Mar. 31, 2015 | By Simon
Although the existence of water vapor in the air - or, humidity - is beneficial for many environments (such as cigar humidors), it is far from desirable in many others, particularly when preserving dry materials is of utmost importance. Even microscopic levels of moisture can have a profound effect on my objects including small electronics and a range of materials that, by nature, are not finished with any sort of a protective agent. Among other places where humidity can cause problems is in 3D printing filament, which can lead to a variety of printing faults included cracked filament and warped printing.
When humidity interacts with 3D printing filament, it generally interacts in two ways: both physical and chemical.
Physically, depending on the chemical nature of a filament’s material makeup and the source of the humidity, water molecules can be absorbed into the material’s surface and cause it to warp. Chemically, and dependent mostly on the chemical interactions between the water molecules and the filament’s material type, diffusion can occur and further affect the physical properties of the filament before it even runs through an extruder.
After testing their own theories through long experimental processes and extensive calculations, 3D printing enthusiasts Ohad and Hanan have invented their own solution for preventing humidity problems in the 3D printing process that they’re calling FilaDry.
FilaDry is an enclosure for filament that provides an extremely dry environment along with a solution for providing precise control over hot air flow regimes. Unwelcome printing errors including filament cracking, extruder clogging are prevented as the FilaDry unit keeps the filament ready until it’s ready to be processed through the 3D printer.
Thanks to the heat produced through the FilaDry process, it not only removes any undesirable humidity but it also softens filament prior to being fed through an extruder. As anybody who has dealt with unclogging a nozzle knows, working with pre-heated and smooth filament can make a huge difference in the experience of creating a desirable 3D print. During their testing, Ohad and Hanan determined that their FilaDry filament drying process is able to dry any pre-affected filament in under one minute.
In order to test their assumptions, eight samples of two different grades of PLA filaments were exposed to a high humidity environment (70% relative humidity) for 24 hours. Once the filaments were removed from the environment, they were wiped to remove any excess water that wasn’t absorbed into the filament surface including microscopic cavities and imperfections. Following the removal, four samples of the filaments were treated using FilaDry and the other four were kept with no further processing.
Once all of the samples had been processed, they were examined more closely using thermal gravimetric analysis tools with a temperature ramp of 5°C per minute and up to 140 °C under nitrogen gas. The water content was examined between 40°C to 80°C in each sample as the derivative of the weight change in order to estimate the water content in the filaments. While the untreated filament had a water content of 1500-2000 parts per million (ppm), filaments that were treated with the FilaDry process registered at a mere 500 ppm. Ideally, filaments should be around 250 ppm and although the filament that was processed with FilaDry was higher than the ideal, it was still significantly lower than had it not been processed at all. Additionally, this testing didn’t take the preheating process before the filament enters an extruder into account.
Although not everybody will need the $149 USD FilaDry for ensuring that their filaments are kept dry and well-prepared for the printing process, it is certainly something for those who live in humid environments to look into.
Posted in 3D Printer Accessories
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I use a dehumidifier normally used in gun cabinets. I keep rolls of filament in a plastic container where the end is fed through a small hole into the printer. the dehumidifier is a Stack-On plug in unit which is a passive system. All i do is change out the Stack-On unit every week or two and viola, the inside of the box is kept at between 10 and 15% humidity and the rolls "soak" in a dry environment permanently. Though this approach does not pre-heat the rolls which would be better for the printing process.
Ohad wrote at 4/6/2015 10:27:21 AM:
Dear David, We already sent our product to testers , novice users and expert ones. The reviews were great and we will soon post the testimonials at our website. Best, Ohad
David Clunie wrote at 4/2/2015 11:46:41 PM:
Ohad please then show us whats in the box! You do a lot of talking upon your site, (along with many of typos) Diladry? But that aside, your claim of better prints, faster print times, etc. is all just "talk" show us prints, show us videos, and show us how the box works internally to show that it does what you say it does! Send out review units to users to test with and get them to promote your product, however don't be surprised if they give an honest review. Hiding behind a page of words with a price tag of a $149 isn't helping your cause. Again show us that this thing is beneficial, and worth the money and you'll have people lining up yelling "shut up and take our money!" dbclunie.com
Ohad wrote at 4/1/2015 2:38:02 PM:
Dear Les, This is an interesting question. PVA is not that common in 3d printing , so I most admit that we have't fully tested it yet. Preliminary results showed that FilaDry also improves printing with PVA and ABS. Nevertheless, we are currently in the middle of a fine tuning of an ABS, HIPS , and PVA FilaDry version.
Ohad wrote at 4/1/2015 2:31:58 PM:
Dear dbclunie.com , I can assure you that this is far from being a scam. It is easy to take one's work lightly and throw an opinion upon. The FilaDry has few unique technique , but most of all FilaDry is changing the way 3d printing community think about the effect of humidity on printing filaments. If you wish I can send you some documentation that will probably satisfy you . The process of R&D included the use of many state of the art instrumentation like Electron microscopy, TGA, DSC, Karl-fisher titration and many more. You can disagree with the product , but please do not underestimate the work and time that were invested in this product. Be well and most importantly enjoy 3d printing :)
dbclunie.com wrote at 3/31/2015 8:20:03 PM:
$149 for a 3d printed box, a heater and a fan, no thank you. This just smells of scam written all over it. They don't even show you how it works or is supposed to work just that it "drys" your filament, which makes me think the device is stupid simple and once people find that out they won't be paying $149 for it. As for myself, a 5gal home depot bucket some desacant and a 60w old school lightbulb and you've got yourself a filament drying machine! dbclunie.com
Les wrote at 3/31/2015 6:30:53 PM:
Will it work with humidified PVA?
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