To avoid misunderstanding since the old dryer looks like set to PLA: both dryers were set to 70°C, only the old one was set manually (since it was not connected to smartphone and I couldn't change preset value over UI)
Excellent review, thank you. I share your concern about the 'defined filament exit' hole and chose to use the 'vent' hole. When I purchased my unit in December, I asked for clarification on the intended Filament exit and was told I could drill another one anywhere I wanted in the top. Not wanting to void any warranty, I avoided potentially damaging the lid. I successfully ran the unit for a few weeks; while printing from it to get the filament rotation you advised. After several print jobs & filament swaps, the unit failed to do more than 'BEEP & run the fan for a few seconds'. The LCD no longer would turn on, as I attempted to power it up I suspect the Tiny Lid Mounted ribbon cable may have failed, near the hinge point; which made me take note of the 'spare cables' they sent you. When it worked, I liked the Dryer and the Smartphone control. My only successful means to turn it off was to unplug it, frustrated by the multifunction On/Off button. Having a cable strapped across the lid hinge seems like a bad idea to me; and I await their response to my failure report. Have you had to repair your unit with those cables they provided you ??
I am not sure if they changed anything on the version that I got this week, but you can change the filament drying preset on the device itself. Long press the middle button, wait until it beeps and the filament selection will start flashing. Then press once on it to advance the preset selection. The current version of the manual also mentions and shows the top/lid hole as being meant to route the filament through there.
Thanks for this review, very useful testing and tech info. So far it seems this is the only company listening about temperature, particularly for nylon where the optimal temp is 80c. Another simple mod could be a stepper motor for even spool heating/drying. As for the filament feed hole? How can any serious company still be locating the filament exit hole at such a crazy angle? One has to wonder if they ever actually trial their drier with a printer?
One of them is set to nylon and the other to PLA during the test. How does the filament buried deep inside the spool get dry? Seems like a placebo and no one ever seems to test if the filament itself actually does get dry (weigh the spool before and after).
Both are set to 70°C. The old one was not connected to smartphone and as I mentioned, I coudln't change the preset value over UI. So I just changed manually the temp to 70°C.
They sent me a "prototype" which had the thermosistor under the tape. I went through their little video showing how to slice the thermosistor out and try to heat up...but it still struggles. The menu / beeping is hands down the most annoying of all the 6 dryers I have in my lab. They haven;t reached out to me to replace this with a "fixed" version. If anything, they wanted me to ship this to another "tester" (sure, let's anger more perspective customers?) So, they may score well but I am really unimpressed with how they do business.
I bought one of these but it seems to overshoot 10-15 degrees while heating up to a setpoint. Example if I set 55c it will go almost as high as 70c inside on the way up to 55c. Once it reaches the setpoint it maintains within 6-7c. In comparison my cheap dehydrator cycles +/- only a couple degrees. Both spool holder axles don't spin freely unfortunately due to one shaft being bent and the one the bearings are not mounted straight.
By cheap dehydrator you mean a food dehydrator? I'm shopping for a filament dryer and trying to decide between a dedicated dryer and a food dehydrator.
OK, so I have the dryer that was supplied as part of the Kickstarter campaign. It was delivered so late, I just tossed the box on the shelf and forgot about it. Just the other day I dug it out and tried to use it. Yes, the UI on the unit is just abysmal. I can set the led color (that of course is of no use to me whatsoever). I can set filament type, the temperature and the time. But I cannot start the drying cycle. Any manipulation of the center button just turns the unit off. I have tried the app, it searches and finds the unit, but refuses to connect to it. So I guess I’ll put it back in the box and throw the box into my electronic recycling bin. I have a new Creality dryer which in the US, it’s cheaper than the new Gratkit. It is so easy to use and is very effective. Some people have reported problems with the humidity measurement sensor, but mine works perfectly.
Bonjour, oh mince je viens de commander une version "Official Refurbished" à 33,99€ sur le site de Gratkit j'espère recevoir un nouveau modèle sinon il me restera plus qu'à éloigné la sonde de température ( est-ce qu'on voit la différence lorsqu'on vous ouvrez les 2 modèles (nouveau et ancien) merci de votre retour
Is there an easy way to tell if you have an original unit or the most recent one. I got one in 11/2023 so I think it's the newer, but I would like to make sure.
Try to heat up to 70°C if it stops at 50-55 you have the old one. If it is close to 70 the new one. (no need for separate thermistor, you can use one shown on display)
Nice review Igor. I would be happy to use the Sunlu method - I have a Sunlu that comes with a PTFE tube and a grommet that fits in a slot at the front where the lid meets the case. If the filamentt is fud from the bottom of the spool this tesults in near-perfect tangential feed, so I would cut a similar slot in the front of this one. As to software, dince the move away from C as the language of choice, all software seems incredibly bloated to me. It includes a ton of unused library code and ia not efficiently compiled. For s my all,vefficient code, give ne C every time. C++ was the start of a slippery slope
The really sad thing about almost all of these so-called "dryers" from China, is that none of them are firmware updatable! Most of them don't even consider that the filament must exit at a correct tangent. Most have these sharp angles that will cause problems. If not snapping PLA filament, then more than likely causing extra tension on the filament, that causes extrusion errors. And most don't circulate the hot air very well, as seen here. Hotter on bottom than on top. None of them seem to have good circulation nor do any of them have a motor to slowly spin the spool. The more I see these things, the more I'm tempted to just make my own. The only thing is, some of them have a really nice physical design. If I could only pick up some "defective" ones to use the shells only. sigh. LOL
These dryers are good but for the price point I think they should have rotating rollers. I would never pay £76 for one I have a sunlu dryer and I paid £35 for 2 years ago I won't be buying one for this ridiculous price
To avoid misunderstanding since the old dryer looks like set to PLA: both dryers were set to 70°C, only the old one was set manually (since it was not connected to smartphone and I couldn't change preset value over UI)
Excellent review, thank you.
I share your concern about the 'defined filament exit' hole and chose to use the 'vent' hole.
When I purchased my unit in December, I asked for clarification on the intended Filament exit and was told I could drill another one anywhere I wanted in the top. Not wanting to void any warranty, I avoided potentially damaging the lid.
I successfully ran the unit for a few weeks; while printing from it to get the filament rotation you advised.
After several print jobs & filament swaps, the unit failed to do more than 'BEEP & run the fan for a few seconds'.
The LCD no longer would turn on, as I attempted to power it up
I suspect the Tiny Lid Mounted ribbon cable may have failed, near the hinge point; which made me take note of the 'spare cables' they sent you.
When it worked, I liked the Dryer and the Smartphone control. My only successful means to turn it off was to unplug it, frustrated by the multifunction On/Off button.
Having a cable strapped across the lid hinge seems like a bad idea to me; and I await their response to my failure report.
Have you had to repair your unit with those cables they provided you ??
Sounds like junk, buy something else!
TY. Excellent reviewing skills as always :)
As always thx for your precise tests
I am not sure if they changed anything on the version that I got this week, but you can change the filament drying preset on the device itself.
Long press the middle button, wait until it beeps and the filament selection will start flashing. Then press once on it to advance the preset selection.
The current version of the manual also mentions and shows the top/lid hole as being meant to route the filament through there.
Would love to see a review of the FIXDRY NT1 and the FIXDRY Dual Spool filament driers. Keep up the good work!
Fixdry (dual filament version) is on the way..
This filament dryer is dangerous! It melted itself and almost caught my house on fire! There are other amazon reviews that have this problem as well
Thanks for this review, very useful testing and tech info. So far it seems this is the only company listening about temperature, particularly for nylon where the optimal temp is 80c. Another simple mod could be a stepper motor for even spool heating/drying. As for the filament feed hole? How can any serious company still be locating the filament exit hole at such a crazy angle? One has to wonder if they ever actually trial their drier with a printer?
Great in depth review thank you!
Unfortunately they are sold out on the website. Will have to wait for restocking
amazon has them in stock with a $10 off coupon as of today 01/15/24
@@EverydayManDan thanks I found it
One of them is set to nylon and the other to PLA during the test. How does the filament buried deep inside the spool get dry? Seems like a placebo and no one ever seems to test if the filament itself actually does get dry (weigh the spool before and after).
Both are set to 70°C. The old one was not connected to smartphone and as I mentioned, I coudln't change the preset value over UI. So I just changed manually the temp to 70°C.
Finally, i hope they have also a solution to my problem...
Video molto interessante e ben fatto, complimenti. Come si riconosce il modello vecchio da quello nuovo?
They sent me a "prototype" which had the thermosistor under the tape. I went through their little video showing how to slice the thermosistor out and try to heat up...but it still struggles. The menu / beeping is hands down the most annoying of all the 6 dryers I have in my lab. They haven;t reached out to me to replace this with a "fixed" version. If anything, they wanted me to ship this to another "tester" (sure, let's anger more perspective customers?) So, they may score well but I am really unimpressed with how they do business.
Great update video
Good points
Thanks for sharing your expirences with all of us :-)
I bought one of these but it seems to overshoot 10-15 degrees while heating up to a setpoint. Example if I set 55c it will go almost as high as 70c inside on the way up to 55c. Once it reaches the setpoint it maintains within 6-7c. In comparison my cheap dehydrator cycles +/- only a couple degrees.
Both spool holder axles don't spin freely unfortunately due to one shaft being bent and the one the bearings are not mounted straight.
By cheap dehydrator you mean a food dehydrator? I'm shopping for a filament dryer and trying to decide between a dedicated dryer and a food dehydrator.
Thank you
OK, so I have the dryer that was supplied as part of the Kickstarter campaign. It was delivered so late, I just tossed the box on the shelf and forgot about it. Just the other day I dug it out and tried to use it.
Yes, the UI on the unit is just abysmal. I can set the led color (that of course is of no use to me whatsoever). I can set filament type, the temperature and the time. But I cannot start the drying cycle. Any manipulation of the center button just turns the unit off.
I have tried the app, it searches and finds the unit, but refuses to connect to it.
So I guess I’ll put it back in the box and throw the box into my electronic recycling bin.
I have a new Creality dryer which in the US, it’s cheaper than the new Gratkit. It is so easy to use and is very effective. Some people have reported problems with the humidity measurement sensor, but mine works perfectly.
I found that the Fixdry units are not up to snuff with accurate temperature measurements
Bonjour, oh mince je viens de commander une version "Official Refurbished" à 33,99€ sur le site de Gratkit j'espère recevoir un nouveau modèle sinon il me restera plus qu'à éloigné la sonde de température ( est-ce qu'on voit la différence lorsqu'on vous ouvrez les 2 modèles (nouveau et ancien) merci de votre retour
Is there an easy way to tell if you have an original unit or the most recent one. I got one in 11/2023 so I think it's the newer, but I would like to make sure.
Try to heat up to 70°C if it stops at 50-55 you have the old one. If it is close to 70 the new one. (no need for separate thermistor, you can use one shown on display)
just got one from Amazon and it seems to be the old version since it's getting only 49,4 *C
Is it me or is the old one set to PLA ?
Looks a lot like it, yes.
No, manually it was set to 70°C (as I mentioned over UI it is almost impossible to change preset value and I didn't connect it to smartphone)
I don’t like the interface - app is solala - but what I don’t get is they are making an wireless interface to outside why not directly to Klipper.
Nice review Igor. I would be happy to use the Sunlu method - I have a Sunlu that comes with a PTFE tube and a grommet that fits in a slot at the front where the lid meets the case. If the filamentt is fud from the bottom of the spool this tesults in near-perfect tangential feed, so I would cut a similar slot in the front of this one.
As to software, dince the move away from C as the language of choice, all software seems incredibly bloated to me. It includes a ton of unused library code and ia not efficiently compiled.
For s my all,vefficient code, give ne C every time. C++ was the start of a slippery slope
The really sad thing about almost all of these so-called "dryers" from China, is that none of them are firmware updatable!
Most of them don't even consider that the filament must exit at a correct tangent.
Most have these sharp angles that will cause problems. If not snapping PLA filament, then more than likely causing extra tension on the filament, that causes extrusion errors.
And most don't circulate the hot air very well, as seen here. Hotter on bottom than on top.
None of them seem to have good circulation nor do any of them have a motor to slowly spin the spool.
The more I see these things, the more I'm tempted to just make my own.
The only thing is, some of them have a really nice physical design.
If I could only pick up some "defective" ones to use the shells only. sigh. LOL
These dryers are good but for the price point I think they should have rotating rollers. I would never pay £76 for one I have a sunlu dryer and I paid £35 for 2 years ago I won't be buying one for this ridiculous price