How long do you have filament sitting “in the open”? I mostly print with a single filament roll at a time, and just leave it on the printer. A 1kg roll lasts me several weeks. For long time storage I keep it in an air tight box with disiccant pouches.
But how long can I let it sit before I should start storing it with disiccant and/or drying the filament before use?
I just got a cheap food dehydrator and stop thinking about it. I just print as needed, mostly functional stuff, or just enclosure for my electronic projects. 1 kg lasted me months, I’m still on the same kg that I bought early this year. And I’m in SEA, we have like 90+% humidity here.
I used to just open store, but I live in a desert. I now store and print from cheap cereal container diy dry boxes with desiccant. Prints have gotten much better for me. I almost always print PETG
Depends on the relative humidity in your house and the type of filament you use. I have usually ~30% humidity in my flat.
- PLA reall doesn’t care about humidity. I’ve got some 5yo rolls that still print like new, without storing them air-tight.
- PETG is fussier. After a few days they start to act up. I always have them in the filament dryer while printing.
- Specialist filaments (e.g. Nylon, Carbon, Wood) might be much more hydroscopic, depending on the material.
So i live in Germany, and i just put a bag with silica over the active roll and call it a day. But it depends very much on the material you print with, i print PLA and that dosn’t pull much moisture out of the air.
Best way to store them is go buy a cheap cooler and get some of those silica beads that you shouldn’t eat and toss them in the cooler with you filament should last a long time like this
