RE: Are we kidding ourselves about desiccant?
@bad-raven-2
Any chance of a photo of a PETG or TPU print?
RE: Are we kidding ourselves about desiccant?
Yes, "10 years" is a long time. Probably I'd get 2016-era results with my 2026 printer for a wide selection of materials even if the filament is in equilibrium with room humidity. But the 2026 printer can do better and an A/B comparison is like night and day.
And, filament generally does not come dry out of the bag. Taking a freshly opened bag as reference, then yes I agree - I don't have to dry filament, it won't get significantly worse. But - as said - the printer can do better.
The drier was the most important improvement to print quality for me. And curiously, I don't see much need to tune filament over generic presets. It just works -as long as it's dry. If not, no attempts at tuning will do any good.
RE: Are we kidding ourselves about desiccant?
Here are 2 examples (PC and TPU) of filament that was printed straight from a factory vacuum sealed bag on the left and after drying on the right. Main point is never assume filament fresh out-of-the-box.... is fresh...
