The Perfect 3D Desiccant Solution: Convenience and Longevity Combined

[@BigBenAdv]

I contemplated making the containers like you did for silica gel previously. Until I discovered that buying metal tea dust/ leaf strainers are basically easier and potentially cheaper than doing so. Not to mention, they can be opened if you ever need to remove or replace the desiccant.

[@BuildItMakeIt]

Yeah, now that people have been pointing it out to me it looks like there are some ready made solutions that may work pretty well. I ordered this tea strainer amzn.to/3MbV9tC and am going to see how it works in comparison to what I made. Thanks for the tip.

[@BigBenAdv]

@@BuildItMakeIt Another method I had contemplated was to use the wire mesh to make a pouch and just use wires to 'sew' them up - this allows for customized sizes or shapes when commercial alternatives won't fit the needs. It will still be able to withstand the temperatures of baking in an oven. Ultimately, the tea strainers was what I went with as I just needed it for absorbing moisture in food containers and the fit wasn't too big of an issue (just got to be careful which desiccant is used as some of them contain toxic dyes).

[@TimDavis77]

@@BuildItMakeIt How have those tea strainers worked so far?

[@BuildItMakeIt]

@@TimDavis77 They have worked fine. They are a bit smaller, and rattle around some more, but they didn't pop open since the top screws on. I wish the holes were bigger, but it seems like it is sufficient air flow for longer storage.

[@davidahn4130]

I really enjoyed this video and contemplated both your DIY tubes and the tea strainers, but in the end decided on an even more convoluted scheme of buying Eva-Dry E-500's and upgrading them to alumina so I wouldn't need to recharge it in an oven, then cutting the vents open and using your steel mesh and JB Weld technique to keep the alumina from falling out. Thank you for the inspiration!

[@BuildItMakeIt]

Great idea! Let me know how that works out.

[@josephpk4878]

I use colour indicating silica beads in small, round, perforated tin screw cap containers. Throw two of the tins in with the filament, drop in a small humidistat, suck out the extra air, and I'm good to go. As soon as the humidistat reads anything above 15%, the tins and the filament go into my dehydrator. Been running like that for a while and it works well.

[@mattmarzula]

I put it in an old cotton ankle sock with a pipe cleaner as a twist tie. Weigh it before, after use, and after recharge at 400°. Works just fine. I get it though. You're a crafter making content.

[@BuildItMakeIt]

Ummmm…..that’s a really good idea. Yeah that’s way easier than this idea 😂

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

I really think this is a solution looking for a problem for the hobbyist, silica beads come in packaging of all shapes and sizes and you really can just toss it in the oven to bake out without worrying about the sachets being damaged (not at 400C though, stick to 100-150 until you're certain). You're certainly right about the degradation over repeated cycles of adsorption and heating, but with the price of silica gel it's kinda moot. On the other hand, alumina desiccant is also dirt cheap given that it's essentially sintered industrial waste. As far as size goes I don't know if you're muddying the issue on purpose or if it's just the materials that you have come across and use, but both silica gel and activated alumina can both easily be had in diameters between 2mm and 8mm from the usual scumbags. For your retaining clips, you might be better off (as far as time and money go) using off-the-shelf internal circlips but I understand that desire to do the 3D printing given that's what this is all about. I like your presenting style, it's very in keeping with the bigguns of YT. Quick edit: I suppose this reads as more negative than I intended. I should also say that I'm not big on 3D printing, my experience with desiccants has been in the context of food storage, soaping and industrial electronics, so there may be some considerations that I haven't... considered... that are specific to 3D printing.

[@BuildItMakeIt]

I really appreciate your response, especially as I am learning and I love to hear from other people especially if I get something wrong. I did know that the silica beads came in different sizes, but I didn't know it came up in the 5-8mm sizes so thanks for that. It didn't really cross my mind to look into the different sizes of the two since almost all the silica gel beads I have had experience with were tiny and the activated alumina were larger. I made an assumption on the sizes and I was wrong. I don't think that the desiccant of choice really has a 3D printing specific bend on it, but I have been frustrated that my couple of pounds of silica gel desiccant I bought is breaking down so I was looking at buying new desiccant which got me on the activated alumina. I think the packets work fine, but I was wanting something that was a little bit easier to use for 3D printing specifically in form factor, but after all the comments I have been getting I probably made something overly complicated for a simple problem. In my defense I kept spilling the silica gel beads and then finding them all over my house (and stepping on them) as I was poring them from containers to recharge them so I wanted a way to keep how I use the desiccant in as easy a form factor as possible. Buying them in packets would solve this problem. Thanks for your comment and take care.

[@billw4646]

Activated alumina is much more effective than silica and will achieve lower humidity levels. It also can be regenerated over and over infinitely, never wearing out, whereas silica only has a limited number of times it can and becomes less effective with each. The only advantage of silica is it is available in beads that can change color when it's time to regenerate them.

[@ResistanceLion]

I personally would solder mesh with soldering iron and a few tin drops. Nevertheless, thank you for informing about activated alumina. Subscribed + new to 3d printing

[@ResistanceLion]

by the way, it is cheaper in Ukraine to buy alumina tube instead of vacuum cleaner tip/adapter/air intake

[@BuildItMakeIt]

That is a great tip. I couldn't find a local place for just a small peice of tube.

[@JaredElliott1]

That eSun kit is absolutely great. I have the same one.

[@brettcombs774]

It definitely still breaks down, but it's over a much longer time span. We use activated alumina for industrial air drying at work. We change it out every 3 years in the order of a thousand lbs or so. We have it tested annually.

[@BuildItMakeIt]

That is good to know. How many cycles are you using roughly in those 3 years. I have some desiccant going on 8+ years but it is only like 5-6 cycles in and still works really well.

[@brettcombs774]

@@BuildItMakeIt theyre continuous service, 24/7 drying cycles takes around 2 hours at 335f. then 2 hours of cooling. then the cycle repeats so 6 cycles a day. far more than youll ever see in your garage just a fun fact...

[@brettcombs774]

@@BuildItMakeIt i will say im not sure how high humidity levels effect the lifespan. our dryness is measured around -163f dewpoint. where as say 70f 65RH is +58f. We go from dry to dryer. id speculate our use case (home), is a more severe service from a humidity standpoint.

[@SliceEngineering]

Great video! We've actually been selling Activated Alumina in canisters like this since 2021 on our site and on Amazon for all the benefits you outlined! We source our alumina here in the USA-it's a phenomenal desiccant for 3D printing and many other applications. We can't drop links to our desiccant in KZbin comments, but we'd love to connect and collaborate since we've been doing this for 3 years!

[@BuildItMakeIt]

That is awesome! I love your hot ends. I didn't know you were in the desiccant game too! That would be great to connect.

[@alexcortelyou8124]

Does anyone know where to source similar cans in bulk? I could use a few dozen...

[@Enjoymentboy]

I stopped using silica a while ago. It's ok for long term storage but it really doesn't have the oomph needed to pull enough moisture. I prefer calcium chloride. I get a 2 pack of desiccants from the dollar store for $3 and each one lasts about 6 months. I have put a new spool inside an airtight container with the calcium chloride, put the lid on and just left it at room temp for a few days. NOTICEABLY drier with zero electricity needed. Granted if you employ a little heat things dry up even better. I'm happy to wait for filament to dry and I do not need it available immediately. The best part is that once the calcium chloride fully dissolves and stops working I can drain the desiccant packs into a pyrex dish and pop it into the oven when I cook. It'll dry out to a crust which I can then put back into the pack and reuse.

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

The way moisture is absorbed into the polymer is not unlike how cooked long-grain rice "crystallizes" as it cools. Long story short, it is always a good idea to heat up the polymer to "eject" the absorbed and incorporated water.

[@autofctrl]

This is actually pretty cool....

[@BuildItMakeIt]

Thanks! I am really liking them.

[@aeonjoey3d]

I’m doing it, I bought 75lbs of activated alumina - info is scarce about it, so I’m rewatching this and other vids talking about it. I’m using 3D printed canisters as cores for every spool to go from storage cabinet or food saver bags to dry box or ams - and I’m going to keep an eye on the RH in the cabinet, bags, dryboxes and ams’ with mini hygrometers and see when it starts to wear out and then dump and recharge it all en masse, still gotta figure out the time in the oven and how long the AA will last.

[@BowWowPewPewCQ]

Every consider printing in PC-CF? I print spool centers, AMS trays, and AMS inserts. This way I dry it in a convection oven at 115-120 ºC for about 4 hours container and all. Fill with your choice of desiccant.

[@BuildItMakeIt]

That is a really cool idea. Thanks.

[@aerosoul12345]

somehow i'm unable to buy this stuff where i'm from. could only find a single seller on Amazon, selling it for 200 bucks per 3kg 🙄

[@aeonjoey3d]

holly molly no wonder you went with aluminum, you need to bake these at 220-250 C to recharge them, yowza, can't use a filament dryer for that :P

[@aeonjoey3d]

I saw on amazon the most bought with the activated alumina is a pack of aluminum salt shakers lol, I think I might go that route :P

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

You could probably whip up that retaining clip in PrusaSlicer and all derivatives with geometric primitives. Activated alumina... I'll have to remember that. I know MarkForged ships packets of non-silica desiccant with their filaments, and I don't remember which one they used.

[@AdricM]

mark the dry weight on it. ad you can then check them via scale to see if it needs recharging.

[@aeonjoey3d]

I have 12 silica gel bead containers in my filament cabinet and they kept it around 19% RH but once spring and summer rolled around I can’t keep it below 45% - it’s driving me crazy, I keep refilling and recharging the desiccant in the microwave every week because they turn color so fast, need something better asap

[@corylewis8413]

Do a video for zeolite instead of carbon filtering since it regenerates far longer

[@bruhitsme2601]

why do you say silica beads has a limited number of uses? I thought you can put it in the oven and it'll release the moisture, then you can reuse it.

[@BuildItMakeIt]

They do release the moisture but they break down over time and crumble away.

[@Latrocinium086]

😂@book collection going on top. Nice range 😂😅

[@BuildItMakeIt]

Thanks! Glad someone got the joke 😂

[@theTeknoViking]

Tidy stuff! 👍

[@BuildItMakeIt]

Thanks!!!

[@theTeknoViking]

@@BuildItMakeIt Hey, thank YOU for sharing your cool project with the world! Slick video production too!

[@shashanktg08]

Can it be used directly into the container you made inside the drying box

[@BuildItMakeIt]

Yep I am using this desiccant inside my filament dry boxes now.

[@shashanktg08]

@@BuildItMakeIt how long does a normally silicon desiccants holds for

[@voxpop9]

Is it safe to recharge the alumina in the same oven you would use for food? Obviously it would always be better to not but not all houses have a second oven laying around.

[@BuildItMakeIt]

I think so since it is the water that it is absorbing and we are releasing, but that is just my opinion. I do, but maybe someone else can chime in if they know of contamination risks.

[@voxpop9]

@@BuildItMakeIt In that case, I do hope it is safe as I am currently waiting on my order of tea strainers to put the activated alumina inside. Gonna replace all the silica dessicants I am currently using

[@Callsign_Virgil]

According to Google's AI: "Yes, you can dry activated alumina in an oven at a temperature of at least 200°C (392°F) for two hours. This process is called thermal regeneration, and it removes adsorbed contaminants from activated alumina. Thermal regeneration can be used in air and gas drying, catalyst support, and water treatment. Here are some tips for thermal regeneration: Avoid overheating: Overheating can damage the activated alumina's structure and reduce its performance. Use a controlled environment: Thermal regeneration can be done in a furnace or oven. Activated alumina is a chemical-free, non-toxic, long-lasting, and recyclable option that absorbs moisture well. It can be used in air dryers, and can also be used for catalyst support and water treatment."

[@gmvader]

Nice selection of books. What do I do if I don’t have those same books? How important is it to keep the filament dry in a desert climate like, say, New Mexico?

[@BuildItMakeIt]

Well if you don’t have the exact books I used then you can’t make this project. The whole project was designed around the weight of the books in mind and their relative size between the desiccant tube’s diameter and the surface area of the books. Now in order to mitigate local variations in the strength of gravity I didn’t perfectly stack the books but angled them in relation to the desiccant and local field variations. This may have been overkill but seems like good practice that I think is pretty standard when working in this field. Now you may be asking why was the same technique not used on both the top and the bottom glueing as the weight, size, and configuration changed quite drastically. I’ll have to cover that in a future video so make sure to like, subscribe, and hit that bell notification so you don’t miss out.

[@BuildItMakeIt]

Keeping filament dry in New Mexico I don’t think is super important for abs and pla, but is a necessity for nylon.

[@jacobscoville2044]

What is the maximum weight difference you have noticed before/after recharging? I only noticed a 10% difference at 200c for 2 hours and a third hour didn’t result in any lower weight (I don’t have a normal oven available at the moment) one retailer suggested 200c at 2 hours and I was skeptical if drying would really recharge it since in normal use there is a chemical process for recharging activated alumina.

[@BuildItMakeIt]

I get out of a container probably a 20% weight reduction but I think it depends on the humidity level that they have been exposed to.

[@tritonsws9609]

How long do you bake the desiccant at 450 F and how do you tell when you need to bake the activated alumina?

[@BuildItMakeIt]

I bake the activated alumina when the humidity start to climb on a sensor. For those without a sensor, I generally reactivate it once a quarter.

[@SirFlickka]

Thought it would be cool in the freezer no?

[@damaylaphoenix1155]

is this more toxic than silica gel beads?

[@Barak50cal]

Less toxic than silica, especially the color dye indicating silica