PVA Reconditioning Advice, Anyone?

[1337Slewis 2]

I live in eastern Australia, where humidity can be an issue.

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on temperatures and times for baking or dehydrating PVA to bring it back to factory condition.

I have bought myself a large FoodLab Dehydrator for reconditioning the PVA rolls, just wondering if anyone can give me a head start before I potentially destroy my rolls.

My plan of action as it stands is:

Dehydrate at 65'C, after which I seal the roll in an airtight bag while it cools, so it cannot reabsorb water vapor whilst cooling.

Any advice, even anecdotal observations, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[1337Slewis 2]

Seeing as nobody has replied, I may be the first to tackle the issue.

In the spirit of this forum and community, I will be posting my experimental results as they come in with times/temps/weights/tips and tricks.

[fbrc8-erin 171]

I think TomNagel has answered this question once, but I can't seem to find it. I'm pretty sure you want to bake the PVA on the heated bed at 50 C for 4-5 hours.

[kmanstudios 817]

Google is your friend...mostly...until they take over the world.....

https://www.google.com/search?q=drying+pva+filament&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

[geert_2 224]

I don't have PVA, but I store all my filaments in a big closed box, and put a big bag of silica gel in it. These can be found in car shops, used to dry car interiors to avoid condensation on the windows. I use silica gel bags with a blue indicator that turns pink when the silica gel is saturated and needs to be heated in the microwave to regenerate. Then there is no need to heat the filament or storage box for drying.

You could also use a smaller food box (the size of one spool), drill a hole in it for filament exit, fix a spool holder in it, put silica gel in it, place that behind your printer, and thus keep your filament dry while printing. For sensitive materials in moist climates, this might make sense.

[kmanstudios 817]

And for those that do not have access to cheap silica gel, Rice (cooking rice) is also an excellent desiccant. That is why they tell you to put wet electronics in it; to dry it out properly without harm.

Not as good as it will create its own 'rice dust' through friction, it is a quick alternative while you find, or wait for it to ship.

Best of all, you can cook it when you are done.

Just wash the heck out of it first.

[1337Slewis 2]

Thanks for the advice guys! I will proceed at 75'c for ~8 hours