26

Hey guys, I work at a lab that has a small print farm. We recently had to get a supply of 2.5kg ESD filament as our vendor didn't have the usual 1kg spools in stock. The problem is these new spools are massive, and our filament dryers are nowhere near big enough to accommodate them.

I have this Cosori food dehydrator at home (picture below) that I've repurposed for filament drying, and I brought in one of its segments to see if the spool would fit inside; but the spool was still too large.

The spool dimensions are 3.875"H and a diameter of 11.75". Does anyone know of any food dehydrators that would be large enough to accommodate a spool of this size?

I'm currently doing research to see if I can find a large enough dehydrator, but all of the manufacturers I've so far looked at seem to only give external dimensions, not internal. If anyone knows of a good dehydrator, it would really help out!

all 15 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Nephilumos@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

I use this one for drying paint for model kits: Ivation 9 Tray Countertop Digital Food Dehydrator https://a.co/d/4zHNwzC

[-] Lordran_Hollow@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Thanks! I'll add this to the list. This looks like it could work well.

[-] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 4 points 10 months ago

Not sure how feasible it is for you, but you could always build your own enclosure out of plexiglass or acrylic and then slap a dehumidifier inside of it. This has the benefit of allowing you to scale the size so you can fit as many rolls inside as you want. Adam Savage built one for his AnyCubic printer on his YouTube channel using a homemade cabinet and some electrical conduit to hold the round spools.

[-] Lordran_Hollow@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

We have access to a decent amount of tools at the lab, it's definitely feasible. We tossed around the idea, and honestly I may prefer that to a food dehydrator as all of the dehydrators I've seen have a cut off timer whereas the filament dryers we have can be run indefinitely.

I'll have to pitch that to my boss and see what he thinks. I've seen some people convert some water proof/resistant totes from Target to become filament dryers.

[-] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 2 points 10 months ago

Here's the video of him building it if you want some inspiration. https://youtu.be/taeS72yO__k?si=VQUCC14V_OLR4ENH

[-] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 0 points 10 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://piped.video/taeS72yO__k?si=VQUCC14V_OLR4ENH

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[-] TomSelleck@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago

There are electric meat smokers that can be used as a dehydrator if you don’t add wood.

[-] pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online 2 points 10 months ago

I wouldn't trust the temperature on those. They tend to have pretty high swing values. It's similar to how people melt spools in the oven even if it's set at the right temp.

[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago
[-] cynar@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

A desiccant (silica) based dehumidifier and a print tent, or other small enclosure would work fine. They output warm, dry air, and dump the water into a tank at the bottom. They are also small enough to fit in a small enclosure.

This sort has the advantage of actually lowering the moisture content of the air, not just raising the temperature to reduce the effective humidity.

A full-on air-conditioning unit in dehumidifier mode would also work, but would be massively overkill. The mini units work far better for smaller areas.

[-] tagginator@utter.online -2 points 10 months ago

New Lemmy Post: Need help finding a large dehydrator (https://lemmy.world/post/10868816)
Tagging: #3dprinting

(Replying in the OP of this thread (NOT THIS BOT!) will appear as a comment in the lemmy discussion.)

I am a FOSS bot. Check my README: https://github.com/db0/lemmy-tagginator/blob/main/README.md

this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2024
26 points (96.4% liked)

3DPrinting

15591 readers
71 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: !functionalprint@kbin.social or !functionalprint@fedia.io

There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml

Rules

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS