Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
Or does one simply have to make it in a DIY manner?
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
If you're looking for something to "restore" dry filament. There are a few but they are a little pricey. Something like this
if you're looking for something to store your filament, there are some retail solutions. PrintDry has one that just stores your filament.
Polybox has one that you can use while keep your filament safe from humidity...
http://www.polymaker.com/shop/polybox/
For DIY,
Cheapest is a Zip-Loc bag with Gel Pack 🙂
For something more solid, I find the best solution is Rubber Maid 21 Cup container and some Gel Packs. They're not too expensive and you can find them on Amazon (depending on where you're located) Have a bunch of these.....
I've been working on a base for the smaller Rubber Maid Container with spool Holder, Feed Hole, Thermometer kind of like the Polymaker one....
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
I've been working on a base for the smaller Rubber Maid Container with spool Holder, Feed Hole, Thermometer kind of like the Polymaker one....
RubberCustom.jpg
I like where you are going with this.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
I just buy these and put some bags of desiccant in there: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OXNISG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They're cheap enough and hold quite a few spools of filament.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
If you have a Target near you get these for $8.00 : https://www.target.com/p/sterilite-20-qt-gasket-box-clear-with-blue-latches/-/A-15066036
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ov1lumMSaPrRNdHrIi0A1dJ-95TdFvgJ
https://drive.google.com/open?id=13BT7ebndD6DHN4kXg4hkEbHnCLaSmuev
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
If you have a Target near you get these for $8.00 : https://www.target.com/p/sterilite-20-qt-gasket-box-clear-with-blue-latches/-/A-15066036
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ov1lumMSaPrRNdHrIi0A1dJ-95TdFvgJ
https://drive.google.com/open?id=13BT7ebndD6DHN4kXg4hkEbHnCLaSmuev
Sounds like a good deal. What are those tube things sticking onto and out of the box?
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
If you have a Target near you get these for $8.00 : https://www.target.com/p/sterilite-20-qt-gasket-box-clear-with-blue-latches/-/A-15066036
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ov1lumMSaPrRNdHrIi0A1dJ-95TdFvgJ
https://drive.google.com/open?id=13BT7ebndD6DHN4kXg4hkEbHnCLaSmuev
Sounds like a good deal. What are those tube things sticking onto and out of the box?
bowden tubing to guide the filament out of the box correctly and prevent it from snagging.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
I bought this at Menards:
Holds at least 11 spools.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
I've seen some youtube videos where they pour a lot of loose color indicating desiccant onto the floor of the dry box, such as:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I5Y2DG6/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01I5Y2DG6&pd_rd_wg=bCGDV&pd_rd_r=X4JQGM75HD8HXVJN9CZ1&pd_rd_w=Nk1kr
In one video though this is shown to release a lot of desiccant dust, which can get onto the filaments and is deemed not good. It does seem to have a couple of advantages over the bags of desiccant, though:
1. you can see when the color of the desiccant changes, and
2. you can restore the desiccant to new condition by baking out the moisture in your oven.
So, is there a solution to the dust problem? I'm thinking perhaps pouring it into the bottom, letting the dust settle, and then putting some fabric over the top may help contain the dust. That way, the dessicant still absorbs moisture, and you can also still note any color change by looking through the bottom of the box.
Any other ideas or experiences with this?
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
For drying, I always use one or more of these in the box.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H0XFCS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
These are occasionally available at Costco in a 2-pack for less.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
I've seen some youtube videos where they pour a lot of loose color indicating desiccant onto the floor of the dry box, such as:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I5Y2DG6/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01I5Y2DG6&pd_rd_wg=bCGDV&pd_rd_r=X4JQGM75HD8HXVJN9CZ1&pd_rd_w=Nk1kr
In one video though this is shown to release a lot of desiccant dust, which can get onto the filaments and is deemed not good. It does seem to have a couple of advantages over the bags of desiccant, though:
1. you can see when the color of the desiccant changes, and
2. you can restore the desiccant to new condition by baking out the moisture in your oven.
So, is there a solution to the dust problem? I'm thinking perhaps pouring it into the bottom, letting the dust settle, and then putting some fabric over the top may help contain the dust. That way, the dessicant still absorbs moisture, and you can also still note any color change by looking through the bottom of the box.
Any other ideas or experiences with this?
I use little bags, one side is clear so you can see the color of the desiccant and when they are green I just pop them into the microwave to dry them.
check out: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074BG1T5P/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I would not use loose desiccant, one would be the dust and the other is getting it out would be a pain in the A**
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
For drying, I always use one or more of these in the box.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H0XFCS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
These are occasionally available at Costco in a 2-pack for less.
I have a few of those for other things, only problem using them for filament is it takes like 24 hrs to dry them. getting the little bags takes like 5-7 minutes in a microwave.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
If you have a Target near you get these for $8.00 : https://www.target.com/p/sterilite-20-qt-gasket-box-clear-with-blue-latches/-/A-15066036
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ov1lumMSaPrRNdHrIi0A1dJ-95TdFvgJ
https://drive.google.com/open?id=13BT7ebndD6DHN4kXg4hkEbHnCLaSmuev
Sounds like a good deal. What are those tube things sticking onto and out of the box?
bowden tubing to guide the filament out of the box correctly and prevent it from snagging.
He would be correct on that, if you go to www.thingiverse.com and search "dry box" you will get many results and you can get some ideas.
I used https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2116535
then got: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G139GO0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and you need bowden tubing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CUPV9KC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The yellow caps on the end of the tubing I made and printed them, the caps allow about 1" of filament to stick out past the tubing allowing you to grab the end of the filament when you need that color.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
I've seen some youtube videos where they pour a lot of loose color indicating desiccant onto the floor of the dry box
Buy these instead. https://www.amazon.com/10-Gram-Premium-Indicating-Silica-Packets/dp/B01N9C3MW1/
And you can still reactive them very easily. Ideally, I plan on putting small reptile enclosure heaters at the bottom of my drybox as well.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
Supposedly the orange desiccant beads are less toxic than the blue ones: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/471/blue-silica-gel-more-harmful-than-the-orange-ones?utm_medium=organic&utm_source=google_rich_qa&utm_campaign=google_rich_qa
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
Mine:
[attachment=0]IMG_1556[1].JPG[/attachment]
62L really useful box.
5 spool holders side by side so I can change 1 roll at a time. 5 material MMU 2.0 ready!
5 x Bowden couplers held in place just by screwing in to rubber grommets
Re-usable (microwavable) silica gel bag with colour indicator
Stacked on a platform made from printed parts, 2x4 and an Ikea shelf with a slot cut in for the bowden tube to pass through (will likely need to replace with longer wood if/when upgrading to MMU unless I can mount the MMU above the slot)
Stacked ontop is another box full of open filaments with another silica gel bag.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
Got a link to the box you use for the 5 filaments?
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
Is it really all that necessary to keep PLA and/or PETG filament in the dry box while it's in use? I was planning to store the filament spool in the dry box when not in use, but I didn't think it would pick up enough moisture during a print job that I would have to worry about it if I removed it from the drybox when doing a print.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
Is it really all that necessary to keep PLA and/or PETG filament in the dry box while it's in use? I was planning to store the filament spool in the dry box when not in use, but I didn't think it would pick up enough moisture during a print job that I would have to worry about it if I removed it from the drybox when doing a print.
PLA no. PETG I wouldn't leave out for more than a few days.
more advanced materials like nylon can be ruined in a matter of hours apparently.
Re: Are there pre-made filament dry boxes available for purchase?
Just how low should I expect the humidity in the dry box to get when it has fresh desiccant in there? Will the dessicant reduce the RH all the way down to zero, or will the RH instead hover around 10%, or 20%, or 30% or something?
Along the same lines, how high of a drybox humidity is too high? Are there any particular thresholds?