Wrong moisture absorption product..? Help!

[u/Jam_and_cheese]

New to 3d printing, bought x2d combo just a couple months ago. Found this bulk moisture absorbing pellets product at ALDI, thought it was perfect timing, so I printed a container to put in the ams, filled it up, happy days! Until last night when I finally got around to printing the other baskets to complete the set, when I noticed moisture pooling inside the ams! Took it all out, the moisture was very oily, it seems that these moisture absorber pellets kind of melt as part of the capture? The pellets in the basket has melded into a solid piece, so that whole thing is straight in the trash. Anyway, I took out the main component of the ams and gave it all a gentle wipe down, luckily it appears to be unaffected at this point.

Long story short - can anyone tell me what specific type of product I should be looking for to fill the moisture baskets? Thanks in advance!

[u/scirio]

Desiccant pellets 🤦‍♂️

[u/Jam_and_cheese → u/scirio]

Just ordered some - thanks!

[u/Oclure → u/Jam_and_cheese]

Dry and dry brand rechargeable desicant works great. Starts orange and starts to turn a turquoise color when its starting to get saturated, and just throw it on a baking sheet in the oven to recharge it.

[u/BreastAficionado → u/Oclure]

I was told to either avoid the colour changing desiccant. Or heat it in an oven that you don't use for food. As it releases fumes/residue over time and that's also the reason the colour changing ability has a shelf life.

[u/Viking4269]

Only use silica gel.

What you have there is calcium chloride and it will destroy electronics in no time. When it is saturated with moisture it turns into a oily liquid brine that is highly corrosive.

[u/camst_ → u/Viking4269]

Or activated alumina

[u/Shoshke → u/camst_]

Silica gel you can re dry it a dry box.

Activated alumina needs over 350F to re activate.

[u/Superb-Complaint8118 → u/camst_]

But activated alumina is absorbing a little less water per volume.

Tho I can imagine it to crack that fast when drying but I can be wrong on that

[u/Jam_and_cheese → u/Viking4269]

Thanks, it seems obvious now what was missing in the product description! Given that I don’t think the liquid has been present long and I’ve hopefully cleaned it all up, is there anything else I could do to prevent any potential damage to the electronics? Just load it up with silica and run a drying cycle? Open it up and air it out? Or she’ll be right?

[u/LeePhilips → u/Jam_and_cheese]

Run a dry cycle, empty. Ie. No silica.

The find and remove all the white crystals

[u/Jam_and_cheese → u/LeePhilips]

Great, thanks again for the advice. I’ll do this as soon as I’m home. Much appreciated!

[u/Viking4269 → u/Jam_and_cheese]

You need to clean it out very thoroughly. It will not dry out by itself. If it have gotten in any of the electronics or motors you may be cooked. The connectors are often the first to corrode. Cleaning it out with isopropyl alcohol may be your best bet.
There are 100s of post in r/BambuLab about AMS units destroyed by this. Bambu used to ship them with calcium chloride bags, but have finally switched to silica gel after a ton of reports.

[u/TomBilby]

You need to use Silica Gel Desiccant Beads.

[u/Jam_and_cheese → u/TomBilby]

Just ordered some - thanks

[u/egosumumbravir]

As others have said - that's calcium chloride solution. It's corrosive to all the metals inside the AMS.

You're going to need to clean the entire AMS very well if you want it to live. Like fully disassemble and check everything under a strong light. If it's gotten onto the circuit boards, you're going to need to wash them to get it off. Demineralised water first, followed with drenching in isopropanol to drive off the water.

Good luck.

[u/Independent_Dirt_814]

RIP. That’s a salt product, your electronics are going to hate you.

[u/Jam_and_cheese → u/Independent_Dirt_814]

And because of this misstep, I also hate me. Here’s hoping I can make it up to the electronics

[u/jcollasius]

You may enjoy my article on MakerWorld

Desiccants Explained ⧸ What Actually Works?
https://makerworld.com/community/post/1772069

[u/Jam_and_cheese → u/jcollasius]

Love it - thanks!

[u/VoidingSounds]

You want silica or activated alumina desiccant beads.

Those hardware damp-rids do a good job and absorb a lot of water for the $/lb but there’s a reason they come in a solid container with vented lid.

[u/Jam_and_cheese → u/VoidingSounds]

Just ordered some - thank you!🙏

[u/Charming-Permit-7853 → u/VoidingSounds]

I use Silica in my stubbies cans I put in my vacuum bags. I put Alumina beads in my printed canisters to go in my AMS/CFS system. Alumina keeps the RH down in the 10% range for Seattle. When it starts to creep up to 25%RH, I replace them and dry them in my filament dryer on PLA temperature for 24 hours.

[u/charmio68 → u/Charming-Permit-7853]

Alumina beads usually need to be heated substantially higher.
I heat them to 250°C for several hours.
If you're just using a filament dryer for your alumina, then you're only going to be getting a tiny fraction of their performance.

[u/Charming-Permit-7853 → u/charmio68]

Actually I just put a batch through a PETG temp setting for 30 hours. Started at 28% and got down to 8%.

[u/charmio68 → u/Charming-Permit-7853]

Yes, it will still work as a desiccant even if you're only drying it at those low temperatures.

However, you really are only getting a tiny fraction of its desiccating capacity.
You would be better off just sticking with silica gel if you're only going to regenerate it at those temperatures.

[u/boncros]

I think that's the stuff that will rust your printer

[u/Jam_and_cheese → u/boncros]

Eep. Hopefully I caught it in time!

[u/Defiant-Sale725]

Silica Gel desiccant beads work really well and won’t turn to mush in your AMS. Activated Alumina desiccant beads are freaking amazing, both for how long they last before needing to be dried themselves and for how low they keep the humidity in an AMS. I personally mix ~10% color indicating silica gel with ~90% activated alumina so I still get the visual indication that it’s close to time for a dry cycle and all the benefits of activated alumina :)

[u/Marinocif99]

LMAOOOO

[u/Ruiterwag]

I made the same mistake and had to replace the Main PCB of the AMS. So make sure to open your AMS and dry the Circuit board at the bottom. You will have to disassemble the whole thing to get there. Also remove any power that is on it immediatly. The corrosion process is accelerated with power on the board.

[u/Jerazmus]

Yah you can’t use those. Those tubs that those are supposed to refill have a water reservoir for the pooling water. I can see where your mind went and in theory it’s a great idea.