Rapid Moisture Removal Prototype

thingiverse

First off, this is just documenting one of my infamous project ideas (that totally bypassed the planning stage). Full disclosure, I don't have a clue what I'm doing but, it seems a harmless enough venture. My PLA stock was getting completely out of control and half the time spools didn't come with a sealable bag leading to moisture issues. My fault. So, I grabbed a couple $7 containers from Home Depot, picked up some silica gel desiccant from Amazon and printed a couple Desiccant Box with Slotted Snap-on Lid things by micromet. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:531437 http://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Orange-Indicating-Desiccant-Replacement/dp/B00BXJ52GO Definitely neater. Over the last couple days, the humidity inside the containers has been slowly decreasing and the beads are changing color at about the pace I expected. Some of these spools have been stored in less than ideal conditions for at least a year so there's probably a fair amount of hidden moisture. Over time this setup seems really good but, I've rarely been accused of being a patient person. Guessing more air flow over and around the desiccant beads might speed things up. I found a 12VDC 120mm 64 CFM cooling fan (I've also rarely been accused of being subtle) in my salvage box, applied some WAG (Wild A** Guess) engineering for the air flow and dimensions and quick modeled this thing to try out the idea. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048 The goal is to change and recharge the media every couple hours until the moisture level is exactly where you want it. I prefer things that don't have a single purpose. This is massive overkill for PLA storage, I'm actually thinking about a better solution for drying nylon.. http://taulman3d.com/drying-materials.html http://richrap.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/3d-printing-with-nylon-618-filament-in.html 2016-05-22 update First, I normally print with PLA and forgot to remember that ABS is bad for shapes like this with my setup. Got some nasty lifts and gaps in the bin, the rest printed fine. Fortunately, I don't need it waterproof, just bead proof so some white electrical tape fixed up the bin just fine. Second, the screws to mount the fan should be M4 or 8-32. I had both handy, but not the right length. More tape was indicated. Eh, it's rapid prototype/proof of concept... fix the rest in the mix. In the time it took me to type this, the internal humidity dropped 3%, looks promising. 2016-05-23 update Well, that certainly seems to work as intended. Compare the image of the fresh media to the stuff that's been in the storage bin with the fan on for 24 hours. Opted to do a control tonight without the fan to check if the party responsible for the good result was the increased air flow or the extra volume of media. 2016-05-26 update Definitely the air flow. Two days without the fan and the beads look almost like new. Print Settings Printer Brand: LulzBot Printer: Mini Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: 0.2 Infill: 25% or whatever