Storing PLA filament ?

Loagi · 11 Sep 2021 at 13:59

We're not a particularly humid or hot country here in the UK, but is there anything I should be doing to keep my reels of PLA in good condition ?

I've seen various sealing bags with moisture absorbers but dunno if they are worth it here.

ScoobyDoo · 11 Sep 2021 at 14:56

You need to seal it somehow otherwise the moisture in the air will make the PLA brittle and break. I just use vaccum bags with the little moisture bags in there and
the PLA keeps perfectly.

Loagi · 12 Sep 2021 at 14:12

Thanks I've ordered a kit with some vacuum bags, a pump and desiccant packs. Silly question - do you keep your unused desiccant bags in a vacuum sealed bag to keep them 'unused' ?

andy_mk3 · 12 Sep 2021 at 14:13

We do have a reasonably humid climate here. A few weeks in to open will ruin a roll of PLA.

ScoobyDoo · 14 Sep 2021 at 14:52

Loagi said:
Thanks I've ordered a kit with some vacuum bags, a pump and desiccant packs. Silly question - do you keep your unused desiccant bags in a vacuum sealed bag to keep them 'unused' ?

I just keep them in a plastic bag but a vacuum one would be better

Gav_r26 · 14 Sep 2021 at 15:54

i use the 5l klipfresh boxes from Tesco. They fit a 1kg spool in nicely with some silica bags as well.

Klipfresh Box

LePhuronn · 21 Sep 2021 at 16:58

How quickly do you get through your filament?

My house is so damp it's verging on wet yet it took over a year for my active spool of PLA to go funny. I surprisingly burned through a 2nd spool in about 4 months and it was perfectly fine.

Rroff · 21 Sep 2021 at 17:01

On the flip side - between moving house and other reasons I left a roll of PLA on one of my 3D printers sitting in a corner and didn't touch it for ~2 years - it still *seems* to be fine. Not that I'd recommend that.

theone8181 · 23 Oct 2021 at 19:49

LePhuronn said:
How quickly do you get through your filament?

My house is so damp it's verging on wet yet it took over a year for my active spool of PLA to go funny. I surprisingly burned through a 2nd spool in about 4 months and it was perfectly fine.

I've found the same, seems to still work fine after multiple months.

Haze · 24 Oct 2021 at 07:07

Store mine in bags with silica bags (most of them)

theone8181 · 24 Oct 2021 at 08:26

Haze said:
Store mine in bags with silica bags (most of them)

You like your chocolates then :cry:

.

Haze · 24 Oct 2021 at 08:38

Asked around in local Facebook groups