I’ve always had problems printing @taulman_ThreeD 's Nylon Bridge, until last night. It seems that my Drybox wasn’t working due to the silica being really damp, it’s just standard non colour changing stuff that I’ve salvaged from the multitude of silica packets I’ve got with spools.
Nuked the silica in the microwave in several heat/cool down sessions a day or so ago and left the Bridge in the box until last night. After putting in rod rest due to too much drag, I now have pretty damn perfect nylon bushings.
Also as a note, if you have an oven that isn’t that accurate on temperatures, don’t use it to dry your filament. You’ll end up softening the ABS Spool itself…
@Jean-Francois_Talbot - being in the UK, it’s not something I can get hold of too easily. And looking at the functionality of it, it’s no different to using Silica in a airtight box and drying it out like I have… If I shoved a moisture card in there it’d be pretty much exactly the same.
When I get chips from reputable suppliers, I usually get a little card telling me about exposure to moisture. Maybe you could put one of those on your box. Facing outward, you could see the indication from the outside.
@Duncan_Gunn - yeah I have one somewhere but where I have no clue.
@Griffin_Paquette - yeah with the amount of filament I go through it’s a cheaper option, takes a little time to build up but makes the little packets useful…
I just talked to my local pharmacist two days ago and asked if their shipments included desiccant. The answer is yes, and they are now putting a bunch aside for me.
Gotta remember that silica shipping packets are typically pretty well saturated by the time you get them. (A thin plastic bag just slows down moisture, it doesn’t stop it.)
Nylon loves water so much it will actually pull water out of silica unless the silica is bone-dry. I recommend oven-drying and then using calcium chloride (eg Damp-Rid) since it’s more aggressive at moisture absorption than silica.
Also, make sure to make your drybox out of polypropylene, not something permeable to water like polystyrene…
