Since the guy in the video exposed the difference in adsorb vs absorb, it technically is incorrect to say filaments “absorb” water. They are plastics. They may absorb small amounts but the process is actually adsorption.
Adsorption is different. Pretty much any metal surface you look at has at least a few monolayers of water stuck (adsorbed) to the surface. You can’t see it or feel it but it’s there and can be measured. It’s definitely not “absorbed” water, though.
Many filaments, with all their chemical functionality, also hold water on their surfaces.
There seems to be a widespread notion that water soaking is the same thing as the effect of atmospheric humidity interaction with filament.
This has been analyzed, discussed, and tested to death, I’ll just say two things…
First, take a look at any “water repellent+breathable" type of outdoor gear - tents, jackets, boots, whatever. They work because liquid water is a vastly larger particle than the humidity that’s in air - so humid air inside the item can find it’s way out, but water from outside can’t find it’s way in.
Secondly, there is definitely a non-reversible effect that happens with some filaments - it’s been suggested that hydrogen bonds may be the operative principle, I don’t know, but some filaments, once exposed to humidity are changed to the point where no amount of drying seems to bring them back.
That’s true but even if liquid water doesn’t fully wet the filament or penetrate down into cracks, the humidity in those cracks and voids will be around 100% where water effects will still happen if they are going to happen.
Submersing a spool in water is dramatic but high humidity is really all that is needed to provoke water issues.
That is exactly what PLA does when it has absorbed too much water. It gets brittle and it breaks.
PLA is hygroscopic, it absorbs moisture (from the air even if you don’t submerge it in a bucket of water). Through a process called “hydrolysis”, when enough water molecules have jammed themselves between the long molecular chains of the plastic, they break the bonds in those chains, which causes the plastic to lose flexibility and tensile strength.
This damage is cumulative. If the filament gets wet enough, this process starts to occur and it cannot be undone by drying.
Assuming you are able to successfully splice a break, it’s just going to break someplace else. The changes to the plastic that lead this breaking-apart-on-the-spool behavior are uniform. The breaks occur at the spots where the stress just happens to be marginally higher. But the entire filament is essentially at the same weakened level. Similar stress any place else will break it the same way…
You’re probably going to have to dry it to try and spice it cleanly.
In the US, we’re still free to jam anything we want, conductive or otherwise so long as it will fit, in to our wall sockets. My government isn’t going to protect me from my own stupidity. No sir. Not while I still live and breath…
Not sure what value there is in making new wet filament when it ruined a spool of filament already. It’s at least going to ruin any prints and will probably do the same thing again and disintegrate on the spool.
