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quinn.a
(@quinn-a)
New Member
Storing Filament

Hi Everyone,

I live in an area with fairly high humidity. I have read where 3d Printing filament is sensitive to humidity,
so I am wondering what is the best way to store my filament between prints? Should I purchase a dehumidifier
and keep everything in that room, or is it just a matter of a well insulated box. Not sure what other
folks are doing.

I am brand new to 3D printing. My Prusa I3 MK3 is on the way, I am just now beginning to order filament,
and thinking about storing and this humidity issue. Any tips for a newbie would be appreciated. Thanks all!

ADMIN moved to the appropriate category

Posted : 07/04/2018 1:49 am
3d-gussner
(@3d-gussner)
Reputable Member Prusa-Translations
Re: Storing Filament


Hi Everyone,

I live in an area with fairly high humidity. I have read where 3d Printing filament is sensitive to humidity,
so I am wondering what is the best way to store my filament between prints? Should I purchase a dehumidifier
and keep everything in that room, or is it just a matter of a well insulated box. Not sure what other
folks are doing.

I am brand new to 3D printing. My Prusa I3 MK3 is on the way, I am just now beginning to order filament,
and thinking about storing and this humidity issue. Any tips for a newbie would be appreciated. Thanks all!

Hi Quinn,

1st welcome to the 3D printing community. You should think about to print from the storage box, there are lot of designs. You can watch view videos like or and there are tons of options. You can find a lot of designs via www.yeggi.com or thingverse.com and other 3d platforms. As you live in that kind of area you should consider to print from the storage boxes.
Hope that helps a bit

Posted : 07/04/2018 7:01 am
JASII
(@jasii)
Estimable Member
Re: Storing Filament

Welcome as well. I live in South Florida where, between winter/summer and the air-conditioner off/on, my average room humidity ranges from 80% to 50%.

Aside from storage options you should also research the different types of filament. I initially choose PETG for environmental reasons (I can recycle all my waste) and then later found out it is one of, if not the most, moisture resistant non-exotic filaments.

I simply return the spool to its original plastic bag with the desiccant packet. I have some filaments over a year old and have yet to experience the hissing/popping associated with wet filament. I do own an Excalibur dehydrator and at some point may print from an old spool then dehydrate it and print again to compare quality. However, my prints seem great to me but that is a relative assessment.

(Plus the dehydrator, and I , are a lot happier dehydrating the mangoes, bananas and papayas from our trees 😀 )

The MK2s and now the MK3 is also my first 3D printer experience. Some say PETG can be a pain to print with but since I only print with PETG and have it "dialed in" so to speak I do not have any issues.

Hope this helps, Jerry.

- MK3s w/Mosquito Hotend- Mini w/Copperhead Hotend- XL - 5 tool -OpenScad -3d Builder -FreeCAD -Alibre -OctoPrint/x3(Pi3B)

Posted : 07/04/2018 12:46 pm
Andy
 Andy
(@andy-12)
Eminent Member
Re: Storing Filament

Hello Quinn.a, I also live in Florida. I know there are desiccant bags in the shipping containers but once that bag is open it is pretty much all over. I primarily use PLA and FLEX and have been pleased with just putting my spools in the one gallon size zip-lock bags. I get two per bag and have had no issue with moisture absorption. Hope that helps a little.

Original Prusa I3 MK2s with 2.5 upgrade; Original Prusa I3 MK3s; Slic3rPE; FreeCAD

Posted : 22/04/2018 2:41 am
Bigbyte
(@bigbyte)
Active Member
Re: Storing Filament

Hi quinn
I have been using one and two gallon ziplock bags (depending on the spool size) with a bag of desiccant in each bag. You can get desiccant at many sporting goods stores that sell gun safes.

Posted : 10/05/2018 4:50 pm
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