I finally got a filament drying box and I’m using it prior to and during prints. It seems to be helping. I’m a bit of a color queen, so I keep a pretty big backlog of different filaments. I’ve been storing them in vacuum bags but the vacuum bags often seem to lose some of their vacuum after a few months; the whole process is a bit of a pain. Is this really worthwhile or as long as I’m using the drying box can I forgoe the vacuum storage? If vacuum storage is still a good idea, are there better bags I should be looking for that don’t lose some of the vacuum after a few months or is that pretty standard?
For PETG and TPU absolutely, for ABS, probably.
For PLA it’s alright. I live in a high humidity area and so PLA left out for a few weeks tends to get brittle or have issues. But in reality even then it’s generally ok depending on the brand.
All that is to say if you live in a high humidity area get a filament dryer (or make one) and maybe a big thing of desiccant beads.
Put those in a tub and dump your filament in there and you’re probably good to go.
I put filament in my dryer and run the filament via PTFE tube to my printer.
So new filament goes in there and dries for a few hours before I print with it.
Anything I’m printing with goes in the dryer out of the tub and is usually fine but if it’s been sitting there for a few days or it’s going to rain I run the dryer.
But if its hygroscopic like PETG, etc it goes from a bag into the dryer, the dryer’s run while it’s in there and then back into the bag (along with a small canister of gel beads)
The vacuum isn’t so much of a deal as long as there’s somewhere for the moisture to go hence the dessicant beads.
TLDR: littleblue’s comment + bag up hygroscopic filaments
How long do these beads last before you need to dehydrate the beads?
I don’t live in a humid environment at all.
I would still keep everything bagged of course, but would be nice to not have to vacuum them each time and then re vacuum after a few weeks when the seal is failing.
They have some that change colors letting you know when it’s time but it’s months. Especially if you’re in a dry climate