SUNLU S4 Purge air option

Anyone here have a SUNLU S4 filament dryer? I was reading the literature and it talked about not blocking off the PTFE ports (8 total) because that is how it disposes of the moisture in the spools. Sounds reasonable but I was thinking that it might be possible to run that tubing to my AMS and then vent out of the AMS.
At some point the spools in the Sunlu dryer will be as dry as they are going to get, at which point you would be sending dry warm air to the AMS where it can help dry the spools in the AMS.

Haven’t tried it. Would need some type of adapter to get the PTFE into the AMS without letting outside air in.

I can’t imagine it being enough to matter unless left for a very long time. @MZip ?

Hey John, I sent WSquared a dm with thoughts to keep the forum cleaner.

I don’t recommend pumping filament dryer air into the AMS. First, it’s ambient air with all its humidity, plus it’s got the water liberated from the filament making it even more humid. All it has going for it is it’s warm but it will cool back down on its way to or in the AMS. You really want the AMS closed off from outside air as much as possible — unless it’s a dry air purge.

Without a pump to move the air from dryer to AMS all there would be is diffusion so probably not much harm and not much of anything. With a pump, it’s still just room air with all its water. Might as well leave the AMS door open in terms of effect.

One of the things I mentioned was water issues in the AMS can be from filament that isn’t completely dry. It’s the same thing I mentioned with just putting a spool of filament in a poly box with a hygrometer. Put a spool in the AMS that isn’t completely dry (wetter than the AMS humidity) and it will raise the humidity in the AMS, the desiccant will scavenge it out, humidity will rise a little, and that will go through AMS desiccant faster.

The filament will humidify or dry the poly box air to a level related to its water content. It’s not super fast but happens over hours. This is just a filament version of what a lot of silica gel is used for - maintaining humidity. They condition the silica gel to the humidity they want and put it into whatever container they want to hold that humidity. Museums and preservationists/archivists do this all the time. In terms of effect, filament is just not very efficient silica gel. Meanwhile, the AMS desiccant is removing the excess water and turning to liquid slowly but surely.

But the humidity test with a poly box and hygrometer (no desiccant) is a quick (hours) and easy test to see what you are putting in an AMS. If a spool goes into the poly box and humidity goes to 30% for example, put that spool in the AMS showing “1” (presumably 10%) and water will start moving fro filament to AMS desiccant slowly and all the while it will be raising the humidity in the AMS. If the AMS is showing “2”, putting a spool that had a 10% RH in the poly box will make the filament a stronger desiccant than the AMS desiccant and the filament will actually help dry the AMS.

That should stir the pot adequately. :grin:

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Thanks. To be truthful I started typing then realized I don’t have a dog in this fight. I thought about it after hitting post and realized it’d be wet air sent out as well.

BUT, you’re who comes to mind then this comes up so…