I mispoke. I was thinking 5,000 wasn’t much, but actually it’s big. To better calibrate that number I looked up unit sales for the most successful 3d printer kickstarters (the closest thing I could think of), and it was 5,500 for Bambulab X1, which was the biggest ever before the U1’s kickstarter, and 20,680 for U1, the biggest ever. So, about all we can say is that if Sunlu reaches 5,000, it’s actually a strong demand signal, but only knowing that 5,000 wasn’t reached isn’t by itself enough to say demand is weak. It might be, or it might be just shy of 5,000. We can’t know which.
I think even increasing the amount of desiccant in the dryer wouldn’t necessarily improve performance. If at all I would assume that it reduces frequency of drying cycles.
What I would suggest is ensuring high air flow through the sieve. My colleagues made a drybox for electronic components with a small container filled with molecular sieve, a fan blowing into it and a small Arduino like controller. the cabinet had maybe 20L. When you turn the fan on, humidity jumps from 50% RH to 2-3% in ± 1 second and after another second it is below 1%.
I would also be curious how the Sunlu cabinet decides, when it is time to regenerate the sieve, any idea?
Yep. I left the increase the amount of sieves thing alone because there is much unknown. The operation could just be on a timer or it could be based on humidity.
I think we’ll just need to wait and see what we’re dealing with.