This seems like an excellent reason to have hotends dedicated to specific types of filament, and an easy way to swap them on and off the printer, or stick to 1 type of filament, or have entire printers dedicated to specific types of filament.
Yeah, I use my enclosed Anet A8 for ABS and the TronXY X5 for PLA right now. With the removable heads of the GeitPrinter I plan on doing exactly that.
All good suggestions. I try and always remove my PETG or ABS as soon as I can after printing. This gets the filament out of the hot end and allows me to store it in a sealed container. I usually load all of my filament at 240c then print at 210 for PLA. I have never had a problem with loading at that temp, as it will melt all of the material I use.
I was just thinking of a strategy like that yesterday. I was thinking of 245C or 250C, just to make sure it’s all melted, but your experience would seem to suggest I don’t need to go that high.
I’m also going to have to come up with a strategy for storing spools. It turns out that the resealable bags the manufacturers ship the filament in don’t really hold vacuum all that well, which is a little disappointing. I also don’t want to spend $20 - $30 on a simple tupperware container. Hmmmm
I purchased some Sterilite clear 76 qt containers that seal fairly well. I just checked they are around $10 each at Walmart. I store all of the desiccant packages that I get with the rolls of filament inside. I attached some pictures - also my dryer - you can also use that to renew your desiccant packs
Tsk tsk Dave, such an untidy mess. What would you mother say? ??? Sorry, couldn’t resist. Besides, compared to my current setup, it’s very tidy.
I’ve been auditing YT videos on using microwave ovens to rejuvenate silica gel packs. One of them said to open the packs and pour the beads into a microwave safe container, but I’m not sure why that’s needed. I’m still researching. It does seem easier than using an oven, and faster than using a dessicator, although I’m sure a dessicator is just fine when time isn’t a concern.
Have you noticed how scarce dessicators have become. It seems there are an awful lot of people getting into 3D printing: many, many things are in short, or no, supply.
I made a video just to show how i print PETG in lower temperatures that manufacturer suggest successfuly. In this video eSUN suggest 230 - 250 printing temp in 90 deg bed. I print in 210C in 90C bed and the result quite stunning!
Since i can’t upload video here,this is the link to my DropBox. Dropbox - File Deleted