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Filament stock storage

PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:13 pm
by orcinus
How do you guys store your filament?
I'm currently giving this a try:

Image

It's not tupperware, it actually fits two 0.75kg reels whole and leaves room for plenty of loose filament rolls (i fit a kilo of gray unspooled PLA next to these comfortably and there's still room to spare). It's a box meant for storage / refrigeration of food. It's completely airtight and even comes with replaceable color ID tags you clip on the corner of the lid and the box. The only trouble is - they're damned expensive (cca $16 a piece).

Oh, and if you've been wondering where to get all that desiccant... The answer is - in a pet store. They sell silica gel in 3, 6 and 9 liter bags, repurposed as cat litter. It's pure silica gel, no sand or anything mixed in. Something like $5-10 for 3+ liters.

Edit: it's liters, not kilos.

Re: Filament stock storage

PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:31 pm
by OliverK
Same style tub with a bucket of DampRid inside. I also give it a generous squirt of Dry-Air-Blanket before closing it (probably overkill).

DryStuff1.jpg

DAB also does a great job of keeping Pringles crunchy...

The plan is to mount the filament reels permanently inside sealed tubs, with just the feeder tubes coming out and going directly to the printer... then I found this:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:62826

Re: Filament stock storage

PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:35 pm
by orcinus
Hmmm. That multi-roll dispenser looks pretty cool.
Now if i could just find a box/tub that's big enough to fit a spool in that orientation...

Re: Filament stock storage

PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 8:22 am
by flurin
orcinus wrote:How do you guys store your filament?


My filaments are in my home office on the floor.

Filaments.JPG

I didn't have any issues yet or maybe I didn't recognize the relation between humidity and print quaility. I'm wondering whether this could make a big difference. Did you try printing the same object with different humidity values?

Re: Filament stock storage

PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:06 pm
by orcinus
I haven't, but i can validate there is an effect due to direct observation...

I've had a loose spool of filament that soaked up enough moisture that, during a cold evening print, you could actually see little puffs of steam exiting the nozzle if you'd extrude fast enough. Also, for the stock that's been standing out in the open the longest, i've had the least even layers and the most gaps.

The effects and the need for storage vary a lot, depending on the locale you live in.

Re: Filament stock storage

PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:29 pm
by flurin
Just in case here is my quick solution:

Filamentbags.JPG

Re: Filament stock storage

PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 6:26 pm
by cvoinescu
Hey, that's wrong! :o They're in a different order now!

Re: Filament stock storage

PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 8:11 pm
by flurin
Yes you're right! it's deliberately to avoid funny comments :)

Re: Filament stock storage

PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 12:05 am
by orcinus
But... do they print the same in a different order? :o

PS: I originally had mine packed in zip-lock bags, but then ran out of them (the ones i had started losing the seal). And for some inexplicable reason, you can't find any over here, at least not in small quantities.

Re: Filament stock storage

PostPosted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 8:23 pm
by benmeyer
My first post, hopefully helpful:
You can make your own desiccant. You can buy a bag of copper sulphate cheaply from your garden supply store, typically in 1 kg bags. The crystals are blue. Pour 50g of crystals into a tin foil container and heat on your stove until they turn grey. The copper sulphate is now anhydrous (water free). It will now readily absorb water vapour. Put it in a transparent plastic container with holes in the lid so you can see how much absorption capacity the crystals still have. With silicate you won't know. Copper sulphate is not poisonous so just wipe up any that you might spill on your stove.