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**roon4660** · 03-20-2022, 11:37 AM

I use a cheap Amazon food dehydrator.

**Gramps** · 03-21-2022, 10:59 AM

I'm using this food dehydrator it will hold 2 rolls of filament. I had a Sovol dryer that lasted one use and shorted out. So I went with the food dehydrator instead.

Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091KQV3WW?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

**Ender5r** · 03-21-2022, 11:17 AM

That looks like 1 of the dehydrators where you have to cut out the center part of each layer.

**Gramps** · 03-21-2022, 11:26 AM

It is but that isn't that hard of a job. I ordered a cabinet type but it was to small to hold a roll of filament but the price was right I didn't want to spend over $100 for one.

**Ender5r** · 03-21-2022, 11:28 AM

I have 2 flip-top type dryers that hold the spools vertically.

**Gramps** · 03-26-2022, 06:05 PM

This just came up in my YT feed. Built a sealed cabinet to store his filament and then took a mini frog and made it into a dehumidifier.

https://youtu.be/lSoi_5Gs2n0

**Ender5r** · 03-26-2022, 06:24 PM

ah, a mini fridge. I was wondering how a frog could do that

Anyway, interesting project. My vacuum tubs with silica gel seem to be able to get down to 10%. I'm happy with that.

**Gramps** · 03-26-2022, 09:59 PM

How much silica are you using in each container. According to Dry & Dry for 4L you would need about 2.5 grams which doesn't seem to be very much at all.

**Ender5r** · 03-26-2022, 10:11 PM

I think I previously linked you to the thread where I posted about them, but this is the container I use:

They're 40mm diameter, 80mm tall. I fill them with silica gel. I've never measured the weight. I'm using orange-to-dark-green/blue gel. I keep fresh gel in 1 mason jar and dump stale gel into another. I bake stale gel for 1 hour on a cookie sheet in a 230F/110C oven to refresh it.

**Gramps** · 03-26-2022, 11:51 PM

I did see those when you linked them before and also checked out the thread where you talked about them. Size wish I figured your spool containers were close to the same size as the ones I just bought. Mine are 4L or 135 oz. I started to use the loose silica gel but decided to use the packets for Dry & Dry it's the same gel you use but in little see through packets. they are 5 gram packets I'll probably start with 2 in each container and see how it goes. Got some small round hydrometer to put in each container.

**roon4660** · 03-27-2022, 12:21 AM

Is anyone concerned about becoming a little bit anal about 3d printing?

**roon4660** · 03-27-2022, 12:22 AM

I believe it is as much an art as a science. Just like Vax.

**Geit** · 03-27-2022, 08:56 AM

I build my own filament dryer:

Cheap Filament Dryer/Feeder for less than 40 Euro (Customizable) by geit_de

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4578549

This is a small project, that just turned out great. Moisture soaking filaments are a pain to use. That´s common knowledge and before even buying my first role of PETG or flexible filament, I was thinking about the infrastructure I would need, since I did not want to waste one spool after another just to print one or two parts a week. Within the ALDI and LIDL shops (if you are in Germany, LIDL has leftovers and ALDI gets the thing next week) in Germany I frequently saw these food dehydrator devices, which are big enough to fit a spool with my 10mm Axle mounted. All it required was a proper cover and a spool holder mounted inside. Please Note: You don´t need this print, if you just want to dry filament, but it provides a better air flow than just putting the spool onto the floor of the dryer, where the hot air goes straight through the middle of the spool to the top of the cover. Requirements: *1 food dehydrator (dry food maker, Dörrautomat) *1 32cm diameter cake tray cover. Any of these should do. Just make sure they are suitable for dish washer use, so they can handle the temperature. *4 self cutting screws (the two delivered with the device are fine, but the case is prepared for four screws and you need slightly longer ones to secure the holder properly. *Some ABS or other more temperature resistant filament to print the spool mount. At first I was thinking about printing the entire enclosure. That´s why the source file includes a filament ring like the ones included with the dryer, just without the tray area. However, even so my printer can handle the size, it would be a long print and I would require around 8 or 9 of those prints. We are talking about around 60 hours of printing or more. Next idea was to cut out the plastic from the original rings. Problem: If one breaks we loose. I saw Jon from Proper Printing melting away the inner parts on his channel, but the result was not entirely to my liking, even if it is efficient and quick. It also take a huge amount of time to remove the floor grid and clean the result, so it looks okay. Then I had the idea of buying a bowl as cover and when walking though a dollar store I found the perfect solution right next to the bowls. A cake tray! :D A cake tray cover works fine, so I dropped the idea of the bowl. The one I found was perfect. You can use smaller ones, as long as the spool fits underneath and between. :D There is no need to create an air tight seal or so, as the air will be blown out there, rather than sucked in. Building this thingy is quite easy. Just unscrew the old plastic cover, and put on the new printed one using four screws. Make sure the metal cover and the metal mesh stays in place and do not let a screw fall into the heating pipe pit. Conversion done. You need to drill some holes into the top of the cake tray cover. Look onto the original plastic cover of the dryer to get an idea what size you need. These are required to release the moistened air. There is no need to cut anything, from the bottom of the cake tray cover unless the locking mechanism leftovers prevent it from being inserted into the food dehydrator. It does not need and must not be air tight. If you also want to use the dryer as filament feeder, then you need an additional hole for the ptfe pipe coupler on the side. To avoid breaking the plastic I suggest to use a heated screw driver to melt a pilot hole into the desired location. Then use a small drill bit and clean the hole. Go to the next one and next one until the hole is perfect in size. Better slow than breaking the thing and wasting money. Mine was sturdy, so I drilled just some pilot holes by hand and used my electric power drill to enlarge them. In total this projects cost me about 40 Euro. 29,09 Euro for the food dehydrator and 7 Euro for the cake tray cover. PTFE coupling, screws, energy and filament are basically the rest. The result looks quite professional and beside the cake tray cover nothing gets destroyed. You always can undo the changes done to the food dehydrator. Just do not use it for food, while there is an ABS part mounted inside. :D Happy Printing

**Ender5r** · 03-27-2022, 12:38 PM

Originally posted by roon4660 View Post

Is anyone concerned about becoming a little bit anal about 3d printing?

I don't really think so. I don't fuss over my procedure. I got the tubs, bought the silica gel, designed and printed the containers. Now, I just use them. Once in a while I bake some stale gel in the oven. It really doesn't take up much time or impose on my procedure significantly.

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What Filament Dryer Do You Use?

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