Bambu PLA started at 28% humidity, dried for 8 hours and still 28% humidity.
I dried some PETG and it went from 17% humidity to <10% so I was shocked to see the PLA not budge. Should I do another dry cycle or are these standard hygrometers just junk?
I’m using a Eibos Easdry X on the PLA setting.
I’ve think that using a digital scale to measure weight provides a better indication of filament dryness. Even if the hygrometer is accurate, it is showing the moisture content of the air, not the filament. I assume the filament is dry if the weight of the spool stopped dropping and held steady for a couple of hours. I also weigh my spools before and after they go into vacuum bags for storage so I can tell if they have absorbed moisture.
Awesome recommendation I never thought about that. I just assumed that seeing such a massive improvement in the same container with the PETG that I was expecting the same results. I have never measured filament before to determine the wetness do you have a video or link to information on what I should be looking for and what would be a good scale to use? Thanks
I don’t think the brand matters much, they all seem to be about the same, with different names. The platform size can be important. I started out using our kitchen scale, which measures to the nearest gram:
Carrying it back and forth to the shop was a nuisance, and an annoyance to my wife when I forgot to return it to the kitchen. So I bought another one, which was cheap, and measures to the nearest 0.1 gram:
This works, but the platform is a bit too small at ~100 mm square. A spool on its side overlaps the screen, making it difficult to see the weight. So, the new scale is in the kitchen, where a half gram can make a difference in baking, and the old scale (180 mm² platform) is in the shop. One gram precision is adequate for my purposes.
I don’t worry if a filament gains a gram in storage (which they do, even in a vacuum bag with desiccant). If it has gained 2-3 grams, I dry it before use. I always dry new spools and they lose 1 to 6 grams right out of the bag. Keep in mind that some of the loss can be from the actual spools, especially cardboard.
Crude label, pasted on to record weight:
I recognize your hygrometer from ones I used to use. They are horrible. They never correlated with other any other sources of humidity info. I got these and threw all the old ones out.
