malcolmthemole

my brother-in-law is a jesudason.... theres a lot around there. my experience is not recent but the weather is probably still the same... I was an R&D bloke on lighting and cameras etc in the film industry and we supplied a lot to india, hence my worries over taking as much precaution as you can... malcolm

I just worry that in the steamy moist atmosphere of the indian subcontinent it is advisable to take maximum precautions. years back I had similar problems with the extreme humidity and electronic components.... doing some precautions and doing them to the max is only a little bit more effort... and why take chances. I know about rice as a dessicant but in this case I feel it wiser to go with the heavy hitters

I suspect you're somewhere like mumbai (my in-laws are in chenai) and I know the humidity problems from servicing light and film equipment in "bollywood" You will still have problems with most filaments, including bridge, that can be hygroscopic.... many of us use petg instead, although it still needs drying first. If I were you... and I can only say what I would do personally.... and talking of ANY filament inc nylon and bridge.... Firstly dry your filament (use ANY method) I prefer unwinding it and drying in an oven for an extended period at 120~130c NO WARMER. Then put filament into a large bucket with a good amount of silica gel (it needs drying, as well, preferably in the oven with the filament) when it changes to "dry" colour your filament etc is dry. drill a hole in the buckets lid and fit a "bowden connector" (see ooznest or such) insert a length of PTFE tubing, I suggest 4mm bore, through the bucket lid Bowden connector and a similar connector on the filament extruder thread your filament through the PTFE tubing Seal the lid on the bucket with tape.... wide pvc or parcel tape... forming an air tight seal (filament and silica gel is IN the bucket) filament is now through PTFE and BOTH Bowden connectors forming and air tight, sealed pathway from bucket to extractor. IF you thoroughly dried the filament first... then fed it as above, you should expect minimal problems.... when finished printing, you can simply squash the PTFE tube cosed with a bulldog or Hoffman clip and it should then be able to keep as long as required until next printing without further problems malcolm

as calinb infers.... ALL filament should be DRY... I mean CHEMICALLY DRY.... i.e no moisture AT ALL. It makes matter worse as nylon is hygroscopic and will absorb atmospheric moisture VERY quickly....... after printing it makes colouring nylon with acid dyes really easy and permanent. I kepp ALL my filament in a "scuba" box (a brand of box from USA that seals TOTALLY water and airtight... something that is very rare... ans have a kilo of silica gel in the bottom to keep it dry. Initially I dry filament UNWOUND from its spool in an oven at 120c or in short bursts of a microwave oven... or as CalinB suggests (just make sure its unspooled and the bulb is not too close and never touching. I use a TAZ6 printer fully enclosed with a heated bed (temperatures etc available from filament supplier as they can vary) and both nylon 6 or 12 and nylonX (with carbon fibre) print easily. I'm glad you managed to find the phenyl formaldehyde sheet ok (garolite or tufnol) keep trying.... take All precautions you can (especially moisture) and you WILL succeed.

its NOT the fibres its made from that allows the print to stick..... cotton, paper, glass makes no difference....... its the phenol formaldehyde resin that it sticks to the only reason that garolyte and tufnol / paxolin is better on a cloth (cotton) substrate is that it is more durable... the paper bonded types crack and break when handled. Garolyte was on ebay india this afternoon in.ebay.com

last time I needed it in india it was by the british name "Tufnol" Tufnol/ garolite is a phenyl resin bonded paper or cotton and used extensively (in the past) in radio and tv manufacture (before pcb became common) it is still used for valve equipment and modifications to electronics. Also the paper bonded version can be found a "paxolin"

garolite is a phenol formaldehyde resin impregnated into layer of fabric (cotton or linen) or layers of paper... garolite LE being a linen based version. in the UK, australia, south africa and most of europe the equivalent product to LE is Tufnol Whale.... tufnol being the brand name of cotton / linen / paper versions.... paxolin being a paper only brand.... all originate in the victorian era. the only real problem(s) are that, by specification, these products are NOT uniform in thickness and NOT specified as flat.... in fact I include the official "flatness" specifications The below table is the maximum deviation from flat over a distance of 1000mm using a straight edge. Sheet Thickness Variation 1.6mm to 3mm up to 18mm 3mm to 6mm up to 10mm 6mm to 8mm up to 8mm over 8mm up to 6mm this describes a sheet that naturally domes in the center.... thickness is "usually" fairly precise. I like the idea of glueing the sheet to glass (glass is a phenomenal engineering material) and aluminium is a good idea....... thin composite sheet and thick very rigid sheet seems great. composites machine easily and it is easy to "flat" the sheet to improve flatness and adhesion........ however, nylon extrudes best on a high temperature bed and preferably a hot enclosure... and hot phenol formaldehyde is an unpleasant smell (it improves after many uses) and it releases formaldehyde from the resin... formaldehyde is a nasty poison so well ventilate it. I speak (of formaldehyde) from experience as I have bee seriously ill from phenol and formaldehyde poisoning for 30yrs... my equipment is in a fully enclosed polycarbonate case with recirculating fan passing through a carbon filter to remove the poisons (one day I'll post it on here)... it seems to work well