The Filament Dryer Built Into Every 3D Printer

[@iheart3dprinting951]

DUDE! There is something really weird when your watching youtube on the TV set and then your being brought up with a picture of yourself. My heart was racing because I was caught off guard. I am laughing and shocked LOL Thank you for the shoutout. The idea come from craving beef jerky and then making a mini oven over the bed because I was too lazy to go get a food dehydrator and wait, did it a few times. Years later I bought my first nylon and it was printing bad and already had experience drying stuff on my printer bed. LOL!!!! True story.

[@AkiraFurball]

LOLOLOLOL That is really thinking outside the box, or was it inside the box :D Thanks for the concept, ya da man..

[@krissebesta]

WHAAAAAA????? I can make BEEF JERKEY on my 3D PRINTER?!?!?!?! Please share your plans for your 3D printer beef jerky dehydrator! LoLs! (really, I'm serious)

[@thirtythreeeyes8624]

A true Renaissance man.

[@D4RKFiB3R]

@@krissebesta Asking the real questions here, but got no answer :(

[@Frentraken]

Please come back with more information on this holiest of holy relics.

[@rdh2059]

Another reason for everyone printing with PLA and PETG is that those 2 filaments have the most colors! For most prints that are not engineering grade, people want color options. Most engineering grade filament only seem come in basic colors such as clear, black, white, grey...

[@lamarcdesign]

What most dryers get wrong is they keep the moisture in. There are no good technical ways to do that but funny enough cardboard has 2 very good properties 1) it can let moisture through while air stays in and in case the cardboard would be cold enough to get condensation going it would even move that water to the dryer outside. From my perspective all filament dryers should have 1 wall made of a vapor membrane - the ones used under roof tiles. Which lets vaporized moisture through but keep it air tight

[@MarcoTedaldi]

I've just started with 3D Printing and I'm shocked at the state of the dryers. They are just heaters! Which can do the job but as soon as the warm air inside is saturated again, they won't dry anything anymore! It's like the people making them never used a clothes dryer or heard anything about dew point and vapor pressure! It would already help if they pulled in a small amount of surrounding air (and thus expell the same amount of moisture saturated air) during the process. I'm pondering the idea if creating a peltier powered dehumidifier/heater (leading the air over the cold side to condense the humidity out and afterwards over the warm side to get the relative humidity down again) but I'm not sure how to handle the excess heat because peltiers are awfully inefficient)..

[@RiPLeY78]

I've been drying filament with the cardboard box (using the same the filament comes in) for 3 years, even with no flow, works like a charm.

[@Duckers_McQuack]

So just leave the filament in the box there to "sweat" for 4 or 6 hours on a 65c bed and that will work fine?

[@seanpchristy]

What do you put the filament on? And do you line the box with foil?

[@DireWolfForge]

Just punch 4 or so holes in the top of the box to aid in removal of the moisture.

[@AckzaTV]

i just live in a desert in san diego so i guess im just lucky, i never have to use a dryer.

[@dreamsprayanimation]

5:00 PETG Is actually extremely hygroscopic. Many people, especially on youtube, seem to believe that waterproof filaments like PETG and PP aren't hygroscopic because of the fact that the material itself is "waterproof". This is blatantly false. While PETG doesn't tend to ooze or bubble when it contains moisture it is significantly weaker when it has moisture in it. All plastics are weaker if they contain moisture, in fact even injection molded plastic granules need to be dried before being melted in order to be optimal.

[@MarcoTedaldi]

Yes. I've just started a few weeks ago with my new printer and already had my problems with moisture in PETG and also silk PLA. While the carbon PLA seems completely immune. I can leave that out on the spool holder for days and it still prints perfectly.

[@karlkarlng]

Doesn't nylon work opposite? Fresh injection molded nylon is brittle and after they let it rest for a few days it gains more strength

[@gendragongfly]

All plastics attract moisture, PETG and PLA included. I think this is a great solution to have in a pinch, but I don't want to have to keep heating the plastic to drive out the moisture, this wastes energy and time. I use plastic boxes from LOCK&LOCK (5.5L, 6.5L and 11L) with calciumcabide (500 grams per box) as a desiccant. I dry the desiccant in the oven for about 2 hours at 105-110°C, add it to the box with the 'wet' filament, and that drops the humidity inside the box to below 10% in less than 2 hours. Then, I leave it in the box for atleast 48 hours before using it. If the humidity percentage in the box gets above 10%, I just re-dry the desiccant some more. Nylon will get wet within 12 hours and on my printer it becomes unprintable quickly after that. Big (5-8 mm) bubbly blobs start coming out of the extruder at random. I guess this is because the steam builds up and creates backpressure in the nozzle. I haven't seen this in lower temperature plastics.

[@angrydragonslayer]

I use a dehydrator and then airtight boxes with a bit of desiccant A mix works way better than just desiccant box or dehydrator on their own

[@D4RKFiB3R]

I like the sound of this method. When you say "calciumcabide", do you mean calcium chloride? Flakes? Balls? Thanks.

[@Scrogan]

Maybe he uses calcium carbide, and produces acetylene when his desiccant absorbs water?

[@court2379]

You already have a fan. Convection. Just extend the tube through the top of the box. Convection will draw the air thru at an appropriate rate. You don't want to move lots of air just enough to bring in new and heat it up so that the relative humidity drops. That causes a difference between it and the filament and the water diffuses out. The air only holds so much, so new air must be pulled in. The fan will cause to fast air changes either requiring lots of heat to get the air up to temperature, or the air will always be cooler limiting the ability to absorb more water. Obviously there is a balance to be found there though as too slow and the air reaches the same humidity as the filament and nothing happens. People also don't understand humidity. You should do a video on that alone. I see comments on dryers like "as soon as you shut it off the humidity immediately jumps back up to ambient, this thing doesn't work". Yes it has holes in it for ambient air to get in. As you heat air it can hold more water, so the relative humidity drops. When you cool it back down it can hold less, so the humidity rises. Couple things missed here about dedicated dryers. Size. They don't take much more space than the spool. For me that was the reason to get the over priced dehydrator. They often have places to put desiccant and some can be sealed. The heat dries the filament to a point, but dries the dessicant too. When you stop bringing in new air and cool it down, the dessicant dries the filament further. This works even better if the dessicant is on top of the heating element where it gets much hotter and gets really dry. Making a metal tin of it and setting that on the bed would help accomplish the same here.

[@randomidiot8142]

Huh. I've heard of air having ratings like 0, -40 based on how cold they chilled it to get the moisture to drop out of it. Instead of heating, why not cooling? As in, put it in an enclosure with an AC unit.

[@court2379]

@@randomidiot8142That could condense moisture out of the air, and in theory the plastic would then transfer some to it to equalize. Things don't dry quickly when cold though. It would be difficult to keep moisture in the air from condensing on the filament. Heat drives the moisture out of the plastic. Particularly as you approach the boiling point. The more energetic it is, the more it is likely to break away. Really you would want to get the air real cold (but just above freezing) to condense the moisture out and then warm it back up (even well above room temp) and blow that over the filament. That should be more effective, but much more complex and expensive as compared to a simple heating element. Since not a lot of air flow is required, it might be possible to use peltier coolers to make a relatively inexpensive dehumidifier. The air can be directed back onto the hot side to warm it back up and the inefficiency of it, will make sure it gets warmer than room temperature.

[@dmonhuntr75]

Well, thank you. I did 30-40 retraction tests last week. And it's clear from your video that my filament is wet. I was going crazy 🤪

[@noamtsvi]

I've been drying filaments on the print bed since 2015 in an enclosed printer. But this idea with the mount and fan is way cooler!

[@justliberty4072]

Or warmer

[@noamtsvi]

@@justliberty4072 exactly

[@yonggor]

Did this since the first week of 3d printing, from 2 yrs ago. The reason why you shouldn't do this is because your printer is supposed to print, not dry the filament. and Sunlu is not crap, although they can definitely do better (such as the fan mod and better insulation). Sunlu is the first company to lower the price of a dedicated filament dryer, that actually works, while Eibos and Esun are ripping off customers with crappy designs.

[@WA0UWH]

Thanks, what a Great Idea, I was looking around for a box that would fit the rolls for the heat shield, . . . The Filament boxes fits the rolls just fine, now I needed something to allow air to circulate below the roll, . . . three small bags of Silica Gel beneath the roll works fine, . . . I cut the top off of the Filament boxes and sliced off two 3.5 inch section from the top to be used as legs to raise the boxes up so air could circulate above and below the roll, . . . now all I needed was an air source, . . . I cut a small slot in the now top of the box (bottom side up) and lowered the Printer Head cooling fan fangs into it. Then set the bed temp to 50C, and the Cooling fan to 75%. Note the Filament is still attached into the Extruder as normal on my Ender 3's. Thanks for the Great Idea. I will use this often, when my printers are not Printing.

[@Elmojomo]

Or just get a Bambu with an AMS, and never worry about drying filament again. I can't recall the last time I had to dry anything. I print almost exclusively ABS and PETG, and NEVER have to dry anything that's stored in my AMS, even if I leave it in there for months between prints. My other filament (not in the AMS), is stored in a cabinet with a couple desiccant pods. No moisture issues. To be clear, I'm not a Bambu fanboy. It has plenty of issues, but filament drying isn't one of them.

[@t3chninja_official]

lol so my cheap filament drier consist of an Overture filament box with 9 holes in the bottom. I place it on a 70 degree bed and run it for 3-5 hours and boom, dried filament. No money spent, no extra fans and it works well enough to print again. My PLA+ was so brittle and no more brittle filament or popping when printing. Apparently my new house has a higher percent of moisture in the air compared to my older house. I may try your way to see if it speeds up the process but I guess I have a few old PC fans. Thanks again!

[@Geekonamotorcycle]

lol, I use my bed with a cover to let my bread dough rise.

[@jeffrbake]

This is actually great

[@hankb7725]

For most people it's probably just easier to buy a filament dryer like the one from SUNLU. It's not that expensive and works really great. The new one goes up to 24 hours and goes to 55C. Anyone into 3D printing can probably afford these.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

So you think "most people" who get a 3D printer as a hobby should spend an extra $50 on top of buying the printer and the filament. They should do this when they could get the same results with $1.50 worth of filament + $3 fan? I thought the whole point of a 3D printer was to make things yourself.

[@nikscha]

Fair, but there's also disadvantages. Additional deskspace used, extra cables, less controll. DIYing is certainly not perfect but in this case I think it's the superior solutions for most people

[@paulgupta2454]

@@DesignPrototypeTest for some, and I agree with you. Built a Voron which is the ultimate admission that for some 3dprinting is a hobby to build and tinker with 3d printers... Now I'm running a few FDM with more advanced calibration routines that I don't have to watch the first layer go down on and I use those for my work in healthcare making things for people. Some people are comfortable soldering and crimping like we are. That being said I love your design and tried tinkering with the use of a bed as a PID heating element for a dryer but had issues getting the box up to temp. Probably would have had fewer issues if I put more time into it but decided my time was more valuable than tinkering with it when I can just afford a $35-40 food dehydrator (the ones with a knob got expensive since 2019!!!!)

[@hankb7725]

​@@DesignPrototypeTest 3d printing is not a cheap hobby. yeah the point is to make plastic things yourself :) The idea of using the print bed as the heating element is very clever. but when not using the print bed, i think 50 bucks to guarantee dry filament for best printing results is a great investment. it would even pay for itself over time by the amount of waste of filament that would be reduced from shitty prints.

[@meyou9369]

@@DesignPrototypeTestAs a new person to this and somebody who has an almost turnkey Elegoo Neptune 4 solution I would rather spend $50 on a solution that works and is repeatable and doesn't require me to "tinker" with it than to DIY it. I want to spend my time printing, not troubleshooting yet another thing. Sell me a solution that works for an inexpensive $50 and I am there. No offense to the DIY guys, I love the zeal and interest which drives this hobby but at some point this all has to go mainstream (and it will) so easier and better for a little money seems pretty good to me. I just want to print stuff man! 😎

[@ParadoxPerspective]

Your refrigerator is an excellent dehydrator. Anyone who has ever left a block of cheese in the fridge knows this. You can just throw your roll in the fridge. There is one caveat, though. When it's colder than the air, you will get condensation. The solution is to throw it in a zip lock bag when you're ready to take it out, and the bag will prevent condensation from forming on the filament.

[@NerdSnipingBatman]

Great idea but now my filament smells like eggs and cheese 😆

[@Meleonlight]

Put mine in a whey protein bottle... jaja​@@NerdSnipingBatman

[@largolagrande300]

I am drying all my pla in a big food dryer at 45 degrees for at least 8 hours and everything is fine. After drying I store them in sealed boxes with silica. Same with PETG but with 60 degrees. It makes a huge difference and I had problems in the past with bubbles and the exploding noise during printing when the moisture starts cooking in the nozzle. My printer and filament is in the basement and essentially it the summer, moisture is a problem.

[@jerrygaguru]

One thing, moisture rises when heated so if you do not put small vent holes in the top of box for the moisture to leave, you cannot dry the filament completely. But it is an extremely great idea. I bought oversized Ziploc bags (100 for $25) that holds two rolls of filament. and I drop a couple of moisture absorbing packets in there and don’t have any issues with any filament being wet. I’m 15 miles from the ocean and maintain 60% to 99% or higher moisture levels 365 days a year. If I forget to put one up, I do have the cheap little plastic dryer that you showed and the new version will drive filament for 10 hours and has moisture heat settings for three different types of filament because I do have a Corn based PLA that’s bad about absorbing water and does not fit in my AMS to keep it dry.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

I find that the lack of a seal between the cardboard and the bed allows enough air exchange to rid the cardboard chamber of moisture. No holes needed. You are correct that the moisture does rise. The cardboard itself is also porous and absorbent.

[@jerrygaguru]

I think you will find that you're drying time and the amount of moisture you pull out will be twice as fast with 2 to 5 1/4 holes in the top.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

It's a balancing act. Holes too numerous or large keep the temperature from getting high enough. You need the absolute minimum of perforations. I haven't done the science to figure out where the perfect balance is. Perhaps you have. Or are you just making an educated based on personal experience like me?

[@jerrygaguru]

@@DesignPrototypeTest I played around with this some, the one that appears to work the best would be a box similar in size that you have cutting the tops flaps into a triangle and then duct tape them together into a pyramid top with one 1/4 to a 3/8 hole at the very top. I used a 10“ x 10“ broiling, air frying, or convection pan with grate and put the fan under the grate to blow upwards to move the heat up with the angles. It’s gonna reflect most of the wind back down on the edges but the moisture will continue rising out of the hole. This could also be done on low heat on a stove or hot plate. The stove, or the hot plate did provide the best and fastest results by almost 50% or more. You can model this and some kid programs the build it and their flow looks really nice. Of course the fan you would hang from the top greet with paper clips so you could use a higher heat. But just placing the filament on the same pan and putting it in a convection oven works just as well I have a convection microwave, convection toaster and a convection oven.

[@Genesis-dj7kw]

That's so incredbily smart. I randomly stumbled upon this video without even looking for sth like this on the same day i wanted to buy a filament dryer. Thank you for saving my money.

[@glennleader8880]

I just use a cheap slow cooker to dry my filament, with the pan as the lid. A couple of hours in there, job done. I store the dried filament in clothes vacuum bags with desicant right under the valve. This works well for me,

[@mborowski2010]

Holy shit.. First off I haven't seen one of your videos in a long time and was wondering what happened to you. Secondly, it's exactly the thing I am working on right now. I built a great printer and put off the importance of getting the moisture out. I was stuck deciding on DIY my own unit or buying a dehumidifier.. And I was looking at that exact vacuum chamber for $80. We're on the same page. That bed dryer idea is genius! Doing it now! And thanks again for talking me into buying the Duet 2 board!

[@mborowski2010]

You got me I'm joining your patron this Friday! I'm broke right now.. I started too many projects and over spent on last Friday.

[@mborowski2010]

LMAO I'm so excited you're not only back but talking about the thing I was trying to figure out. I'm super excited to make my new bed dryer.. Better yet I have an extra heated bed I don't use anymore.. And another printer board (the OG Ender 3 pro board + warped bed) so I can use that to make a separate system next to my printer! Using the parts I already have, I LOVE IT!

[@newmonengineering]

I store mine in a 5 gallon bucket with a large desiccant pouch. It stores for months this way and you can fit about 5 spools in it. Make sure you buy the lids that have a rubber seal. And if you really want to use a hair dryer to warm the air inside it just before closing the lid tightly. Just my 2 cents

[@JTs3DPrints]

Just ran some fresh PET direct out of factory seal vac bag it sounded like popcorn needs at least 6hr dehydration run before use. I could hear the crackling of the moisture. I will be adding a storage feature which can hold about 8-12 spools in the proper environment for my most commonly used filaments. I have same exact older Sunlu it is crap. The newer one I bought works well has a fan and can run 48hrs at higher temps. My homebuilt dry box will be the best remedy. Will incorporate dessicant trays in it. Plan on starting my own channel in Oct/Nov timeframe will include whatever I design I do in some of that content. It will focus on small home wood and metal shop and practical use of 3d printers for a small shop. I think one of printer companies should incorporate an accessory side dryer box to their machines to ensure upcoming rolls can be utilized right away, ability to maintain 4 rolls in a ready to use state.

[@LuisElectronico]

line the inside with aluminium, this method it's actually pretty similar to how I used to dry my filament before I got a dedicated dryer

[@ccliffbarr]

Nice video as always! I literally had the same idea this weekend after dehydrating Nylon X in my Breville convection oven. Meanwhile I have two printers enclosed in a server cabinet and I’ve been using the print beds to maintain chamber temps since the printers are currently in my garage. Looking at the print beds it seemed obvious just needed to enclose it. The fan idea i did not think of. Going forward, building a heated printer for elevated temps would be an awesome project for your channel! Local here in Seattle there have been used stratus printers selling for under 1000. I’ve been thinking about converting one one of those or purchasing a Intamsys Funmat HT.

[@randomidiot8142]

So dumb question. If your printers are in a cabinet, what about using a small space heater instead of the print bed? I live in the region and am planning on using a spare refrigerator (turned off) with two ender 3's and a space heater inside to try to get a better print environment and results.

[@IamMrDisaster]

The problem I see with almost every drier is they don't have enough airflow. Some are nearly sealed. Anyone who has used a food drier knows it is imperative to get the moist air out of the container or else you've just created a terrarium.

[@sofascialistadankulamegado1781]

You don’t really need the fan. Put holes on the top of the box and more at the bottom. The convention cycle will do the job without having to force the air with a fan. Works fine just with a box with holes.

[@JorgeMarioManuelOrtega]

My 5 cents on this. Been doeing it since i bought my first nylon 6 spool. I put the spool to dry inside an aluminized zip loc bag with a hole, making sure the bag shape is somehow conical, like a pyramid, with a hole on the top. In cold days u can see the vapor fumes escaping from the top. No need for fans or stuff. I set bed temp to 85. No time for 70.

[@Dr_Kenneth_Noisewater]

It’s winter here in Denver. I have to add moisture to my filament to get it as dry as yours. Around here, life is a desiccant.

[@jimjasutis5046]

I am just getting into 3d printing. My P1P should arrive on Wednesday. You are the first person I have seen who warns about heating PLA too much. The Bambulabs website recommends drying their PLA at 55 degrees for 8 hours. Since my house is usually about 24, their recommendation of 55 degrees is considerably higher than the 5 degrees over ambient that you mentioned here. Any comment?

[@TheShorterboy]

problem is the roll impedes airflow so the inside won't be dry as fast, some dude demonstrated drying as it's unwinding and printing, needs some length but my money would be on a reel to reel thing blowing desiccated/fresh hot air over the filament if you want it done in an hour.

[@fojmuav]

What if your Filament spool (and spool holder) were permanently in your heated chamber?

[@adamfreeman218]

I think a good way to implement this would be in an enclosed corexy printer with the enclosure heaters built into the sides like the old stratasys dimension printers, then have the spool holder mounted on the inside with the fan built into it, could have a built in device to measure filament moisture (an accurate one seems expensive) and have the machine prompt a drying cycle before printing if the filament is wet.

[@SylvieTheBagel]

Time to build a corexy...

[@medyk3D]

Well I like my cheap food(filament) dehydrator. It costs about $22 and I can print and dry filament at the same time :) But the idea of using printers heatbed is excellent. You can also use oven (most of us have one already in house)

[@toxomanrod]

Hey which food dehydrator do you have?

[@medyk3D]

@@toxomanrod I am using one like this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKXEg51-lt9ge9k I bought it on allegro (kind of a polish amazon)

[@Donnis32]

I have a NuWave countertop convection oven that can be set as low as 50F and will run for 2 hours before needing to be restarted. So for 60C I can set the oven for 140 and usually resetting after 2 hours once or twice works great. I don't generally have issues with PLA or PETG, so I only really use ABS and TPU that need dried; an possibly some PLA's with additives.

[@mk4th]

The CPU fan is 1.2W, 21.5 CFM and with regulation is about 1W. The small one is about 2.4W but probably less than 10 CFM. Why the smaller one provided more air flow? maybe the big one was mounted with wrong polarity?

[@Rsm583]

Thoughts of modifying this to be compatible with your univeral spool holder design?

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

YEAH! This is a great idea. Thanks!

[@RaulAyanami]

Yeah it kinda worked for me, but it is energy inefficient, a lot of heat is lost below the bed and i wasnt confident to let it run for hours

[@rvisani]

I like the simple suggestion of a large tupperware with a reptile warmer inside. I think adding a bed of dessicant beads and some small holes at the bottom, maybe an inch up and slightly larger holes near the top would help draw any accumulated moisture out of the filament and box. Very informative. thanks!

[@justjake3405]

I just bought a $30 food dehydrator

[@backgammonbacon]

Dude the exposure on your camera has been set to longer than the gap between frames at whatever frame rate your camera is set to. Get better lights or just leave the settings alone at default.

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

I like the idea but I have to wonder how efficient it is. Since cardboard holds a lot of moisture wouldn't this not be super effective? I mean eventually the cardboard will dry out. Also when doing test prints on something like this the way filament absorbs moisture from the outside of the spool in this kinda makes testing hard, but IDK I am not an expert. These are just my thoughts.

[@Keldren.]

One thing to consider when using computer cooling fans is how much resistance to the air movement there will be in the application. It's kind of like a car built for speed vs a truck built for torque, high air flow(speed) high static pressure (torque).. most computer case fans are designed for high CFM so if you test with that but there's too much resistance then the concept test might fail unnecessarily and lead you to try different solutions when it's possible all you needed was a fan built for high static pressure instead. Just a thought. 👍

[@jmz8086]

subscribed. glad you're making videos don't let the certain plagiaristic youtubers get you down!

[@kennethjones2849]

infrared hotplate--walmart $24. Possible solution. Vacuum chamber--maybe an old aqaurium place the hotplate inside- and heat it up. When ready--seal the top--the air inside will be heated and as it cools-it will -pull a slight vacuum

[@OurDumpingGround]

Thank you so much with all your great videos. 😎👍

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

You are welcome. Have a great day!

[@shababhsiddique]

does this have any negative effect on the lifespan of printer? as it would be like this hot and still for 4/5 hours.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Unlikely. Heating elements don't wear out. There are no reports of heated beds failing on printer farm printers.

[@MikheilGhvinianidze]

With PLA I didn't had any issues, but with flexible. It is making me crazy, with stringy and uzy prints. Hopefully it is due to humidity. I just placed it in food dehumidifier at 70c for 16 hours.

[@micetrapper4525]

there is a place in almost each home, where temperature is always slightly higher than ambient, the perfect place for storing filament is behind the fridge

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Clever!

[@TheNewBloodDan]

I have my filament come out of a filament dryer and go right into the printer. If I haven't printed in a while I run the dryer 3 times (5 hours each I think) until there's no condensation. I also run the dryer while I'm printing just to be safe.

[@das250250]

I can get humidity down to 10% I side my 3d printer enclosure . Place the filament inside a bucket lined in alfoil with the lid lightly on . Works pretty well. I use a plant soil mat inside the bucket instead of heated bed . But it all sits on the printer base which is all enclosed in an insulated enclosure .

[@BBQ_Northern]

Currently working on a custom Duet2wifi with custom enclosure/heated chamber. I cannot thank you enough for the guidance your channel has provided.

[@adamflight1]

I really like you videos. Thank you.

[@Gixie-R]

If you have a old fridge freezer and a couple of old school light bulbs for heat you can make a nice hotbox for drying. I used to use it for wood, speed drying for turning, Now its heated storage for spools of filament. Mine sits 48,50'c with just the bulbs suppling the heat and a 24v 120mm fan blowing the warm air between the top and bottom.

[@rdh2059]

Fridges and freezers are pretty tightly sealed when the door is closed. How are you expelling the humidity out of the closed fridge or freezer? If you heat it up, all you have is filament in a hot/humid environment, which may actually make it worse. You either have to have some kind of desiccant in the box or some kind of air transfer to get the humid air out. Maybe a homemade heat exchanger too, to save some of that heat the bulbs are generating... Since cool air typically has less moisture in it, draw the air from the bottom, then expel the hot/humid air from the top, because heat rises... Not sure how much stirring/mixing of the air your fridge/freezer project generates...

[@Gixie-R]

@@rdh2059 Its got a 40mm exhaust up top with cotton filters, That used to indicate the moister with the wood i used to dry in it for my lathe.

[@GeneralHowToTutorials]

Are the video's frames low or is something wrong with my PC again.?

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Greenscreen footage is "streaming" quality low framerate. Apologies. Didn't expect this video to be this popular. Would have put more effort into better footage.

[@jmckenna2k10]

My biggest question or concern is the life span of the craptastic MOSFET on some printer controller boards. One of the other commenters mentioned that they used an arduino and old unused heated bed from an old printer. Would be nice to do this with quality electronics that also aren't part of your currently running printer (for those of us with only one or two printers). No need to tie up your machine or add stress to it's electronics.

[@N5O1]

is it really working? because it looks like it should not. because you are just heating your room air which makes it more moist rather than drying it

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

It's the same thing as a food dehydrator or a commercial filament dryer. It's a box with a heating element and recirculating air. I don't understand your skepticism. Yes. It works.

[@DaneC020]

Great video man! Glad to see a video and that you made the move! Hope life allows you some time to relax and prepare for the future.

[@baldyetichronicles]

I will share my filament drying technique for free. Cardboard box and stick. Poke stick through side of box. Hang filament on stick. Place opened bottom box over floor register from forced air furnace. Done. I'm Canadian so the furnace is always on:)

[@jerbear7952]

Can you please share assembly files?

[@baldyetichronicles]

@@jerbear7952 lol

[@saltwaterrook4638]

I absolutely don't see the point in this at all. I'll stick to my drybox with desiccant. And my Sunlu for keeping the filament dry during printing. Using your printer to dry filament is ridiculous.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

If you were a newbie who hadn't yet spent the $40 +shipping to get a Sunlu dryer, and you weren't planning on using your printer 24/7 this solution would appeal to you. It allows someone to print up and assemble their own filament dryer (a fun and useful project) for about $5 which works better than a Sunlu because the Sunlu doesn't have a fan to speed up drying time. 1/10th the cost of a Sunlu and better/faster drying performance. Do you see the point now?

[@farrit]

Your comments on the SunLu drier aren't necessarily true. I have that exact model, and while I admittedly fought the timer in the beginning, I went back and actually read the instructions and you are able to adjust the time that it shuts off in. - By pressing both buttons on the panel at the same time (Though I've found it's bugged, to where if I increase the time, it just stays on indefinitely. Kind of a "failing upwards" if you ask me though) I'm able to get as low as 18% RH in mine, maintaining a temp of 55C.

[@jhonsauceda6024]

I just started working with 3d printing and the first thing I'm designing is a chamber for the printer I have. For the prototypes I'm using pla plates that will interlock with one another so I can customize the enclosure for what I need. I have some transparent pla that I will use to create viewing ports to see what the printer is doing, 4 fans for airflow and easier temperature regulation, led lights so I can see what the printer is upto easier, I'm using a spare seedling heating pad that I have from my greenhouse for heat and a spare humidistat/thermostat that I also have from my greenhouse to monitor what's going on. I was also thinking of supplying the air from a dehumidifier that I have so I can control the environment as much as possible with what I have. It's ambitious, will take time but I think it's worth it. What's your opinion/advice?

[@cameronbigger3412]

Sounds cool. How did it turn out?

[@jhonsauceda6024]

@@cameronbigger3412 ambitious failure thus far.

[@liamsmith8518]

I'm not at all up to date on the current filament brands (I've just been using printed solid Jessie pla cause it's cheap) what was the brand you were talking about selling for $80-$100 a spool?

[@luisca92]

since 2019 I've been using a food dehydrator installed above of my printer to feed the filament directly to the printhead through a tube coming out the bottom of the dehydrator

[@RevJimmy69]

One consequence with using printer bed for a dryer is that it would tie up the printer and keep from printing. Maybe cobble together parts from a old/broken printer to create a stand-alone dryer? Excellent info...thank you for sharing!

[@aepfelpfluecker]

On the other hand, since you arent moving any axis it could be done at night were you may not be able to do normal prints because of the noise

[@jasdall]

Hi can you please explain if the fan is to push the air down or pushing upwards? I am thinking of using a reptile heat mat and the 3d printed part for the fan.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Yes, the fan pushes air down the center so hot air comes off the bed and circulates around the filament.

[@FoxSock]

i must have magic filament or something, i have 0 issues with bubbling with any of my filaments, even my tpu which has been sitting in open air for nearly a year doesnt have any printing issues

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

It's probably because of where you live. If it is a dry climate you won't have these problems.

[@laich2]

i am thinking of this too. i did not think of the fan. wondering what insulation under bed is needed.

[@scottgirdwood5144]

that looks a cool device and fancy having a go but cant find the files? i am a patreon but do i not have the correct membership or something?

[@NeillRobinson]

You could make that fan a *whole lot* more effective by printing some correctly contoured ducting for it. Would take like 10 mins to model and 20 to print

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Radial fans are very poor at creating pressure. Think of it like they gently move the air but don't have the strength to push it through a long tube with all of that friction.. Pressure is required to move air through ducting. Necking down the piping requires a buildup of pressure. Even if I made the transition more smooth, the larger fan would still be inferior. Anyway, the smaller fan is perfectly functional. Gently recirculating the air inside the box yields great results. This isn't a purpose designed filament dehydrator. If you blast too much air onto the bed, the 24 volt DC power supply won't be able to keep it hot enough and you will trigger a thermal runaway protection error on your printer.

[@gbishel]

exelent! I was thinking about this, and I couldn't found anyone doing it. thanks!!

[@RPista]

Old video but still very much relevant to the 3d printing community. Question though if someone knows, if you’re using klipper, using the bed as filament dryer would only serve has a 10 minute pre soak if i understand correctly. Klipper will automatically shut down bed heating after 10 minutes. Is there a workaround for this? With marlin you don’t have to worry about timeout

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Just send a custom "print" g code file. All it needs to contain is a bed heat up, wait, and cool down commands.

[@chucktaylor5878]

I use Eva-Dry dehumidifier. It has discant in it and when the discant gets wet you plug it in to dry the discant out.

[@new_comment]

building a vacuum chamber and buying an AC grade vacuum pump is WAYYYYYY more expensive than buying a filament dryer, even if you buy the parts from Harbor Freight.

[@berberger4814]

I think you can use the heatbed also to heat up pcbs for board repair as well as heating smartphone screens when you need to losen the glue to repair something

[@svega1998]

the ingeniousness of this was enough to put an enormous smile on my face 5 seconds in

[@cgwworldministries83]

I just use a plastic tote that I keep all my unused filament in with a ton of dessicant. Works pretty good.

[@christianmarkussen6412]

What a great and simple idea, love it 👍😃

[@youtubevanced4900]

we already have ovens and air fryers. My airfryer only goes down to 80c though. I've used the oven before. Put some rolls in there at % degrees on fan force mode

[@josiahong5177]

i tried this before, but it didnt really work. I need 100c to dry filament for nylons for 3 hrs and my printers safety timer times iut at 30mins

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Obviously, you didn't get the chamber hot enough and you didn't have sufficient airflow. it's not rocket science. Hot air moving around your filament will get the water out.

[@josiahong5177]

@@DesignPrototypeTest yeah. I still prefer an oven bc I can anneal parts. Also, im too lazy to build smth around my printer or do any sort of wiring.

[@str8up598]

How do you know the filament absorbs moisture in their vaccum sealed bags with a desiccant bag?

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Because I've taken brand new roles out of the bag and run them through the nozzle only to hear the snap crack on pop noises of wet filament. Also the print quality which was greatly improved when I dried the same filament. A sealed bag with desiccant will keep it dry for a certain time. But eventually the water will get in.

[@tubbysnowman]

for storage, what about vacuum bags? either the food vacuum sealed bag system, or the vacuum clothing storage bags?

[@jong2359]

Good idea, but I really think that filament drying is unnecessary. I had 2 open spools of PLA filament that both went into an outdoor facing storage unit for 1 year. After that, they were put in a back room of my first house for 3 years. Then, I moved into my current house and they sat for another year. I finally got the urge to start 3d printing again - and both spools made perfect prints. People really put too much effort into drying their spools.

[@randominternetviewer166]

you probably live in a place where air is dry. Its clearly different in other places.

[@jong2359]

@@randominternetviewer166 I would not call middle Ohio a dry place.

[@mfeldheim]

I was always wondering if there couldn’t be some kind of pre-heat phase in the printer where filament runs through a close-to-glass temperature heat cycle just before being pushed down the hotend. I imagine a heated spool that sits in an insulated metal pipe where the filament runs through. Then a fan to transport the extracted moisture away and cool down the filament just enough again to be hard enough for proper extrusion.

[@AstroSmoke.]

Luckily I have access to a vacuum freeze dryer, I'd note that just using a vacuum pump on a cylinder will suck the moisture vapour into the pump.

[@beaufortpirateinvasion346]

Could an egg incubator be used? Styrofoam box with heater @106 deg. F

[@TheTiarel]

Appart from the vacuum chamber, the print bed filament drying is being used by Bambu Lab for a while now. As for the box on top, one can just print a high temp box to put over the filament rolls. 👍

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Notice the date on this video. It predates Bamboo Lab's Kickstarter campaign.

[@ordoordo]

Very hard to watch. 1080p60 is good, but the video is STILL choppy as a laggy Max Headroom look-alike :(

[@Deneteus]

When my Printdry broke the first thing I did was put the top part with the spool holder on one of my CR-10 beds. I bought a digital oven with convection for $10 and I use that now.

[@Hilmi12]

Tried this year's back but my printer kept on switching off bed heater for safety reasons. But when I tried it didn't have a fan

[@shimondoodkin]

the idea of vacuum means that filament manufacturers make filaments with air and holes and pockets in them. the proper solution would be to vacuum manufacture filament.

[@crckdns]

I've solved it almost the same way.. Just used the heatbed from an old 3d printer, enclosed it into isolation box and controlled by esp32 (arduino) ..works good for now and without any fire :D cost me nothing basically because I've had everything already (esp32 for ~6-10€)

[@jmckenna2k10]

I love that this also doesn't put the printer out of commission during drying time. You can still print on your printer while drying another roll. I've only got one available printer at the moment, and if rather not render it unusable while I wait for filament to dry.

[@anachronist]

This is the same concept, but even simpler: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXSWm6mrppKop5o - a somewhat newer video (June 2021) than what is mentioned here, and I can attest that it works quite well. I modify it a bit by NOT punching a lot of small holes in the top, but making one bigger hole and setting an empty toilet paper tube on top of the hole to act as a chimney to draw out the warm moist air by convection. It works amazingly well.

[@NerdSnipingBatman]

Couldn't this be made even simpler by putting the filament spool on an axel (like a rod or something) within the box? If you shape some fins just right you may be able to slowly spin the filament spool using nothing but convection currents coming from the bed. Sort of like a water wheel with hot air. Or, really just suspend the spool above the bed vertically in a box. The convection currents should move the air and moisture up. No fan needed.

[@yeahright3348]

nice idea, but a $30 dollar food dehydrator does a better job. firstly your card board box that only get's to 55 degree isn't vented, were do you think the moisture is going to go? secondly 55 degrees isn't hot enough for most filaments for effectively removing moisture. Like i said nice idea, but it is in search of an actual problem, since food dehydrators are so cheap.

[@Reds3DPrinting]

Great video thanks fr the info! I dont think they make gypsum dry wall anymore tbh!

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

That's like saying lumber isn't made of wood anymore. Drywall aka gypsum board. It will always be made out of the mineral. If a replacement product comes on the market it will have a different name.

[@anonim1133]

What was that gypsum filament that was mentioned?

[@anthonybean931]

I live for PETG as I generally print amateur rocket parts with it (supports, camera mounts, accent parts, even nosecones.) I've even printed an 8.25 in diameter Mercury capsule for an 8 in diameter fiberglass rocket body out of PETG. If i remember correctly, with the capsule and escape tower system, it was about 2 feet in height. Overall, the rocket was almost 10 feet in length. I'm glad I do not have to dry the filament. It already takes days to print some of these components. Adding another day for drying would suck. I must admit, I could probably get away with other filaments as I live in the desert where the ambient humidity is quite low.

[@jwize386]

Been doing this for years I thought everyone used their bed as a drier. Although I will say that I burned out my bed power wires one time years ago and had to replace them with much thicker wire and have had no issues since. The original wires were in my opinion not thick enough anyway but just to say this did happen to me while drying at high temp.

[@aviphysics]

So "every 3d printer is a food dehydrator" is what I heard.

[@L.Parisi]

Well... I was thinking about a container with silica gel cat litter... Is that possible?

[@catalinalb1722]

Hi, Could you add a scale to measure the weight of the PLA in order to predict if it is enough before the print start? I know octoprint has something like this but I was wondering if the Duet board can connect to the HX711 scale chip.

[@specialingu]

i think the weight difference is actually very small?