SUNLU S4 filament dryer 70C max temp, 330W PTC heater, 3 circulation fans, power saving storage mode

[@bru_haha]

Did you record the total kWh used by the dryer over a period of time? I.e. how many kWh for 6 hours of drying at 50C and at 70C? I think your power meter should be able to track that.

[@AuroraTech]

A 70C 6-hour cycle will use around 1.06 kWh, while a 50C 6-hour cycle will use 0.65 kWh.

[@Edward-e6k]

300 WATTS IS WHAT A PC USES AT IDLE OR SEARCHING THE WEB ABOUT 3 AMPS CURRENT GIVE OR TAKE AT 110 VOLTS SO YOULL SPEND 10 CENTS TO RUN IT ONE TIME TO INTIALLY DRY YOUR ROLLS JUST KEEP YOUR ROLLS IN DESSICANT IN ANOTHER BIN WHEN NOT IN USE AND SWAP TO THE ONE YOU USE FOR PRINTING AND YOUL NEVER HAVE TO ahh caps on never have to dry once you initially dry it..

[@triskalguilo]

Absolutely love your style: bucking the KZbin trend of over-the-top energy. Just clear, direct, honest information and opinions. Some other creators fill their videos with a lot of fluff, and while that can be fun, a lot of the time I just want the info... and the info is exactly what you do. Keep up the great work 😁

[@luisfuentes3012]

Agree!

[@TKettle]

Not a lot of channels have covered this dryer and most of the videos are just stock product photos from the website and a person rambling in front of a camera. Thanks for going above and beyond by actually testing and answering every question I had about it. 👍

[@tyrannicpuppy]

Nice review. Helps as a beginner to see examples of the prints at different levels. I know people say to mind the humidity levels of your filament, but it's always helpful to see examples.

[@starstreetadventures]

I just received this dryer. I like your review style, I subscribed as a result.

[@atienne_navarre]

With all those driers, you should do a video comparing the commercial driers with the alternatives, including the food dehydrator. Would love to see that. 😀

[@AuroraTech]

Fixdry can't reach 70°C or even 60°C. I used it once in my previous video. I'm not sure if I received a faulty unit or not, but I can't recommend this brand.

[@eibos3d983]

What about EIBOS? We would love for you to review our filament dryer, not just our current products, but the new filament dryer we will be releasing this month. Hope to get in touch with you.@@AuroraTech

[@twanheijkoop6753]

​@@eibos3d983please tell me you added actual temperatures on the unit instead of the names of different plastics

[@luppchri]

I really liked your video; very informative and well thought through testing procedures. I also liked your suggestions at the end of the video how Sunlu can improve the unit. I wouldn't be surprised to see those - or at least a few of them - in the next iteration of the product.

[@irakandjii2496]

I was able to Kickstart one. Thank you. I have been looking for a dryer. Also, I would like to complement you on your professional approach to the work. I believe you have a great future within the STEM community.

[@kloakovalimonada]

Again points for extra clarity - not many 3D printing KZbin channels get this clear, concrete and visual.

[@AndrewAHayes]

It seems a very nice product! I came across a chap on Reddit the other day who replied to my comment that stated that dessicant bags will not remove moisture from wet filament, he claimed I was incorrect and the reason he gave was that once the moisture was removed from the air in which ever sealed container the filament was in then the moisture in the filament would leach out into the air and be absorbed by the dessicant. Well I knew his theory was incorrect as I had previously experimented with dessicant and Nylon filament and PETG filament and the desicant I used did not change colour and the filament still popped and spluttered when printing yet printed just fine after I had dried it with heat.

[@inky9145]

Please video for Elegoo Neptune 4 and Anycubic Kobra 2 Pro comparison

[@IvanJoel]

Awesome testing. Thank you for such a thorough review 🙏

[@Oxfe511]

Good professional assessment, I like this product, but also like the professional introduction of the anchor

[@blaze_toast]

Yay new video made my day better

[@NeonDreams7]

"Higher than the humidity in Florida" - But is the everyday humidity in Houston, in my garage. I have to keep things sealed and filament dryers going when ever possible.

[@RB-yq7qv]

Very good review and good feed back

[@timmienorrie]

Excellent review. Thank you. 👍

[@avejst]

great video as always, you two are making a 👍 good points ❤

[@rsilvers129]

I am glad you verified that this dryer can actually reach 70c - at least when empty. It may not be able to with two spools in it since it is not insulated. Also please note that their past dryers do not honestly represent the temperature. Their S2 claim to reach 70C in 80 minutes but it cannot ever reach 70C unless measured empty with a sensor on the heating element. If you put a temp sensor in the middle of a 1KG spool of filament in an S2, you will see that it will never go above about 54C. I would love for you to make a video on that, but you would have to decide if you want to educate your viewers at the expense of Sunlu being less pleased. You have been very successful in the past with still exposing misleading marketing, so I vote that you side with the viewers even if a few companies may be afraid to send products if you point out such flaws. You are running out of space anyway, so go for it. My idea for you is you take an S2 and this new dryer. Fill them both with filament. See what temp each one is when measured in the center of a full spool after 1, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 24 hours. I suspect the S2 will never go over 55C and that is not enough for PA-CF according to some internal testing I have seen.

[@tsbrownie]

Another good video, thanks for all your hard work. Question, I've heard there is a point of no return for filaments when they have absorbed too much water and the chemical structure changes permanently. Do you have any experience with that? Thanks.

[@AuroraTech]

For common filaments like PLA, PETG, and TPU, even after soaking them in water for a few days and then drying them, they print like normal (or close to normal). However, I'm not sure if every single kind of filament works the same way.

[@tsbrownie]

@@AuroraTech I had a roll of eSun black for less than a year and it became very brittle until it was unusable. I'm trying to decide if it was because of water or because it was a defective batch. Thanks for the response.

[@nickjeffrey8050]

Kickstarter isn’t even live yet but you have it lol 😂

[@TheNamelessOne12357]

70degrees can be not enought. For example, PA6 Nylon requires 100-110C. They should have made this dryer out of metal and allow heating up to 200c. And it still would be cheaper than plastic or acrylic case.

[@marshallbanana596]

Always love the honest reviews with clear and concise technical information. No unnecessary fluff, just the exact information necessary to have a better understanding of a product. Very engineering minded approach.

[@charmio]

I swear, none of these darn things go to 80°c. I want to dry nylon properly danm it!!! This one looks better than others but why can't anyone make a proper dryer for all filiments?

[@raysmaglick9864]

Very clear and concise video. I wish there was more straight to the point quality stuff like this on KZbin.

[@yeroca]

Great review! I agree with the idea of dividing the space into two compartments, but that would probably increase the cost substantially because many of the expensive components, such as heaters, fans, and sensors would need to be dupllicated. As an alternative, I'd like them to produce a 2-spool version too, which for my uses would be adequate. One of the flaws of past SunLu dryers is the lack of ventilation to allow the moist air to escape. Is there any ventilation in this one, or do they rely on the desicants to pull out the moisture?

[@AndrewAHayes]

I would imagine they rely on the desiccant as ventilation would also allow moisture to feed back into the container and heat to escape, of course there are probably engineering solutions to allow ventilation with out any these cons but it would probably be very expensive to research and manufacture.

[@yeroca]

@@AndrewAHayes Not that expensive. There are many videos on youtube about how to mod a SunLu dryer to work more quickly and efficiently by ventilating it better. The solutions are pretty cheap and effective.

[@SUNLU]

Thank you for your suggestion. Our early design was the same as you thought, it was separated on both sides, but the cost was much higher than the current one, so we finally chose the current one. Currently our S4 is designed with 3 fans, the heat is very well balanced inside, and with the 8 holes, the humid air inside can be discharged effectively (from the filament outlet holes).🥰

[@yeroca]

@@SUNLU Sounds like a good design! When the spools are being dried, they (probably) won't have their filaments going out the holes, leaving the holes open for air escape. ! If there were a two-spool version, I think I'd be ordering one right now. I need to think a bit about the four-spool model due to the large size and higher power requirement.

[@SUNLU]

Thank you, drying 4 spools at once is the most efficient way now! After drying is complete, we will have a model of the plug, which will prevent moisture from entering after installation. Please look forward to our new products in the future!🥰🥰@@yeroca

[@chuffedtwobits]

As with all your videos, professional, informative and always I love to watch them. Really love the music too! Keep up the great work!

[@eyes2videos]

Nice test, thank you! Merely, I missed how you change a filament and got the filaments into the printer. I mean are there 4 holes on one side? Is it easy to change one while the other 3 are in use? Is it hard to keep the cover up while changing?

[@reasonablebeing5392]

Great review/suggestions I use a filament dryer as needed and it does make a difference for prints that I am concerned about print quality. Having four spool capacity is nice Like the storage mode. I just backed it for the early bird $80.

[@jjptech]

If you ask me, the moistened nylon looks good for a functional grip xD

[@davelordy]

I had the same thought ! Wet nylon actually looked useful as a texture.

[@crazyethanyeahyeah]

Hi .. thank you for the great video ... could confirm if the Sun S4 filament dryer fits 4 x 2 kg spools or 4 x 1 kg spools? Thanks

[@mjcontos1119]

Looks like Sunlu has run into some problems. The S4's Kickstarter page is showing an escalating number of complaints ranging from lousy QC/poor packing to just not delivering.

[@tanzhonghui]

Would this by any chance work with the new AMS lite system from Bambu? 👀 Looking to try out some multicolour printing, but the humidity where I live is so high that I can literally see print quality degrade within a single print when using some of my more sensitive PLA spools outside a dryer.

[@bluerider0988]

Another great review. Thanks. I converted a electronic dry cabinet into a filament storage container. I feed filament directly out of it to my printers and it maintains 20% RH or below at all times. While it won't dry filament as fast as a heated chamber, by never letting the rolls get saturated with moisture and storing them at such a low humidity level I've never had any issues. I can see the benefit of this if you needed to dry a roll in a pinch. Thanks again.

[@Graham_Wideman]

Out of curiosity, whereabouts do you live, and what's typical humidity there? Thanks.

[@bluerider0988]

@@Graham_Wideman Midwest, so the humidity is all over the place. I try to maintain 50% or less in the house year round.

[@Graham_Wideman]

@@bluerider0988 Thanks

[@bwselectronic]

​@@Graham_WidemanI'm in the Midwest too. We can go down to around 20% and as high as 95% humidity. They always say, if you don't like the weather, wait a few hours.😎

[@jonnysimps]

can i just use a camera box dehumidifyer because its way bigger and i dont know why but it is also way cheaper

[@352us3rname]

That part about 80% humidity being well over what Florida sees at anytime of the year was a joke right?

[@llkurofoxll1013]

Do you have your review policy written somewhere? A bit skeptical of sponsored reviews.

[@dvillalba3d]

Great review. It can consume quite a few Watts, also with several fans... So I was wondering since in the video we couldn't hear the noise, what is the sound level? Is it loud or quiet?

[@dvillalba3d]

Also, other models use annoying relays to turn On and Off the fans and I gets old pretty quickly with constant activation of the relays. Does this model use relays of PWM fans?

[@peterpeter5666]

one thing these filament dryers lack is rotating the spools while drying to evenly dry the entire spool

[@idkzero]

If I only one filament rarely, should I just get a s2 for petg?

[@awilliams1701]

I currently use multiple filament driers for my MMU2 on my prusa MK3S+ to make it easier to manage the filament. Since my MK4 will also get an MMU, I was thinking I needed to get more. But which one? I have 3x sovol dual slots. They work well and are cheap, but they drive me nuts. The fans sound like they need to be replaced (even when it was new). The temp only goes up to 50 degrees. And the max time permitted is 12 hours. I have to reset them many times during a week long print. I also have a fixdry that was my favorite drier, but it cost twice the price. It does 70 degrees. The timer goes up to 2 days and when you hit 2 days it becomes infinite. However.......it stopped working. I recently took it apart checked for shorts everything seemed fine I was going to test the voltage........but it started working again. I think the connections were just loose. But still it's a lot of money for something that may or may not be reliable. This on the other hand seems like a great choice! The price is reasonable. It's only slightly more than the cost of 2 sovols with the same capacity. But it has better features. So yeah I think I'm in. This will go to my mk4.

[@royhi1809]

Always looking for a better dehumidifier/dryer design and storage. Thanks for the review and I hope they take your advice.

[@NessieKnows]

great review. maybe a draw for the cabinet style that pulls out the filament. i know that could add pricing but might be easy to pull out the filament you want. I just got a single dryer from sunlu to dry my sunlu gray i been having lots of stringing problems with. i may end up getting this one in the future

[@makun16]

The only problem with Sunlu is their horrible customer service. They ignore you when you have trouble with their products. I bought a dryer from them and it only lasted 2 months of light use. No help or warranty from them after emailing them. I will NEVER buy from Sunlu again.

[@nickgames1892]

kinda sucks kickstarter doesnt accept paypal or some other payment method other than a Debit/Credit card.

[@UdreamWeprint]

Nice vid! Exactly my thoughts.. They should have put a divider and seperate heaters. Even more cost benefit. Sometimes i wonder what those r&d teams do in those big companies lately.

[@SLICEDfinds]

do you think you could do a review of the new Kingroon KLP1? I know manufacturers offer you the printers and that's how you get a hold of the printers. Thanks

[@leopoldogastel]

Second

[@Frank-r1k]

Extremely professional work. Logical, detailed, and clearly presented analytical review with examples. Great info for my current PLA needs and the nylon testing and examples are particularly good to know for the SUNLU S4's capabilities for my future needs. Thank you. Your suggestions to SUNLU were spot on as well. Divided chamber with exact user controlled humidity setpoints for each chamber would make for a nice "S4 Pro" model. I'd prefer the ability to set the storage setpoint to a range of 35-40% vs a default 50% setpoint.

[@rsilvers129]

I find that PA-CF needs to be made 10% humidity. So they need a storage mode that can maintain 10%.

[@aaronandersen905]

Thank you for the very informative video! I have a question that wasn't addressed. Are the small ports in the lid suitable to firmly hold a reverse Bowden tube? I like to print directly from my dryer, with a reverse Bowden tube feeding the filament to the printer.

[@K8Stuff]

Looking forward to it. I have a Bambu with two AMS and I got 4 spools laying around in the garage that i use when printing using the external feeder as either they don't work in the AMS or I rarely use them as it is - so having a storage mode is perfect for them - because personally I am sick looking at the storage boxes.

[@alexthomas5658]

I have not been able to find anywhere in the literature, can you tell me if it can reliably feed 2kg rolls from dryer to printer? All I am able to find is that it can take 4 1kg rolls.

[@Oxfe511]

nice

[@theglowcloud2215]

That's a lot cheaper than I was expecting. I paid around $100 for my dual bay Eibos filament dryer in 2022.

[@MartinMurphy01]

Great video btw, one other thing I noticed - at the 9:20 mark when you're testing the temp further away from the PTC+Fan it looks like your sensor is still close to the direct path of the unobstructed airflow. It would be more accurate to put reels in place that way you'd know the true ambient temp at the furthest position from the heat source, rather than measuring how much the heat drops 20cm away while still in the heats path.

[@awilliams1701]

I do hope they listen to your suggestions. They make complete and total sense. At the very least I would love the max humidity option. It wouldn't be hard to add. The dual zone option might require a complete redesign.

[@carlb86]

Great overview of the product. Concise presentation of the drier, but also the impacts of filament drying.

[@Festivejelly]

Its a shame you cant set the humidity level for which it automatically turns on. If it gets near 50% its already too wet. Seems silly to not allow you to set this number.

[@JonLake]

so sad i was the 307th backer.. Im so glad I did tho. Can't wait to get my hands on it !

[@tommysorensen7261]

Very nice review. Thank you.

[@Jbobonline]

I’d love to hear your take on the Voron 2.4 project. I’ve recently assembled one and it’s an incredible machine.

[@Reindeer-ry2lf]

Another cool review, this dryer is a nice one. I will definitely be in the market since I use nylon on a regular basis. Thank you again for the great service and effort you put into this keep the info flowing. 📶💪

[@Walt1119]

Great review, as always your reviews are always so very good!!! Thanks so much for sharing with us!!!!

[@jasonmann4391]

I got the email this morning and was like meh. But your video made me want to get it. Good job.

[@Mr_XXX513]

i always failed when printing nylon, would you tell me your recipe for printing regular nylon?

[@AuroraTech]

Dried nylon, Elmer's CraftBond extra strength glue stick, 240-250°C nozzle, 70°C bed, part cooling off or minimal (20-40%).

[@lmaoroflcopter]

Great review. The demonstrations say it all. It was great to see the effect of drying the nylon at different temps. Great stuff!

[@ChazBword]

This video convinced me to back this. Thanks Aurora Tech Channel.

[@toolcat85]

Love your work! Any plans to review the Elegoo Neptune 4?

[@TF23DayRespawn]

Are you allowed to turn off the Lights/touch screen while it's drying? That's what I always hated about my S2

[@AuroraTech]

Yes, the green light on the enclosure can be turned off, and the backlight of the touchscreen will automatically turn off after a while.

[@sgtkabukiman9411]

I'd like a more substantial lid, that one looks a bit flimsy and not at all insulating.

[@AuroraTech]

It has 8 holes for you to insert a Bowden tube as a filament guide to the extruder, so it won't provide perfect insulation.

[@3dprintedhardware]

First 👍

[@timmienorrie]

Excellent review. Thank you. 👍

[@SaveTheSunF1R3x]

Can you provide the size of the internal chamber? curious if it'll hold 3kg rolls.

[@SUNLU]

3kg spool can be fitted through DIY!🥳

[@user-lk8lg1ys5o]

G#4

[@MartinMurphy01]

Is 6h the max cycle time? Nylon is supposed to be dried for a min of 12h so that means you'd have to go back 6h later and start it again? Seems like a pretty big shortcoming to me. I'd like to be able to kick off Nylon drying at 8pm and have it be ready at 8am for a print run...

[@AuroraTech]

You can set it up to 24h.

[@MartinMurphy01]

Great, thanks for this info@@AuroraTech

[@tweekFPV]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@Bystronicman08]

Great video. This made me back the kickstarter. Also, no sure if you're aware but you location(city) is shown in the description of your videos. Unsure if intentional but wanted to let you know in case it wasn't.

[@AuroraTech]

Yes, I selected my city from the options when uploading the video. Is there any reason I shouldn't display it? Please let me know. Thanks

[@Bystronicman08]

@@AuroraTech No, no reason. Just didn't know if you wanted people knowing where you live. A lot of weirdos online ya know? If you're comfortable with it, no problem. Just wanted to make you aware of it. Love the videos, keep up the good work!

[@joaopaulobarros6041]

Great review! Did you use the default nozzle (or the whole heathead) from the anycubic kobra 2 to print nylon, or is a special one?

[@AuroraTech]

Just the stock brass nozzle.

[@joaopaulobarros6041]

@@AuroraTech thank you for the answer and for the very good reviews.

[@tavarisjones551]

A 4-spool unit is way too big for me. Would be very interested in a 2-spool version that lets me control the humidity level that uses for storage mode. It would be great if it had some sort of vacuum seal. This could lower power usage when in storage mode. Could be very helpful if you stored the dryer someplace humid like your garage (very humid in summer where i live).

[@bru_haha]

Using the dryer for long-term storage seems very wasteful electricity-wise, especially if that’s in a non-climate controlled environment with a unit like this that is not well-sealed and uninsulated. Better to make a best effort at storing filaments in air-tight containers and actively drying them if needed right before you use them.

[@MrDaneis]

It is a nice looking box...

[@vincentwine8294]

It will be useful, I will go for one

[@diggraph]

Does this unit have a 220V option? AU or EU

[@AuroraTech]

I believe there are different versions available since they are selling this dryer worldwide.

[@michaelsparks3703]

"...higher then the humidity at any time in Florida" close enough, current humidity in my part of Fl is 84%, but anything over 60 is just sticky. "around 40% in the summer" OK, now your just bragging.

[@fabriciodefigueiredo3426]

I live in Gatineau - Canada, surrounded by rivers and lakes, where we are having the end of summer now; humidity has been around 65% to 82% for at least three months and I've been printing PLA and ABS with no problems at all without ever using a filament dryer. If you ask me, there's something weird in the air, and it's not water...

[@BuildyBryce]

Great testing and insights in this video, amazing work!

[@tek9058]

too slow, buy a dehydrator for 150-180$, it can fit more and bigger spools (3kg) heats more consistent and is at set temp within minutes.

[@OneHappyCrazyPerson]

Modern child labor at its finest

[@PerfectPudding]

Rimworld music @8:18 lol

[@pascal789456123]

For storage mode, a good option is to have a humidity setpoint value just like the remperature and use a PID as well. Both PID loops would run seperately and the lower output of the two PID would be the power applied to the heater. the logic would basically be "try to target a moisture of 30% but make sure not to exceed the 50C temperature". I need a 3KG spool dryer and was about to DIY it with a Polybox as a base but this would be a way better option. Sunlu even supplies the 3d files to convert to 3kg