oblique sail
Anyone use activated alumina instead of silica beads? I'm reading they're better at humidity control.
I currently have all of my open spools in a tote from Target with 2 trays of silica beads but I just read that activated alumina may be more efficient at pulling initial humidity out and maintaining it longer since it can hold more compared to silica.
gleaming turret
I think you'll need to try it and let us know
oblique sail
a few TFT folks replied but im still curious of the broader community's thoughts lol
worthy marsh
I actually came across this in the past day or two as well, and from what I read it does seem to be much better than silica, but I’ve had trouble finding it in the little packets I prefer, as those are easier to get back out of my dry box than loose beads
safe egret
Interesting 🧐
modern skiff
Alumina is much more aggressive at sucking up humidity. You get way below 10%. The downside is that you need 200C-250C to bake it off vs. ~100C for silica. So your filament dryer or food dehydrator may be able to dry silica but not alumina.
I believe silica may be able to hold more total moisture than the same amount of alumina, but I could be wrong. Another advantage of silica beads is that you can get color change ones.
worthy marsh
Honestly the higher drying temp is a plus for me, easier to put in the oven without burning or destroying them, and they only usually need about 2 hours to dry from what I’ve read
glad night
Why not molecular sieve? I’ve had good results with it, and I think it’s cheaper.
sick saffron
If you get enough silica you'll surely go below 10%. My box reaches 2% but I have a lot of silica.
left kindle
Why not molecular sieve? I’ve had good results with it, and I think it’s cheaper...
Doesn't it require super high temp to recharge?
glad night
Does it? I can recharge it just fine in my conventional oven.
left kindle
Huh I was reading that it requires 300C for 15 hours
oblique sail
I've stuck with silica for now but I'll probably give activated alumina a try at some point for my tote of open spools.
crystal canyon
what happens when you burn/over dry teh beads and is it easy to tell when this has happened?
sick saffron
what happens when you burn/over dry teh beads and is it easy to tell when this h...
Not in a home oven for sure. Silica withstands hundreds of degrees (Celsius)
worthy marsh
Not in a home oven for sure. Silica withstands hundreds of degrees (Celsius)
I’ve absolutely burned silica beads in my home oven, Activated Alumina however should be a lot more forgiving in the oven.
sick saffron
I’ve absolutely burned silica beads in my home oven, Activated Alumina however s...
Due to high temperature of too long time?
I use 120C for 3 hours.
harsh osprey
Aluminum has always been better. Oxygen and aluminum don’t like each other but it kicks the accompanying nitrogen (air) or Hydrogen (water) while silica attempt to absorb the moisture condensing.
That said I use both in the Great Lakes summer steam bath. Wisedry 50 G bags make trip to microwave for 2 2 minute runs and back in the filament tubs dry.
It’s the very reason polymaker TPU and ASA come in foil bags. They are the worst at absorbing moisture with nylons in close 3rd. Pla and PETG come in clear bags with 10g of silica because their absorption rate is very slow.
Buy or make a dryer and add Wisedry as your condenser. The Polybox makes more sense when you remove the moisture in a bag. A dehydrator will damage pla make it brittle. It will destroy TPU
gleaming turret
The nylons are far worse. ASA can sit on my shelf forever and not need to dry, nylons get about 3 days before you can't print with them anymore.
sick saffron
The nylons are far worse. ASA can sit on my shelf forever and not need to dry, n...
my experience as well. Comparing Polymaker ASA or ABS to nylons or PETG seems very unfounded to me.
twilit orchid
How about getting a large air tight storage box, putting in a Eva-Dry E-500 Silica dehumidifier, Zigbee Sonoff Temperature Humidity Sensor, and loading it with your filament? If it is stored in a refrigerator the plastic moisture diffusion will also be reduced.
sick saffron
That's basically the IKEA Samla with silica gel I use to store 9 rolls.
It holds about 1 kg silica and it takes about 5 months to go from 1% to 15% humidity
