Does Silica Help 3D Printing Quality?

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Previously I wrote about my humidity problems and my Bambu Labs printer.

@themarkymark suggested I print out some silica gel holders. You know, the stuff they pack into those "Do Not Eat" packets.

Here is what happened next:

Screenshot by Dropbox Capture.png

But that is the machine reporting, did it help my 3D prints?

Yep.

Thank goodness!

But first, something that came up a lot in testing which made me hate the AMS ...

857517D2-AA33-4540-A5D5-A6832F7271DE.jpeg

Having everything compact and contained like this is great until you have to do any maintenance, and then it is like they tried to make it non user servicable.

This is exacerbated by me having the machine up and out of the way of the pets so they don't fill their little bellies with plastic poop.

I have to think the A1 and A1 mini is more maintanable than this monstrosity.

Print Quality After Drying

6EC4C4BD-743F-4B40-839B-B331A7E0FC21_1_102_o.jpeg

As you can see, they are not perfect, but at least they complete, which is a huge improvement. Especially when I am going to be paid for certain prints.

2E4054DD-B6CF-4D49-8334-F9CCAFB28465_1_105_c.jpeg

Silica Gel Holders

This stuff gets absolutely everywhere, even WITH the holders, so be prepared for that.

I also purchased the plain white stuff, just a 500g bag, because the machine tells you if you need to replace it, and it can be heated to recharge, so I don't see the point in buying more expensive kind or in a greater quantity.

F4F3FCEC-D221-4134-903D-E5F0828DF652.jpeg

In my setup I have the corners, the base, and the front covered with the containers now.

36424E22-9EDA-483D-83A3-EFB62CF3E4FE.jpeg

You will notice a gap at the front, that is for my humidity readout which is somewhere in my office, probably somewhere so safe that I can't find it.

Conclusion

So, yes, I definitely recommend you doing this if you have the Bambu AMS. Especially if like me you live somewhere perpetually damp.

technology gadgets 3dprinting
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8 comments
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I find mine can fluctuate between 18%-33% depending if the silica is fresh or spent. I just hooked my AMS to Home Assistant so I can be notified when it needs to be changed.

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I am in the same room as my printers right now but at some point I hope to have a proper area for my 3d printers and lasers with good air filtering etc, will definitely have to automat ehen

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Marky you keep saying you used to vote for others, but you don't do that now. Instead, you make sure to earn your curation rewards by self-voting with all those alt accounts with so much Hive power and much of that stake that was airdropped from Steemit. You made most of that Hive from selling votes; now that is bad. It doesn't matter if vote selling was acceptable at the time - of course, it was; you and your friends made a lot of money LOL. And once you saw others making money, you and you're friends didn't like it, so you came together to stop the bots and start downvoting people all while still selling votes secretly for some time we have the info. It's so wrong. Once again, we ask you to create a blog about how much you make in curation rewards from milking your Buildawhale spam comments farm. You can keep lying, but the truth is the truth, so just keep lying - it's up to you LOL.

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Moisture is a real problem for PLA. I've thrown out a lot of reels that weren't used quickly after openning.

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In Alberta I didn't even have to think about it, for the longest time I thought it was an urban myth or at best just something concerning people using more exotic filaments. Moved to UK and now everything is damp. How wrong was I!

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Marky you keep saying you used to vote for others, but you don't do that now. Instead, you make sure to earn your curation rewards by self-voting with all those alt accounts with so much Hive power and much of that stake that was airdropped from Steemit. You made most of that Hive from selling votes; now that is bad. It doesn't matter if vote selling was acceptable at the time - of course, it was; you and your friends made a lot of money LOL. And once you saw others making money, you and you're friends didn't like it, so you came together to stop the bots and start downvoting people all while still selling votes secretly for some time we have the info. It's so wrong. Once again, we ask you to create a blog about how much you make in curation rewards from milking your Buildawhale spam comments farm. You can keep lying, but the truth is the truth, so just keep lying - it's up to you LOL.

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Marky you keep saying you used to vote for others, but you don't do that now. Instead, you make sure to earn your curation rewards by self-voting with all those alt accounts with so much Hive power and much of that stake that was airdropped from Steemit. You made most of that Hive from selling votes; now that is bad. It doesn't matter if vote selling was acceptable at the time - of course, it was; you and your friends made a lot of money LOL. And once you saw others making money, you and you're friends didn't like it, so you came together to stop the bots and start downvoting people all while still selling votes secretly for some time we have the info. It's so wrong. Once again, we ask you to create a blog about how much you make in curation rewards from milking your Buildawhale spam comments farm. You can keep lying, but the truth is the truth, so just keep lying - it's up to you LOL.

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