Should you store filament in reusable vacuum bags? Nanovac + Airlock review and test
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- Опубликовано: 27 фев 2021
- Did you know 3D Printing filament can absorb moisture from the air? Keeping your filament in a warm, dry location helps but isn't always possible. In this video we test out the nanovac from Polyalchemy, a purpose designed vacuum storage system with reuseable bags.
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I work in pharmaceuticals and have spent years working with humidity-sensitive materials. Plastic bags are much more permeable to moisture than most people realize. In the same way that water migrates into your filament, it will absorb into the plastic bag then release inside the bag. That is why things like potato chip bags have that shiny foil. It's a very thin layer of aluminum to keep water out. Whatever type of container you are using, desiccant packs are a good idea.
I strongly agree!
This. Havnt gotten around to implementing this myself yet, but a metalized foil bag indeed sounds like its a good idea. The downside is that you cant see inside them so thats pretty inconvenient and requires really good labelling not to go insane, though.. Plastics are pretty different in their moisture permeability; perhaps thick PE bags with some desiccant inside are more practical. Ive got a non-gasketted PE large box now ,and the 2kg of silica needs drying every few months; not ideal. But I think a gasketted PE box, with thick PE foil sealed bags with desicant inside, should hold humidity within reasonable range for years, without having to bother with vacuums, and still being able to see how much is left on that pink roll of brand x; without needing to bother with the vacuum again. Would be nice to have some quantitative testing on the matter, to know how much is 'enough', though.
Yes. I store allergens at 4C in a desiccant chamber.
Zip lock bags are useless for this.
I've thought about buying some large zip lock Mylar bags and just flooding them with desiccant. The only downside is I have yet to find a bag that can be properly vacuumed. I would love to see a product like this but with a foil layer.
@@Hyraethian Just add a nipple to it like the carbon fiber bagging guys use
Sometimes I forget that the southern hemisphere has opposite weather season and my brain is confused when he says that they are having a hot summer when I'm seeing snow outside 😂
Man I'm melting right now! Would almost wish for freezing temps instead...
@@MakersMuse I used to live in one of the hottest states in usa and I moved states for college so I could escape the heat finally
Indeed, -1°C here and Angus talks of hot weather and high humidity. Time to pay him a visit 😂
Well explained.
Do you think a container with desiccant (e.g. inside the spool) would help?
only -1? I don’t think you’re qualified for the name Olaf anymore :)
Hi Angus, quick note that the transparent bag will let the moisture go through, thats why Polymaker uses aluminum bag. (Nylon bag, PE bag,.. will let the moisture in).
Aluminium Bags are used to prevent exposure to UV.
This is a pretty good idea. Also Angus wanted to say your remix music for Joel's video is Awesome.
Haha thanks man, was fun :)
I store my filament roles in large ziplock bags, throw a small silica gel bag into it and zip it while tryin gto squeeze as much air out. it's been working quite well for me.
I also use large zip-lock bags. No need for silica gel since I only use PLA. The bags are only for dust protection.
Yeah that's what I do, doesn't seem to do enough for TPU though.
I use IKEA 6.5 and 4.5 liter bags. They are cheap and sturdy with 2 zips.
This works fine for PLA without doubt. That said for some filament types this is not adequate. Perhaps if you stuff the bag to the breaking point with silica packs, but I won't be storing especially sensitive filaments like that.
I do use the ones it comes in from Prusa. I keep the silica in them as well. Seems to work out so far for PLA and PETG.
Thank you for keeping me informed. I don't have the energy to watch your full video, but I got the jist of the problem & solution. I'm no where near buying a 3D printer yet, but when I do, I want to avoid water damage from the start. I've been watching you for years & I had no clue about this.
This is once again a super-helpful video... love your content and the straight-forward style of the presentation!
Cheers! I try to keep things real.
Makes sense. A dehydrator actively removes water while the bag is just preventing further exposure. It's worth using but it won't save already "bad" filament. Nice vid!
yeah, they won't revive your filament but what they will do is stop or atleast slow down the process of your filament absorbing moisture
Real quick shoutout for not view bating and forcing us to wait the 1-2 weeks for the final results
Just got mine a few days ago, didn't even know you had done a video on it, buuuut im enjoying mine. Pretty solid setup!
This is what I've been doing. I also run the filament through my dryer after removing them from vacuum bags too. The cheap Walmart vacuum bags never hold a vacuum for very long, but they still help.
Great video as always
Great review, interesting product.
Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us👍😀
I vacuum seal my nylon and a couple others, but I use a foodsaver system. I went to a local thrift shop (in the US) a few times and now I have 3 of them with different strengths, weaknesses, and features, but all 3 totaled less than $20. Brand new they are quite expensive. I get generic bag rolls from amazon, and they are wide enough to fit a roll of filament. The down side is that you lose a little bit of the bag every time you have to cut it open, making it a little smaller. I usually start with twice the length I really need so that I can get more uses out of it instead of throwing away the rest of the bag after one cut.
I've used products nearly identical to this, and I would usually come back to a bag with air in it after a day or two. Maybe these are a bit higher quality, but the ziploc seal and the valve can't compare to a melted plastic seal.
Great demos! I'm not sure I get the appeal of a vacuum pump unless you're constantly switching out filament. I use the eSUN bags which came with a hand pump, it takes maybe 30 seconds to fully evacuate a bag. On a side note, it's crazy how literally every single time I have a question about 3D printing and look up what people have said on RUclips, I always find a great answer from Maker's Muse.
I agree with your conclusions, Angus. Reusable vacuum bags are a nice option to keep most hygroscopic filaments in a decent condition, despite drying them a bit before printing is somehow mandatory.
That's why all my filament are printed from a sort of PolyBox (even PLA. Sort of logical thing to me, now).
Plus, reusable vacuum bags not only help with keeping spools dust free: it's easier to store them (in my opinion), no need to keep the original filament boxes ! ;)
i really like this setup i have had it for awhile now and it works well, great video
Damn you!!!! I literally spent hours yesterday looking for this very solution and only found small sous vide bags or huge doona bags online! As I live in Singapore humidity is massive and constant here. This is a great price for what it is and the added pump looks like a winner. Thanks!
Update - I ordered the bags. They ROCK! Great size for 1kg spool, the little pump is great and work a treat. Thanks for the recommendation.
another great and informative video, thanks Angus!
Good video, Angus. After drying each open roll in an eSub filament dryer, I use a Zwilling vacuum sealer with Zwilling bags (intended for food), and include a desiccant pack in each bag, and the addition of the desiccant makes a big difference.
Hi, Angus! Big thanks for the review and tests!
Now I'm 100% sure that I need to dry any Nylon filament before printing every time. And I see that here is almost no difference between these "vacuum packages" and a simple DIY dry-box. Will save my money for more dry box parts. Thanx again!
I've been using these for a few months and I like them. The power connection isn't great but it works fine.
The asmr in the begening is the best part of this video.
I had tried large food storage bags, but the pumping time was annoying, and the external pressure cracked or broke some spools (mainly the clear ones). I went back to my Sterilite bins with desiccant scattered over the bottom.
For a better test, put one of those cheap $2 hygrometers in the bag and monitor the actual humidity in the bag. I have one in each of my bins, and one on the shelf next to the bins for reference. I'm usually reading 18% humidity inside the bins, no matter what the external humidity reads.
EDIT: Been using these bags... on about 14 spools of filament, for the last 2 months. 3 bags sprung leaks... all on the black side of the bag. It seems that side of the bag is delicate. I still would recommend them. Hopefully they come back in stock soon, I need another 24 bags.
MakersMuse code worked... order placed... I'm holding my breath until the order is received.
I plan on adding a 50gram bag of WiseDry to each vacuum bag I seal. They change color to indicate moisture contamination.
Order arrived with the FREE stuff thanks to your code.
Thank YOU !!!
VERY NICE!!!!!! And TYVM for the discount code, I bought this.
You may have as well read my mind! I just opened three new PLA filaments for an art activism project. Resealing has been on my mind in the past couple weeks. I'm contending dusting off the vacuum packaging bags from Ikea many years ago (which is operated with household vacuum cleaners and a lot cheaper). A little relieved that PLA doesn't absorb moisture as badly. But then, I also print very infrequently so I am counting storage by month if not by year.
Thanks for making this video, Angus. I got mine a while ago when I was ordering some Elixir and saw it was on sale.
I noticed that sometimes when leaving the pump plggued in but not running it will sometimes turn on randomly by itself, so make sure to unplug it!
I also noticed similar results to what you found with the sealed filament. The filament I keep in the bags turned out super brittle. This particular roll was a Zyltech "special formula" that I received and printed in the same day (vacuum packed from factory) then immediately sealed it with the NanoVac. I brought it out today (after maybe a month) and the first maybe meter or so was super brittle but the rest is printing fine. I definitely think that a desiccant bag would be useful, perhaps definitely better, to keep in the sealed bags. I cannot see any way that it could hurt my filament, so I think I will definitely continue to use it along side with my RepBox.
I have filament 7 years old, it will be funny to use it in future
Thank you for the awesome review on these :D I recently got bags like those from an off brand company. They work, but they came with a hand pump (ouch my arms).
Got sous vide, got a vacuum sealer. Now off to sous vide some filament 🤣
Well done,keep on your inspiration
That looks useful to start with some little composite materials projects
Thanks for picking up the topic, Angus!
I've been experimenting with filament drying for some time because my PLA starts breaking after exposition "to the elements" as you put it.
Turns out you need to use real big drying bags for a 1 kilogramm spool AND these need to be dried for several hours at 90°C themselves.
Although 100°C or above would definitely speed things up, the bags deteriorate from such high temperatures.
Never exceed the glass transition of the material. 50C for pla, 80c for pet. You will end up with a spool of solid plastic otherwise.
@@joemulkerins5250 He was talking about the silica bags I believe, not the rolls themselves.
I have been waiting for this, finally companies are realizing that they can pretty much run any small device on USB.
The batterys have been standard 3,7volt cells for an eternity by now for pretty much everything anyways.
I have an actual usb vacuum cleaner! Not a rubbish one, a rechargeable one!
It has to do with how much current the USB cables can provide. The new USB standards can go up to 5 amps, so you are seeing more devices powered by them. Older USB standards have much lower current.
I have been using vacuum storage bags since day 1! Just the normal clothing/bedding ones. It works well!
Yay new video!
I will give it a shot. Haven't had an issue yet in the PNW's wet year but always better to have something for long term storage.
My dry box uses 4 angstrom molecular sieves. Would love to see a head to head of aggressive desiccants like molecular sieves or calcium oxide versus silica. The absorption at extremely low partial vapour pressure water could make them effective dryers.
I bought about 50 of these bags during covid and have used them for 3 years now. They are great and work well, the 1st, the 2nd, and maybe even the third time that you open and re-seal the bags, but eventually, the bags won't hold a vacuum anymore. I wouldn't use them for filament that you open and use often, but for long-term storage of filaments that aren't used regularly, I think they are good. I see they have a V2 version of that bags now. I wonder if they hold up to repeated use.
I bought 2 sets of eSUN eVacuum kit when it first launched. Includes a hand pump, 2x sealing clips, desiccants, humidity monitor strips and 10 bags for US$20 each. Been great and works much faster than the USB pump in the video.
I’ve been putting a few moisture absorbing satchels into a zip lock bag with all PETG and PLA filaments And never had a problem.
Same here, and I suspect many of us do the same. I'd like to have seen Angus compare the vac sealed bag to a ordinary zip lock bag, with or without a silica pack tossed in, rather than just comparing the vac bag to open air. I suspect the vac seal would not show a difference enough to be worth the extra effort or money, except perhaps for the most hydroscopic filiaments in the most humid environments.
@@ApKNJ One other thing I do after opening a roll is to put the Silica gel sacks straight into a zip lock bag, roll it up and seal it so it isn't sucking in moisture while the roll is in use. I also store the rolls in the boxes they came in (X3D) in a cupboard so they arent exposed to UV.
Thanks for the Vid , its very useful
Nice to see a review of this, and thank you for mentioning it doesn't have a battery. I couldn't find anything that said if it had a battery or not, and saw no explanation about if it needed charging. Well, overnight "charging" didn't work :P
I remember when they announced the system, I went "ok, that's nice" but once they mentioned the price, I was sold because it was cheap compared to existing systems (also, if I wanted to get a nice dinner, it's sometimes the same cost... and I can't re-eat that dinner, unlike reusing the bags...). I think the biggest issue is the power, as you mentioned. Oddly, the best working power source for this has been a USB port on the back of a fancy webcam... Outside of that, it's reasonably priced for what it is, though may try commercial food bags just to see how they do. I wished more spools came with resealable bags... I may have to update that with "and a vacuum valve".
I use the PrintDry system and vacuum storage filament containers and I really like it
As someone who deals with plastics industrially, I have one quibble about your test. It depends a lot on how quickly you get it in the bag after the dehydrator. Warm, dry PA will absorb as much moisture in the first few minutes or so as it does in the day or two after. In the fabrication plant that filament is probably cooled before it touches air, but out of the dehydrator it's going to hit the air warm and likely pick up a bunch of moisture quickly. That's why your dehydrator directly to printer works so well, and why you should also try going directly from the dehydrator to the bag for best results.
Huh, good to know! Thanks. So you're saying it should go into the bag while still warm? Nylon was out for ~10min to do the stringing test but definitely longer for the PETG to do the benchy more like 2hrs.
@@MakersMuse If you want the same performance as dry filament, yeah. Depending on the temperature and vacuum you might even be able to pull water vapor out if you do it hot (might not be good for that pump though).
Does it make sense to heat the filament up in a chamber with lower pressure?
Edit: might be difficult to then get the water out of the chamber, maybe exchange the air or use desiccant? Does desiccant absorb the moisture faster than the filament?
Thanks for your tips
@@1234fishnet Ehh, pressure has something to do with it, but really what's getting you is time-temperature superposition - oversimplified, plastics act like time is moving faster the warmer they are. And it's sort of exponential. Predicting plastic moisture absorption is a hell of Time-temperature effects, vapor pressures, and glass transition temperatures that makes it super complicated to figure out exactly what's going to happen, which is why eliminating (or at least regulating) the time variable is important.
That said, you will probably need a moisture trap if you're dessicating under vacuum - pumps don't usually like pulling pure water vapor, although if this is a pump designed for food it might be fine. In chemistry if you're vacuum drying you usually keep a jar of some hygrascopic material on the vacuum line to protect your pump, but there's not room for it in this system.
@@danielf3623 ok, so if like pressure is not that important then it's the best to put the filament inside of the sealed bag while still in the hot+dry environment of the dehumidifier?
So making a box with sealed gloves in a wall (similar to a biohazard workbench), put in a printer, use the heated bed as a heater with sealed gloves would be a solution for makers at home?
Nice tip, Thanks!
Cool Video Angus! Like it...
Living on the Highveld (1600m ASL) of South Africa I must say I haven't had any issues with moisture in my SA Filament PETG. It's generally pretty dry here, but we've had some really wet weather lately.
I kept the PETG it in the original packaging with a few packets of silica gel, but I've also left it out for a week or two and I've had some really good prints with no bubbling or stringing. Maybe I've just been really lucky.
It could be that although you’re pumping much of the air out you’re leaving more of the moisture behind. As you reduce the pressure the dew point will come down so moisture can start condensing out on the filament. The lower pressure also probably means the relative humidity in the bag is higher than ambient. Where the bag wins is the limited volume of moisture so the longer you need to store the better the benefits of the vac bag.
Being using a FoodSaver vacuum system for years now. Some of the filament I have sealed have been sealed for up to 4 years. I've tried some filament after 2 years of storage and it comes out flawless. If there is a zipper on your sealed bag it will leak air slowly. The FoodSaver excels in this area because it truly is airtight. I've been using this system for 4 years and haven't had any problems with moisture.
I just ran across your comment. Are you using the 11" bag? I think it's the widest bag available. It looks like the filament spool fits but the bag isn't able to draw-in sufficiently to remove the air.
Great product yet I use a big Ziplock bag and vacuum cleaner. Good for long term storage for my more special colored filaments. I'm glad a company came up with thier own system for it.
I'd love to see a test after a couple months comparing Vacuum Bag vs regular ziplock bag with desiccant sachet. $40 isn't particularly expensive for a good long-term storage solution, but if it's not significantly better than a normal ziplock bag and the desiccant that came with the spool, then it's not really worth it.
Seems like a good setup for the money for long term storage or for people like me that swap rolls so often and don’t want to dry stuff constantly.
I was _literally_ just looking for something like this. Think I’m gonna pick one up.
I think this is a combination of what Eric Peeke, 3D Printing Science, and M Matthews said. The moisture is being left behind, AND the moisture is penetrating into the bag. A desiccant like silica gel would really help in the performance of the bag (with the PETG, not just nylon), and so would an aluminium coating.
I got a knockoff version of the usb vacuum pump a while back from amazon and it does work surprisingly well. The reusable bags were a bit big for filament and are designed for clothes I think but it works well still. This seems like a rebranded version of the same thing with filament-sized bags but the price is fairly reasonable still..
Something about angus’ voice is calming
Great review, as usual, Angus thanks. A few months ago I decided to go with a fully insulated and temperature/humidity controlled room in my garage and it's made a huge difference. My prints are always perfect with no stringing even with filament stored out in the open (not in the room). Before I built the room I was having stringing problems even with PLA. I have a heater and dehumidifier in there controlled by two InkBird controllers. I think I'll give the vacuum system a miss.
What humidity do you keep your room at? Has it been fine long term? Thanks
Though we clean really regularly, this might be worth even just to keep the dust out of our printers. Thanks for your review, as always.
From what I read online air and water can still permeate through the plastic bags over time. So while it won't completely stop your filament from getting water logged it will definitely slow down the process.
Unfortunately due to shipping costs I'm only saving $3.00 using the coupon vs if I bought from PrintedSolid's Store.
Couldn't they make it from foil or something?
@@ImieNazwiskoOK that's what they do for moisture-sensitive electronic components: they use bags with foil layer, add desiccant, and put a tag with moisture-sensitive paint blobs that tell you if the bag has leaked or not when you open it. The foil is also good for protecting from static electricity.
Yes, most plastics are moisture-permeable. The fact that the filament itself absorbs moisture is an instant proof of that. I found out by experimentation that desiccant in plastic containers should be replaced about once in two months, which is too much maintenance.
I have found a maintenance-free method of storing the plastic dry forever: I've set up a box that slowly trickles air from my food freezer (by convection). That air is very dry. The only maintenance it takes is to de-ice the freezer more often, once every year approximately. Works great, it can even keep the nylon dry.
I have been saving my Desiccant bags for a while, I keep them in the bottom of my converted food dehydrator and always throw a few in when I bag up my filament, I just use 1 gallon zip locs and also dehydrate while printing, I bag the filament hot to minimize moisture content.
Very good to know!
Nice video (and channel!)- thanks. I think a video comparing the various types of desiccants (silica, calcium chloride, molecular sieves and maybe more) would be worthwhile. Also, in this video I'm wondering whether you controlled well enough for uneven drying within the spool. Might explain the surprising result. If you ever update the video would be interesting to have all filament be in say, 100gm coils so there can be no question of uneven drying.
By the way my food vacuum sealer has a suction port for using such bags. Also (at least in the US) for storing bulking clothing, blankets, etc one can get wide variety of bag sizes with ports for attaching household vacuum cleaner to suck out the air. They work pretty well for clothing, think I'll try with filament and silica.
0:26 Usb 'C' port, which is nice to "C/see". Haha Angus, I "C" what you did there.
I have a really shiny filament like that and love it. It's Silky Yellow from Matterhackers.
Thanks for the review and testing!
- I wonder if the absorbed moisture came in part from not drying the roll between printing and bagging.
- Filling an old sock or something with desiccant and wrapping it around the inside of the spool may protect against the residual moisture from the trapped air. Bonus, you may get a better or faster vacuum, as the plastic won't have to bury itself in the roll as much.
Oh hey this is just like that old Ziplock thing. Hand-held vacuum pump and reusable bags.
From what I remember it was crap after a few usage, hopefully these do better over time.
3D printer AMSR with vacumm any Fiberology spool - I do the same tapping each time I get onr of mine bags ;).(nice to see made in Poland so far). I do use simillar bags yet with hand pump.. Works like a charm.
Regards!
I recently ran out of black filament, and had to resort to a part roll of 1.75mm pla that had been in my cold and damp shed for a few years.
It printed fine.
I'm always amazed at the examples of prints that you show and how seemingly bad they always are. You said several times in this video "it's actually pretty good" but there wasn't a single print here that I think is even remotely good. Maybe i'm spoiled by my Prusa Mini, I3MKS, and heavily heavily modified CR10 printing exclusively with Prusament PETG and PLA but if any of my prints looked like this I would throw them away and start over. I also leave my Prusament PETG out for some times months and I never have any results like this.
I reuse the large ziplock bags that Amazon Basics used to use for their filaments, suck out most of the air when I put up a roll, and generally keep 4-6 desiccant packs per roll even for PLA. But most of my prints are getting sold, not just for my own use. I still have to occasionally dry a roll, but usually only when I don't put it up for a while and dry out my desiccant packs every couple months.
I use MagicBag space saving vacuum bags. I trim the Medium size bag to fit a spool and use my FoodSaver to heat seal the end I cut. Works great and I can use a regular vacuum to provide the suction.
it would also stop spools from unwinding i think i would still use it for the pla just to know everything was tidey and closed. though i hardly use my fdm printer. it is still good to know that i would not just have spools of pla just sitting open for over a year. :)
I like your idea of printing from the dehydrator. A custom spool holder and maybe mounting the dehydrator on its side so that the filament spool axis can be horizontal. My dehydrator is large enough to mount 2 spools horizontally I think, will need to give it a try. I have a large nylon print to try in the future and know it will need something like this to work.
My Seal a Meal has a hose and adapter that would work with the bags but the included pump with this system is nice and compact.
I can see that just vacuum packing alone will not dry the filament. I would dry it first before packing it. If you have some of the indicator cards with the color changing dots to pack with the filament would be a a good way of seeing how things are working. You can find the indicator cards on Amazon, I get them from work. They come with some of the surface mount electronic components and are reusable. I just dry them with the filament and throw them in the storage containers with the filament after it's dry.
Thanks for the review, I think I will give the bags a try.
I picked up a similar system eSUN are offering now, biggest difference is it uses a manual hand pump which I actually like since I’m always running out of outlets. The bags themselves look identical except for the branding. Even if you still need to dry after storing in these at least you could get away with a quicker drying run.
I've become a fan of these things. I use the PrintDry containers for filaments that I use frequently, but I've switched to using the Airlock bags for rolls I don't use as much, as the containers are bulky and take up a lot of extra shelf space. The bags store things much more efficiently. my only real complaint is that most of the USB-C cables I have seen to have too much housing and thus I have to hold the cable in place on the pump, (I mislaid the cable that came with it, of course.)
I still put a Dry & Dry moisture indicator and a couple of D&D desiccant packs in with each roll regardless of which kind of storage I'm using, and everything seems to work pretty well. I still like to run the filament through the dryer before using it if I'm making anything I want to turn out especially nice, but I do that even for new filament, so...
At work we use a amazon vacuum bag meant for pillows with desiccant to store our nylon. after pulling it out of the bag it sits in a dryer for about 10 minutes at 55c and then is ready for quality prints.
What timing, my first spool of PETG arrived today
Amazon sells "small" vacuum seal bags that come with a hand vacuum pump, for about half the price. Works well plus you don't need any power. I put "small" in air quotes only because the bags are quite larger than the standard filament spool, yet they still scrunch up enough to fit inside the standard filament box, if you keep your spools stored in their original boxes, that is.
I use a system like this for storage but i pour some desiccant into the bag to add more humidity absorption.
I made a special holder for my Sunlu dryer that mounts to my Ender 5 and has a lazy susan style bearing so it can swivel to follow the head. So I can have my filament dryer on and use it as a holder while printing. I find it helps prevent stringing, even with PLA.
any pics of your setup? I have a ender 5 plus
Fiberlogy delivers great filaments, I am using ASA and it's great
Dehydrate the filament, then stick it in the freeze dryer, then make sure you are in a very dry room (use a dehumidifier) when you open it, and immediately make sure you add MANY desiccants when you vacuum bag the filament.
Finally, as you said, print directly from the dehydrator.
I never have filament issues, I notmally put my PLA and PETG back in the resealable bags that they come in (MG Chemicals filament), push out as much air as possible, leave the tiny silicone bag it, seal it and chuck it back in the box.
That said I can leave either of these filaments types on my open printer for a couple of months and it still prints just fine. I have a reel of TPU I bought Feb 2018, back when I started printed, it was left in an open bag for about a year and a half before I used it, it printed just fine.
That combined with some silica gel may be a good solution.
Hi many thanks for the videos. Can you do a review on ultimaker s5 please
WOW, I really felt the need to scratch myself under the nose watching this 😂. You have some stringing going on there mate 😁
Interesting video as always, I haven't watched it all yet but a vacuum bag for bedlinen/cushions should suffice? I can imagine that would be cheaper (will check it out to be sure tho) EDIT: In Sweden, a vacuum bag for pillows and such connected to your vacuum cleaner cost about 6 USD (now I'm gonna watch the rest of the video and see if my comment is moot...)
quick tip:
Store filament in your closet
Nice trick. I store the "Premium" filaments inside sealed bags with dessicant (squish the air manualy, not vacum) and then put them in the cabinet where the printer is (It's a rack server with insulation, a big glass door and a rubber seal)
In my city there is like 60%-80% humidity. And inside the rack, specialy with the printer running, is at 30-35°c and 40% humidity
@@cobeer1768 Think he meant to prevent dust.
I save mint tins, drill some small holes into them then fill them with indicating silica gel. That way I can stick the tins full of desiccant into an oven to regenerate them.
FYI you can use a 5 gallon buckets with a PVC ball valve plumbed into the top to store filament long term.. Put your spools in the bucket, put your modified top on , hook your vacuum to the valve with it open while vacuum is being applied close the valve .. you now have a vacuum in the bucket with a half dozen spools stored in it as long as you want .. Total cost to store 6 spools at once around $5 usd.. The chance to design/print some adapters to mount the valve to the bucket top = PRICELESS,LOL
That's a pretty cool idea! The bucket doesn't collapse?
@@MakersMuse Not unless your using a SUPER BAD ARSE vacuum.. . I stumbled across this constructing low vacuum purge containers for purging air from 2 part casting materials.. Wish it was old you tube so I could just post a pic or 2 for you..
Honestly, when I buy PETG (filamentum, formfutura,....) I usually have to dry them right out of the box to get really clean prints, once I dried them for 6-8h in the oven I usually get clean prints no matter how long I leave them out.
I already use it
I am just using regular vaccum bags with desiccant and a vaccum cleaner. It keeps moisture and dust away. Yes Fiberlogy is a brand from Poland.
I had this idea ages ago when trying to reuse resealable bags from 3Dfillies.
they don't seem to be keeping that good of a seal for me, you can buy big bags from kmart for less than $10. You just use your vacuum cleaner
@@knifeyonline You mean the space saver bags for clothes?
I would like to see a comparison of the vacuum sealed bag versus a regular bag with desiccant
Silicone desiccant can be bought in bulk, but you can get handy canisters of the stuff for ammunition boxes (probably costs more). Or I could get an altoids tin, drill some holes, add some metal mesh... Easily recharged with a warm oven, and most of the time you can do the same with filament, although a food dehydrator would be a better idea.
I remember Stephan from CNC kitchen doing a test of using a vacuum to dehydrate filament, and if memory serves, the results weren't great even with laboratory vacuum dehydrators.
There needs to be a filament bag/spool capable of holding at least a half kilo, compatible with the vacuum sealers used for food storage. I bet the valve on this bag is compatible with the vacuum attachment for my machine...
I use large bucket sized Tupperware type containers. Four rolls sit in each, on top of the four rolls sits a pouch of dessicant - not silica gel, though - these have what I think is calcium chloride plus a gelling agent. They are sold to be put on drawers or cabinets to keep your clothes from dampness. They are often scented, but you can get unscented ones, and even some containing charcoal for absorbing smells. The common brand here is "Thirsty Hippo", but I get the generic Tesco-branded ones. Daiso also sells their own brand. I put a hygrometer in with the rolls, the humidity comes down to about 20-22%. I wonder if the pump in this article is good enough for vacuum bagging foam wings...
The thing that immediately comes to mind is that when you put them in the bag and seal it there is a big air trap in the middle of the spool.
Maybe if you print a cylinder to fill that gap the results might be slightly better?
A vacuum bag is great for stopping the filament from absorbing additional moisture, but it the filament will gradually increase in moisture content each time that it's used.
Using any form of sealed bag with (my preference) blue colour changing silica beads, will not only keep filament dry, but will dry out the moisture within the filament between each use.
Bonus for the colour changing beads; you know when they're 'full" and you can just pop them in the oven for an hour at 100°c and they'll be back to blue and ready to go.
Another note - silica bags/beads really don't last long until they've reached their maximum absorption. Most cheap silica bags ordered online have already been exposed to the air and are useless. Thus the advantage of the blue silica beads. I find about half a cup worth of silica is about the minimum if your filament has a little moisture in it.
I think what might make more sense is to dehydrate the rolls, _then_ vacuum seal them for later. That way, they're ready to go as soon as you need them.
Do you think the center of the spool may have affected the filament in any way? I dont think there would be enough air left in the center for it to affect the print that much but, maybe a revisit with off roll vs on roll filament in the vacuum bag?
No, the center would have the same vacuum as any other void. The whole coil has void space throughout since round filament does not completely flatten out against the next piece of round filament.