PVA support material crackles as it extrudes

[t-squareddesign 2]

Because of this I'm almost certain my PVA spool has been damaged by moisture.

 

I tried to dehumidify, and demoisturize the material with a space heater and some dampness ridding moisture absorbents. But nothing seems to work.

 

Is my support material ruined for good? Or is there a way of rescuing it?

[kmanstudios 1,120]

It is not ruined. It is just going to crackle and pop a bit and tend to produce more carbon on the nozzle. It is what it is. But I would not junk the spool. But, if you are using a space heater, it can still absorb moisture from the open air. At least with space heaters I am used to using.

 

An oven with tight controls or a food dehydrator works best.

 

But as long as it continues to print and provide support, use it. That stuff is expensive.

[KristelB 5]

When your PVA has too much moisture, we recommend heating the filament for 2 hours at 45-55 °C. The easiest way to do this is by putting the spools on the heated build plate (for example in a carton box) at the required temperature (45-55 °C). Warning: do not use a household oven. Make sure that the PVA filament has cooled to room temperature before inserting it into the 3D printer.

[Whiteknuckle 1]

Sauna works great at my cave, microwave did not-the hidden ident chip in the UM spool made a big spark.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

27 minutes ago, Whiteknuckle said:

Sauna works great at my cave, microwave did not-the hidden ident chip in the UM spool made a big spark.

Rut roh raggy!

[mattgriffin 28]

There are a bunch of projects to convert cheap food dehydrators to filament dryers. In the US you can buy PrintDry from Matterhackers (the maker is canadian, so if in canada you might be able to get directly from him) — precisely this scenario all setup as a kit for you, but with some custom parts to make it work easy already solved by the kit builder.  works great with pva and nylon, i have found! Also, i hear it is good for tpu, but never tried. I like this better than platform trip, and second KristelB’s notion of not using home oven. Not just because there is a risk if you bake it too much of fumes (pretty safe up to a high cooking temp, but why experiment there!) but because the accuracy of heat measurement for a home oven is not as predictable as you want — other scenarios are a bit more even to heat them.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

I have the Print Dry  and Polybox. I use the print dry to recharge my desiccant, force dry a print waterlogged from PVA soaking or just rejuvenating the filaments that are not in use for a time and may have absorbed additional moisture, even if sealed up.

 

It is one of those things where you ahve to put your resources to what you want. You can make your own as @rebekah_harper did and shared on the forum and there are a lot of drybox solutions with great materials. I figured by that time I put in the money, time and filament, I would come out about even so, I went with quicker just so I could keep printing me odd little things.

[mattgriffin 28]

@kmanstudios - what is your luck with the PrintDry for processing waterlogged full spools? That was its intention, though I haven't finished setting mine up to really use it. I hear it is fantastic for nylons.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

2 hours ago, mattgriffin said:

@kmanstudios - what is your luck with the PrintDry for processing waterlogged full spools? That was its intention, though I haven't finished setting mine up to really use it. I hear it is fantastic for nylons.

I would not know about fully water logged spools. I know it does wonders for my PVA and that seems to be the worst of the bunch for taking in moisture. For me it is a multi-purpose dryer. I do like its level of control in temps and such as well as being quiet.

[rebekah_harper 60]

Hiya,

the food dehydrator is pretty spot on. if it's water logged then leave it for a while at about 50 deg.

 

Bex