3DPrinting

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3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

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I dried my filament, and it printed a lot better (self.3dprinting)

submitted 2 years ago by zipsglacier to c/3dprinting

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

If only there was some way I could have known to try this sooner! /s

Story: I wanted to try printing with petg, since I've read how much easier it is. But with a new roll I just had a really hard time. Lots of stringing, poor adhesion, and it just seemed like no amount of my usual fiddling would really make it better.

Somewhere I read that even new filament can benefit from drying, because maybe it wasn't stored in the best way, or maybe it's older than you think. I also read about putting the roll on the print bed, heating it up and covering it for a long time, since I don't have a filament dryer. I did that for about half a day, and then sealed the roll in a ziptop bag with a silica packet because I needed a break from it. A week later and, it seems much better!?

Either the drying, the break, or something else seems to have helped a lot! Happy printing everyone.

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[–] bigredgiraffe 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

I have found the same, especially with PETG and PA. I even live in a fairly dry climate (Colorado, USA) and the normal air humidity is low (15-30% is not in common) so I figured it would be okay but nope! Huge differences in print quality and layer adhesion. PLA seems to not be remotely as picky but it does help.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

@bigredgiraffe

@zipsglacier

PLA will mostly get brittle over time as it absorbs water. Biggest issue is that if it becomes more likely to break while feeding. Drying will help some there. On the whole, it's fairly low in hygroscopicity compared to a lot of other materials.

[–] zipsglacier 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

oh, I've actually been thinking that people in really dry climates must have a great time; I guess the dry air alone isn't enough though!

[–] bigredgiraffe 2 points 2 years ago

Okay glad it wasn’t just me then haha. I think it was Zach from VoidStar that mentioned he lived in Denver area in one of his videos and I was like “wait a second, he has a whole dry room…” and gave it a whirl and the results spoke for themselves.