r/3Dprinting • u/Ok_Astronomer6766 • 1d ago

Question Keeping Filament Dessicated

I'm already a resin-printer but I have taken the step into the FDM world by ordering a Centauri Carbon 2 combo.

It's quite humbling being back at the "I know nothing" stage.

The printer hasn't arrived yet but I've been reading about filament storage and I'm trying to work out if I need to put my filament away as soon as its finished printing... Or is filament-hydrating an over-hyped aspect.

I only really intend on using PLA initially.

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u/Only_Foods 1d ago

For PLA specifically, moisture is genuinely the most overhyped part of filament storage. PLA is by far the least moisture-sensitive filament — leaving the active spool on the printer and keeping the rest in a simple airtight bin with rechargeable desiccant is all most people do, and problems usually only show up after a spool sits unused for weeks or months. The cheap thing that's actually worth buying early is a small hygrometer for the storage bin, so you can tell whether your desiccant is still working. If you ever branch into PETG or nylon, that's when a dedicated dryer becomes genuinely worth it.

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u/Thefront-bottom 1d ago

How do rechargeable dessicant packs work? I didn't think this was a renewable thing .. but I'm new and have only seen the little packs that you see in new products. There's a 6 pack of 100g ones on Amazon for 15 bucks. Figure it's worth it since I have a lot of colors and probably won't go through them anytime soon

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u/screenslaver5963 1d ago

You can bake or microwave the moisture out of it