What's the best way (outside of silica beads) to store filament sensitive to moisture? I feel like filament buried under a couple pounds of rice will stay pretty dry. I understand that frequently exposing the rice to humid air will cause the rice to less effective but I would only plan on opening the container to put a new spool in and replace the old one.
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asked Sep 24, 2018 at 10:28
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$\begingroup$ What kind of filament? PLA is pretty much unaffected by moisture, ABS endures reasonably outside, Nylons need a drybox and are best printed from the box through a bowden tube into a bowden extruder with little to no exposure to air... Storage is filament dependant. $\endgroup$– TrishSep 24, 2018 at 11:11
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3$\begingroup$ Rice isn't actually a very good desiccant. See also Gazelle’s Guide to Water Damage: The Truth About Rice, the Galaxy and Everything. $\endgroup$– Tom van der ZandenSep 24, 2018 at 11:39
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$\begingroup$ @TomvanderZanden - While rice would not be optimal (compared to silica beads), it's a lot better than nothing (even by the links you've given) and is a lot cheaper/easier to obtain. I'd agree, though, silica beads as a descant isn't all that expensive and most of the factory sealed filament packages come with a packet in them already. $\endgroup$– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2Sep 24, 2018 at 15:04
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3$\begingroup$ You might make this a proper question if you'd put the scope on "What kind of cheap, household available desiccant could be used to keep my filament dry"? $\endgroup$– TrishSep 24, 2018 at 16:11
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1$\begingroup$ @Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Actually, it could be worse than nothing if the filament is more hygroscopic than the rice. The filament could end up pulling water out of the rice. $\endgroup$– Tom van der ZandenSep 24, 2018 at 18:07
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1 Answer
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If you don't want to use silica beads, or can't get any (it seems to be a very American thing, you can't buy any here in France except if you go through a specialized reseller), you can put them in a sealable plastic box with one of those big desiccants for rooms.
That's what I use for my Nylon and PVA from Ultimaker and it works like a charm. It keeps humidity at about 25% inside the plastic box, and I even managed to save a roll of PVA by letting rest in a box with one of these for a couple weeks.
