Learn more about filament drying from Bambu Lab Wiki: Filament Drying Recommendations | Bambu Lab Wiki
But a few modifications — wet filament CAN be ruined if too much moisture gets in thanks to polymer chains being broken as excess water forces its way in. This causes brittle filament that breaks easily in AMS and extruder rollers.
The indicator in orange (and probably blue but that’s cobalt and a carcinogen and best not used in home environments) has a way too high humidity if it turns dark green. Depending on how it’s being used, it may need to be changed out while still some shade of orange.
The best way to judge the water content of silica gel desiccant is by measuring humidity in a closed container with it in there,
And in my experience water effects aren’t just off/on. They gradually kind of fade in depending on model complexity or requirements for well-behaved filament. Some models may print fine at a certain water content but something with overhangs or other more difficult features may show water effects at lower moisture contents.
Fiberous filaments can contain moisture due to air pockets , wood, metal, glass , carbon ,
Notice how drying makes filaments like tpu stiffer so the extruder can grab it
More and more I have a feeling that BL is prepping some sort of standalone drybox solution. These questionnaires and PSA sections are kinda leading into it.
Possibly. Issues with filament cost Bambu a lot of money and going by some posts here occasionally cause some so much frustration that they return or sell their printers.
And all the troubleshooting sending out replacement extruders, fans, or whatever else gets swapped out chasing water issues have got to impact the bottom line. And for a while Bambu was replacing spools of filament too. Not sure if they still are.
And water seems to have gotten PETG HF discontinued and replaced with PETG Basic to many of our disappointments.
I’ve spent close to two years paying close attention to water and how to deal with it and while it can cause a myriad of print problems, it’s easily dealt with if people get past the misconceptions and misleading filament moisture lore.
And the big issue there is people have different environments for drying and storing filament which leads to some who have dry environments swearing up and down that nobody needs to dry filament.
I really wonder how much water disrupts Bambu’s business and siphons off profits. A foolproof storage solution might be a good product for them and solve a lot of people’s water issues at the same time.
I don’t think it disrupts anything and of course it doesn’t siphon off any profit.
The reason would quite simpler - it’s a new market where BL can go in and have their own offering.