Just a little suggestion when using the rechargeable beads. Be sure to use a stone or ceramic bowl if you microwave them. they'll melt into a plastic dish and ruin themselves and the dish.
@BV3D: Bryan Vines - I'm humbled beyond words, thank you so much for the kind words and review, as the description says - this is a set of remixes of an original design by Cagriahiskali, who created the beautiful grid look, I my contribution improved upon it theirs and the contributions of several others. Something that comes up in every set of comments about these is - is the hygrometer measuring the desiccant or the AMS? special care was taken to prevent contact between the hygrometer and the desiccant chamber, and allow the air behind the container to reach the hygrometer without passing through desiccant; while providing a narrow enough shape to allow removal and insertion without removing spools from the AMS. Thanks so much for this video, I'm besides myself.
I don't have yours, I have a different design from a while back but one main problem with the ones I have is you need to remove the spools to then pull out the boxes. Do yours suffer from this same issue? Yours definitely look easier to empty and refile though as the ones I have use a funnel in the top.
@6:28 yes, they can definitely leak bad and they’ll ruin your AMS/circuitry and there’s no reasonable warning of this on the printer out-of-box and probably very worth a design upgrade. Source: personal experience!
I use the ones that go in the middle of the spool, mainly because it also helps keep the spools turning when they get low on filament. I added scale calibration weights in them. But since you can never have too much desiccant, I'll probably add these too. Great video!
I did that at first + 3 pods in the front of the AMS and found that the spool ones are not needed. If you are storing your filament in sealed containers (with dessicants as well) the AMS pods dont need to do much and mine only need changing every 4-8 weeks.
@@nucleochemist Well, except that I'd need something to weight the spools anyway, and I also live in an area with very high humidity. Even with the spool ones and using the original desiccant chambers, I still have to dry my filament routinely, so whether they're needed kinda depends on circumstance.
sigh.. ok I won't call this clickbait but saying you never had to replace desiccant again made me think you had something that didn't need maintenance. I've used re-usable desiccant since I got my AMS but changing it every week and recharging the beads is a real PITA. In my mind you're still replacing the desiccant in your AMS. You are replacing it with fresh beads and recharging the olde ones, but you are still replacing the desiccant.
Nice tips. I just made the containers that fit in the under-spool recesses, and they was a bit of a hassle to install with reels of filament already loaded. The front loaders will be welcome.
I can't believe how well this works!. I was at a 3-4 rating on water in the air on my AMS on my X1 Carbon. When I started the Hydrometer read about 55% and within a short while it has maintained 10% (1 rating). Great idea!
Bryan, Just printed it and now in my AMS! Very cost effective solution to keeping filament dry while just sitting around !!! Previously had desiccant bags loaded in the front. I printed them in black and hardly noticeable... Thank you
I decided to commit and ordered a couple Roshal electronic dehumidifiers from Chip45 website. As long as they last a number of years...should be nice. Chip45 has the 3V usb power supply and frames you can print out. I don't have them yet - I'll be doing my AMS and a decent sized dry box.
Thanks Bryan for sharing. I have been using AMS Desiccant Boxes for about 2 months and works gr8. Have not needed to recharge yet - still hovering 10% humidity inside the AMS and no issues with PLA filament breaks.
I highly recommend printing the dessicant holders in ASA. That way when it's time to recharge you just throw it in the microwave on defrost for 10 minutes. No need to every open or touch the beads. DO NOT use the oven. Less than half way through my attempt the ASA was already starting to melt in the oven.
@@nucleochemist I personally find a few hours in my filament dryer at 65-70 degrees does great, and its right by the printer. it's also worth noting that the indicating desiccants are pretty toxic, so best kept away from appliances used for food.
I printed all mine solid front. (No hydrometer). As there is a reading on the Bambu Studio. I use the PolyDryer to dry mine. I printed two sets, so can alternate.
I’ve had my P1S and AMS for a few weeks. Very pleased. I understand relative humidity and how to use SG. So I looked, and discovered holders on MakerWorld and printed the 5 front ones, centre with humidity gauge, and fillable ones for the 2 rear slots. A bag of SG costs about £6 in the UK, and this is twice as much as is required. The benefit is this allows the SG to be rotated once the RH goes above say 15% and the used SG dried, ready to be reused when required. 😊.
1. I recommend the oven for drying silica gel. I found the microwave made the beads sticky and clumpy. (I could just be my microwave). 2. A friend just recommended activated alumina which he says works better and last longer.
I have a sealed box that I store my spools in with a paper bag full of the indicator desiccant beads... I've found that microwaving them tends to burn them a bit if they're not fully saturated. That makes the orange beads look darker like they haven't fully dried out. I'm switching to non-indicator beads and just using the hygrometer to tell me when to recharge the desiccant. Definitely going to print those boxes, though!
Great video, great tip! I got around to doing this today. Be careful opening that package from Amazon! Mine arrive in a plastic bag/envelope. Inside was suppose to be the desiccant in a zip lock. Somebody forgot to zip the lock! The beads were floating around the envelope. Luckily for me, minimal spillage and was able to finish this up. Model, print & video all on target!!! Well worth it!!! Nice job!
I’ve heard with this design that the Hydrometer can read more dry than the spools are experiencing. This is because the hydrometer is against the desiccant. I’ll probably leave the center pocket either half full, or even empty to compensate.
These were designed with solid walls seaprating the hygrometer's sensors from the desiccant with a clear path of air from behind the box. the area it's pulling air from would of course be affected by the desiccant, but to a much lesser extent than designs where the hygrometer is literally sitting inside of desiccant with no barrier. tests show a variance of RH% with the same model hygrometers sitting in the front center position in the box with desiccant, vs hygrometers placed in spool centers, and the back of the AMS as 3-5% difference after 12 hours.
I have a similar setup for my AMS and just recharged my beads for the first time in the microwave - they get super hot, so use a glass microwave-safe pyrex bowl and try not to do too many at once or they don't dry out well. Also, avoid the blue beads that have cobalt in them, as you don't want to be touching cobalt. Finally, note that the hygrometer is right up against the beads, so it is going to show a lower humidity than the average would be throughout the AMS.
note that the hygrometer is separated from the beads by a solid wall and the sensors of the hygrometers face the rear of the boxes through which the grid allows air to reach them without passing through desiccant. the closest sensor location to desicant is an average of 15mm away from eachother, this was specfically designed for this purpose as most of these have the hygrometer sitting in a nest of desiccant. ;)
The organic dyed (green-orange) beads are worse in the long run. Their performance degrades and they will progressively smell worse and worse (as the organic dye degrades and starts to volatilise) if you regenerate them at temps over 100 degC (which is the normal temp minimum that should be used for silica gel). The cobalt chloride doped beads are fine as long as you wash your hands after handling them and arn't somehow making a lot of dust and inhaling it all day long.
That was Stefan @CNCKitchen. It's cool technology but yes, it's pricey. For anyone reading this and wanting to watch, here's a link to the video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n7EWexck8NE.htmlsi=0TghHVADqOasvAhX
Missed a chance to paraphrase A Knight's Tale at 2:00. "His spirit is gone, but his stench remains." which could be changed to "It's usefulness is gone, but it's slime remains."
I have govee humidity and temperature data logger in my AMS's. also been using similar prints and rechargeable desiccant since day 10. (had to print the ASA boxes first :)) I dry the beads in a filament dryer or in the X1C on the dryer mode :)
I've been using the older style Bank of squarish boxes that go in the front of the ams. I like the new additional ones to go on the left and right edge. Also running cylinder-shaped canisters that go inside each spool. That comes in handy on very light spools that tend to lift out on rewind
Also, for rejuvenating the beads, there is also a printable "screen" you can put on a Bambu reusable spool to pour the beads in and then use in any normal filament dryer (home-made from a dehydrator or consumer product). The screen also lets the small chips and bits fall out, keeping only the larger beads (and the large chunks of broken beads).
I use a couple of those automotive dehumidifier packs in my filament box. They are not as good as silica desiccant, but they get the humidity down far enough, and recharging is as easy as zapping it around in the microwave for 5 minutes. Very convenient. I might give this stuff a go, though you have to be careful with toxic substances when drying out desiccant in an oven you also use to prepare food.
@@JohnVanderbeck PETG, ABS, or ASA works great my dryer setting is 50c the trick is air flow, make sure they are in the way of the fan that's what's most important. They clear up very quickly too.
@@EatingCtrlV Interesting. I have mixed luck with ABS but I might try printing these up in PETG and see if that works out. It would be a HUGE benefit to be able to just put the whole thing in the dryer, rather than emptying them out, putting in new beads, drying out the old ones, etc. It's a chore I hate doing.
What part of town has the desert?! lol I'm in aurora near DIA and in the house with the AC running it's 35% most of the time, lol, I'm lucky if I get it around 25% in my cabinet. this house is pretty old though, might need some weather stripping upgrades - very jealous!
When I asked, Bambu said it was factory dried, and although the spools are vacuum-packed, and the plastic bags are airtight, humidity can still pass through the bag. Someone else in the comments said the same thing about humidity being able to pass through airtight plastic bags. So apparently that's why nylon and other super-hygroscopic filament is packaged in metallic/plastic bags instead of clear plastic.
@@BV3D the response I got was "well, we told you" which I thought was odd. I've bought so much filament from them and even bought two rolls of the HF. One roll came out dry, the other roll came out unusable.
@@probablynotian I was getting poor surface quality on my red PETG HF for sure until I dried it, but the white was doing fine. The red did a lot better after I dried it.
Do the PETG-HF spools come in the clear bags or the metallized/foil bags? I know that moisture can pass through the clear ones. I would be extremely surprised if that's the case for the foil bags. I've done moisture testing with these bags and I find it hard to believe that moisture would go through them.
On my Bambu PET-CF and PAHT-CF spools, it recommends drying on the box before use but also has the foil bags. My theory was the time from drying the spool to sealing varies as the packaging batch is exposed to air during the bagging/sealing stage. Basically the last spool to be sealed would theoretically absorb more moisture than the first sealed spool if they were exposed at the same time. Drying on the customer end would ensure the moisture levels are more consistent.
I've been 'recycling' silica gel beads for a decade or more using a microwave oven. I always weigh the beads before I microwave them and weigh them afterwards as you can see immediately how much moisture has been removed. This is definitely the way to go.
Love your videos. I think I'm just going to store my saturated beads in a gallon jug until I get a bunch of them, then just dry them all at once. Then I can simply microwave them on a low setting in a 9x13 lass pan (stirring occasionally) until I get a nice even orange.
I think you may have been slightly misinformed. Now I don't have anything from Bamboo Labs, but I am unfamiliar with any desiccant product that is not rechargeable via a proper application of heat. For my Activated Alumina desiccant I toaster oven in a metal screen basket at about 250° C for about 4 hours. For my Silica Gel I microwave it on the defrost cycle for 3-4 minutes, then let it cool and repeat about 4-5 times. Finally, for Calcium Chloride, which is what Bamboo Labs claims is in their packets, you can bake it at 200° C for at least an hour. Depending on what the packet is made from, you may have to remove the packet, but the Calcium Chloride can certainly be rejuvenated and dehydrated to reactivate it as a desiccant.
I want to see an affiliate link for the t-shirts you wear :) I totally need this one lol . Really great design which I will use one day when I can get an ams unit and a bambu lab printer :(
Random note here. The audio you use for your intro music is the same music that Costco Wholesale uses for their managment training videos when they're showing the companies timeline.😂
Recently I got a Dry Cabinet from Production Automation Corporation (PAC). They are made by eDry. So the smallest one is just $200 and keeps 4 filaments very dry. Currently mine is at 4.7% humidity. It CAN dry wet filament, but it does take a few weeks, but no heat. And unfortunately it doesn't work for an AMS, but it is very handy to keep those filaments lying around very dry. Indoor air is about 40% and in the cabinet, under 5%. Nothing to heat, replace or recharge.
FWIF, that stuff in BambuLabs dessicant must be calcium chloride, aka "road salt" (the salt that's laid on roads to melt snow). It's actually quite cheap stuff -sold either in bulk for cooking (it's a great preserver) or in bags of some kind. The real tricky thing is to keep the goo contained -I use 3D-printed polypropylene containers, as it's the only material that keeps it on the long run (not PETG, not PLA...). There are some some bags designed to be put in your car or closet (to keep your clothes dry) that are self-contained, quite like the BL stuff. So there may be a supplier out there that sells something that may fit and has no abhorrent shipping expenses. As for the goo, when it's quite saturated, a huge drop in temperature may cause it to turn solid. That may or may not help with removing a spillout in your AMS. (That often happens to my containers in winter, with a 10-15 ºC drop.) As @kellizielinski9633 commented, though, activated alumina (and maybe molecular sieves too) is a superior alternative to silica gel; also reusable and with superior drying power, but far more expensive. Thanks for the video!
I've switched to Activated Alumina, have had it everywhere in my workflow for 2 months now, and it hasn't lost potency - I'm dreading recharging it though lol, I bought a second jug so that I can swap and recharge id separately.
Just a small update for those who've asked: 9 Variations have been added for hygrometer variations, including different snap mounts for this round hygrometer (horizontal, vertical and 45 degree)
I printed a different design of holders for the front of the AMS using polycarbonate and the whole thing goes in the oven. Works perfectly at 105 degrees C. I dont have anything in the original dessicant things in the bottom of the AMS.
I've noticed is that the desiccant trays at the bottom of the AMS (I have both) soak up moisture significantly quicker than the front set. I guess this makes sense since moisture is heavier than air and should thus naturally sinks. Who knew? :P In short, my ANS finds it easier to stay dry with the bottom trays and I'm not sure the front ones contribute much until the bottom are near saturated. A shame, since they hold a LOT more beads.
@@Trust_me_I_am_an_Engineer I'm confused. You say moist air sinks and give reasons why but then wonder why the gell at the bottom absorbs more water? Because the heavier than air water falls down into them, no? "Humid (or moist) air rises , because it's lighter than dry air.", says who? Then why does it rain downward?
@@Trust_me_I_am_an_Engineer Maybe you were actually replying to someone else? In any case, to address: "Humid (or moist) air rises , because it's lighter than dry air."
@@gruvinnz Says who? Everybody who has had scientific training :) But you don't need to believe me. Go on google and type " is moist air heavier than dry air ?" Cya.
@@gruvinnzSo the tricky things about water is it actually is lighter than air when it is a vapor (MW of 18 instead of 32). Water is only a liquid at room temperature because of the strong attraction between water molecules.
I went with "KYZ FF2 High Airflow Spool Desiccant Holder" and put it in every roll of filament. The advantage is that I can also pre-dry the rolls in my Creality dual roll dryers and also vacuum seal them after use. Basically, the desiccant stays with the roll until the roll is empty, gets re-dried when I think it's needed with the roll, and when the filament is done, it's time to microwave the beads! I used PETG to print them because I think the threads are smoother. If you want to print them, please, for the love of what you pray to, do NOT print with support. It doesn't need them, and adding supports will ruin your print. Don't ask how I know. Oh, I also use them with my son's A1 Mini and AMS Lite. Instead of mounting the filament on the AMS, we leave them in dedicated Creality dryers and loop them into the AMS from there. I wish you could do the same with the AMS for the P1/X1 but their filament travel is too long fot it to work. But you can use the AMS bypass to feed directly from the dryer if you print a lot of especially hydrophilic filament. (Yes, the sucker I am, I bought 2x double packs - that's almost another A1 Mini in price.)
The Bambu Lab dessicant can leak, found that out on the weekend. Comes out an oily consistency. Printed the in desiccant holders already, adding these in now. Already had colour beads for spool wieght.
Hi, you can find my version of it here: www.printables.com/model/499365 I remixed the one I found on Thingiverse to add alignment pins for the legs and head. I used it in my 3D Printed Dad Jokes video, here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fRofqug0WKE.html
Why limit this to a AMS? I use plastic storage totes (zip lock, they have the best seal) i do not have a drying issue, this is just something i have done sense i started 3d printing. when i open a new roll i just toss the packet in the tote. on some of the Qidi filaments with CF I use a SH02 and dry it from 6-12 hours depends on what filament im using. Im going to make one and put it in the tote.
Been using these beads for months in small jewellery bags, then put them in the filament vacuum bags with the dry filament spools. ps. the humidity here in the west of the UK is constantly 70%.
I use tea infuser/strainers made from stainless steel as containers for the silica gel. The ones I use are cylindrical with 4 cm diameter, 6 cm height. I got them from Aliexpress, I guess Amazon has them too. That way I don’t have to empty out the containers to put them in the oven. BTW, you shouldn’t microwave silica gel, because the microwave creates hotspots and degrades the silica over time.
This is much better than what i have. What do you think of those bags that you vacuum seal? I have been using them with descant containers in them, but not sure if that is effective or not.
Good information. Why did you decide to now replace the back holders with the ones you shared at the start of the video. You are already using replaceable desicnat so that didn't make sense to me why you wouldn't replace those also. See time about 3:21. Seems like you would use both types to get most humidity removal. Especially since it appears you already printed them. Just curious on your thoughts.
if you want to microwave them, ASA is your best bet, the microwave as you know, won't heat up the plastic, but the beads get so hot they'll melt PLA right through.
Desiccant is a blanket term, you're refering to Silica Beads used as Desiccant. to make it easy to reuse- there are two types of color-changing silica beads that when heated change colorfrom one color to the other. These do wear out however, and don't last forever, but most can withstand several hundred rechargings. The problem with non-colored silica is that you can't tell when they are good or bad, and can't tell when they're spent and no longer rechargeable. In addition to Silica Bead desiccants used for 3D printing, other populars are calcium chloride (the kind Bambu Lab give you in the AMS which are not rechargeable, and thus disposable), and Activated Alumina - a larger white beads which last much longer, but do not indicate color. these are considered forever desiccant however because you can reharge them indefinitely. They require a much higher temperature than silica however, for longer - e.g. most require 400F for 8-12 hours, where as silica can be recharged in a microwave for around 10 minutes. Specifically, everyone who owns a Bambu Lab AMS has run into desiccant that is not reusable.
I'd strongly advise to steer clear of microwaving the beads, they can and do crack when they get too hot, and you don't want them anywhere near your food. 1 they will chip your teeth if you eat them, and 2 they are toxic I put them in my filament dryer at 65-70 degrees(celcius) for a few hours, never gone wrong.
I have similar dryers in my AMS, but you have to take the spools out to take them in and out. Can these ones be inserted while the spools are in? Also, I use my filament dryer to dry out the beads. Just make sure you don't print them out of PLA.
Printed my containers out of polycarbonate. I just pull out the containers and stick them in the oven at 190 f (88 c) No more spilled beads all over the house. ABS and ASA would work and PTEG probably would.
I have never been successful when trying to recharge silica gel beads in a nukro wave box. Much more successful with a dehydrator (same one I use to do initial dry on printer food) 90 C for about an hour.
So far im also using the color changing ones, but with the hygrometer inside i start wondering if the ones without the color indicator wouldn't be more effective / last longer. I've read that a few times, but haven't done a A/B comparison yet.
The only issue with desiccant is that even when you’re not using it it’s absorbing moisture from the air, which is why I keep it in a dry box with some desiccant
Now that my 4 rolls of filament are at 10% relative humidity in my AMS with this modification...Do I need to use my new SUNLU S4 dryer now? Currently it's a storage box for changing rolls out.
I had a slight mishap with recharging my silica beads... The packet said 7 - 12 minutes at 700W. My microwave is 800W, so I turned it down to med-hi instead of full power and left it for 7 mins. The beads at the top and sides of the ceramic bowl I'd put them in had dried out, but the ones in the middle and bottom of the bowl were almost all still green or brown, so I put them back in for another 3 mins., which cracked the bowl. I also tried microwave safe plastic, but the beads melted straight through it... So now I need to order a new pack of beads, as most of the ones I was using are now covered in plastic 😆 So I guess those little beads are getting up to temps of well over 100 degrees C, possibly over 200? My conclusion: either do them in small batches (e.g. the contents of 1 of those AMS boxes at a time), or make sure you have something seriously heat resistant like a pyrex baking dish to put them in...
My intention is to remove the beads from the boxes and put them in a pyrex dish or something similar. You're right, though. Microwaving a hygrometer wouldn't be good for it. 😇
While I'm sure I could find it in his back-catalog, can anyone point me to the model of the ATAT with @-symbols to his left in the middle shelf? Turns out searching for the @ symbol does not have the intended effect :) Thanks!
I have dome the same mod, how long do you think pla fila will last in the ams before not being any good anymore? My hydrometer says 10%. I'm curious if it's worth getting a filament dryer or if I would use the filament before it reaches its shelf life
The Bambu Labs desiccant is calcium chloride. Technically, that chemical _can_ be dried out and used again, but the drying temperature is around 250˚C (close to 500˚F) for an hour. I don't think the package containing it would survive those temperatures. I also don't know if it would dry into a solid that would then have to be crushed into a powder again. So although calcium chloride is a more efficient desiccant, I think silica gel beads are probably the way to go for ease of re-use. Also, you get bonus points for Python recognition. 😄
@@BV3D hmmm, I see, I see, I get the picture. Not great from a sustainability but I guess it is what it is. I love your solution to the issue though. Keep up the great work.
@@BV3D I've actually tried this and its not worth the effort. It smells due to impurities decomposing and creates a rock hard solid that you can't easily break apart. Everything is difficult and impractical . CaCl2 is sold as beads in bulk and they're pretty cheap at deparment stores and hardware stores but I still prefer to use silica gel because its cheaper in the long run and less wasteful. Also the dust from handling CaCl2 is a irritant, moreso than from silica gel.
Only issue with this is that a drier does that dries filament on spool, A desiccant can not pull moisture out of filament, it only pulls from the ambient air. Filament still needs to be dried properly whether in the bambu printer with the drier setting and then placed in the AMS or with an external filament drier. Thank you for the great info nonetheless :)
This. Wet or moist filament still needs to be dried externally. I use heatbed method (heatbed to 40C with spool laid directly on it and the box it came in with one side removed over it).
Microwaving is quick and nasty and will damage the beads or risk burning people. Oven is much safer. If you are paranoid about having cobalt chloride dust in your domestic kitchen oven, buy a small digital fan forced oven such as a Breville Smart Oven, there are many others on the market. Avoid cheap infrared toaster ovens, those have very poor thermal control and monitoring (about as poor as your microwave ;) )
The white powder turning to gel is claciumchloride which is more efficient in being hygroscopic than silica, BUT cannot be restored to its former state w/o a great mess. Also, in all these "humidity-discussions" all over YT, nobody ever considers that you can only draw a certain amount of water from a body of air at a certain temperature. I experimented with various sensors over the years in electronics and my AMS reports "level 4" at 21°C at 35% Rh. Meaning, the sensor is either not really accurate (which is likely) or the algorithm interpreting the results from the sensor is not well done. What that leads me to is: if you don't have issues printing, all that hysteria about humidity of your filament should be ignored. Regarding Bryan, no offense intended, I just think there is more to be considered. See ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5CFxT1q6dX8.html It also depends on where you live... Humidity might be a different topic if in Australia, close to coast, in a valley etc etc...
Quite too many words and too much importance for the simple design solutions used to keep desiccant into AMS. There are probably 20 variations for these boxes everywhere. Other solution is to have spools with dessicant towers - and you have protection for material even when it is not placed in AMS.
