with my nylon prints.
All comments/suggestions are welcome.
Thanks
RE: Post-Printing Protection of 3D-Printed NYLON Objects
From my understanding there is little to nothing that you can do about it. A diffusion barrier (metallic, ideally) might help but such a coating is hard to apply thin and evenly (and I guess vacuum sputtering is not an option 😌 ).
When designing injection molded parts from different blends of nylon, you always have to take humidity that soaks into the part after molding into account. That's why you can order molded nylon parts "conditioned" which means they already have the moisture that they would collect at typical ambient conditions in them and are less prone to warping and such.
So altogether I don't really see much of a chance to protect printed parts from moisture. Maybe looking into PC filament might be worth a try since PC is less sensitive to moisture and creep.
RE: Post-Printing Protection of 3D-Printed NYLON Objects
@timo-m
Thanks, Timo
What you're saying makes sense. So, I guess it's a case of experimenting with different designs/infill-levels then 'conditioning' that part to see if it's goiong to work (a potentially slow/long process) or, as you suggest, try PC (never used it - so now I have an excuse!).
RE: Post-Printing Protection of 3D-Printed NYLON Objects
Even machining nylon for machine change parts on bottling machines, the moisture absorbtion and subsequent expansion had to be taken into consideration, just do a search for
nylon moisture absorption tables
Normal people believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.
RE: Post-Printing Protection of 3D-Printed NYLON Objects
@chocki
Thanks - a google for "nylon moisture absorption tables" returned some helpful info (easy when you know what to search for 😉 )