Dry air chamber for spool

[Fast one]

Last week the humidity went up and the print quality went down, parts had deletions and no strength. Older posts talk about the need to keep material dry to avoid humidity caused problems. I bought large paint pails for storage of spools but something was needed that would keep the spool in use dry all day. I found a Farberware 5 Qt. covered dutch oven pot #21871 at Target for $25 that is the perfect size to enclose a spool in use. Although the pot could have been attached to the original spool mount, a stronger design was made including a ball bearing spindle. The glass cover has a hole in the center and it screws onto the end of the spindle to seal out moisture. Two tapered guide ports were printed and mounted on the front side of the pot with a thin silicone rubber seal on each, a small center hole in the silicone is large enough for the filament to pass but small enough to keep out moisture. Several desiccant packs were added at the bottom of the pot to keep the inside dry. Now long print times are no problem and the spool can be left on the machine without absorbing humidity.
/Users/edwarddomm/Pictures/iPhoto Library.photolibrary/Masters/2015/06/03/20150603-133736/IMG_2017.JPG

[jd_3d]

Nice!

[mrSEADEMON]

good

[Fast one]

I tried a two gallon Ziploc freezer bag on the original spool holder and it worked very well. The bag was placed between the metal support and plastic guide/ holder where the four screws are so that the spool and plastic guide are enclosed. Opening the bag from the right side allows spool removal.

[Hanaleiguy]

Gonna try the ziplock bag with desicant, I'm in Hawaii 82% humidity _ Thanks

[Elijah]

For some of our experiments in the office we used Rubbermade brand plastic containers in the same way with success.