I build a filament dryer/feeder for less than 40 Euro

Since I wanted to start printing PETG and flexible filaments, I needed something to keep the filament dry and to get filament dry.

It utilizes my 10mm filament spool holder system, but I included the source file, so everyone can adapt it to his needs.

I basically combined a food dehydrator with a cake tray cover, added a PTFE coupling and some pipe. I also replaced a cover inside the dehydrator and screwed in my own design for better heat distribution and to secure my spool. Done :smiley:

Have fun!

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Nice. Iā€™ve looked at doing something similar, except I would prefer for it to hold 2 or 3 spools. Now, I have to say, I print mostly PETG and, so far, I havenā€™t really had any issues with moisture, at least no popping or evidence of steam coming off filament, or extra brittleness.

Well, I plan to do a similar mod to a plastic container and now I also have a way to dry all my gathered silica gel packages.

Nice indeed. Well done Geit. A friend of mine tried to build a F dryer and the fillament ended up like chicken with potatos. Was tastyā€¦LOL!

Excellent point.

Well, iā€™ve found a year ago a F dryer from eSUN as cheap as 50 Euros. If someone donā€™t have the time to build one, i think this is a great solution. Otherwise, you have to go like Geitā€™s project by adding a small heated bed in 12V or 24V and an Arduino temperature controlling with TFT screen. Canā€™t think of the total price ( this might be over that 40 Euros ) but could be a fancy dryer unit. What do you thing Geit?

Sure it would be possible, but it is a lot of work. Especially the enclosure. You also need a fan to distribute the air. Inlet at the bottom, outlet at the top. Programming the stuff, mounting the tech stuff outside, which also needs a case. Stuff piles up, which such a simple project. Of course you could get away with sloppy design, but in the end it will fail you one way or another.

But if you build it fitting your needs, you can do multi filament storage or even a complete heated and well isolated cabinet. I mainly want to be able to print flexible filament and keep the stuff dry. There is no limit. That is the joy of making.

My solution was not only about the pricing, but on the availability and the time needed to build. Beside the designing and printing the spool mount it took me about half a hour to prepare the dome and replace the old cover plate by the new printed one. It actually turned out to be build faster than I was expecting. So I now can process with the real stuff I want to make and not work on basic support.

Also worth mentioning is that my solution is at least secure from power and from heat distribution side. I even have warranty in case I have a problem with the unit.

The sad part is how scarce dehydrators have become since the start of the pandemic.

Really? Here LIDL started selling them last week, and when I reconsidered on Thursday they still had three on stock. ALDI NORD sells them next week for the same price, just a different label at the front. So from my perspective there is next to no shortage.

Just searched Amazon and there are plenty of them available. Even the model I used with yet another brand. Just for more money.

You can findā€™em almost everywere

I can see a few round ones on Amazon in North America, but they have doubled in price. Ones I used to be able to get for $40 and now $80 or even over $100.

Check eSUNā€™s Fdryer

Sold out, Sold out, and $101, to hold 1 spool.

https://www.amazon.com/-/de/Gastroraā€¦310145&sr=8-20

This one seems to be the same model I used, just far more expensive, but I guess that has more to do with the some fancy china tax than a real corona reason. :slight_smile:

You can always print an enclosure as big as you want. You just need a proper heating and base unit. You can also buy the rings separately and cut off the inner stuff, where normally the food gets placed. So you can stack it as high as you need.