Resuscitate Moisture Riddled PLA With a Food Dehydrator

Introduction: Resuscitate Moisture Riddled PLA With a Food Dehydrator

A few months ago I got a couple of rolls of PLA which had been very badly affected by humidity/moisture. One spool in particular was so brittle it was unusable, the other I was wasting 2 to 2.5m of filament just trying to load it into the printer.

I'd read some things about using damp rid in a sealed container to pull the moisture out, but after the spool sat for weeks in a container, it was still unusable.

A week ago I had an idea to use a food dehydrator... And success! Even the spool which was genuinely useless (couldn't even load into the printer) now loads as expected and is printing fine. Pics show the setup.

Step 1: You'll Need...

.. a metal or ceramic bowl and of course the dehydrator

Step 2: Setup 2

Simply put the spool in the bowl and put a couple of layers from the dehydrator in (mine overheated within a couple of minutes if I didn't have these layers in place).

Step 3: Done!

So far both the spools I've tested this on have been at room temperature for over a week and show no signs of the brittle breakage problems.

Even the spool which was completely unusable loads and prints perfectly.

3D Printing Contest 2016

Participated in the
3D Printing Contest 2016

Be the First to Share

    Recommendations

    • Big and Small Contest

      Big and Small Contest
    • Game Design: Student Design Challenge

      Game Design: Student Design Challenge
    • Make It Bridge

      Make It Bridge

    Comments

    0
    Dark Alchemist
    Dark Alchemist

    5 years ago

    You are lucky to have a top down unit as mine is a bottom up (most are). What brand and model is this and does it have a fan in the model?