My Sunlu S1 mods have been partially successful, and I guess I'll have to consider a DIY solution using Peltiers to move to the next level... Though that one is still in the 'idea phase' 😇
Next challenge / experiment: what to do with old filament, and how to make sure it will last longer?
Old filament
I'm currently 'finishing' a few very old rolls of filament... All this stuff has been laying in a closet, unwrapped, indoors, in the Dutch climate. Think temperatures ranging from 15 to 35, at an average humidity of 50%.
Dremel PLA (2016? 8+ years unpacked)
White and black (I must have once had some blue, but dunno' what happened to it). Got it second hand when I purchased a second hand, broken 3D20 as a spare parts donor. These rolls were probably bought when the seller bought his printer, back in 2015? 2016? They've been in uncontrolled environments ever since then.
This stuff has become more and more brittle over time. I can't run it through the X1C (the filament breaks inside the PTFE feeder tube) but I can still print it using an 'open' 3D20, like this:
I'm using slightly higher temperatures than advised, and print at a lower speed. The filament twists and moves as it unspools during printing, but it works 😎
Note: I had a second partial roll of black which stringed a lot more than the first one. I suspect it's a slightly different PLA mix, as it also shines less than the first roll.
I've been using all this old stuff to print some parts for my Kupper peg-board, as well as some dessicant holders. All those came out fine on the old 3D20 (though it takes ages to print anything on that machine).
Sometimes it is possible to 'recondition' PLA, but I haven't been able to recondition this stuff - it just stays brittle, even after extended periods in the dryer. I have some 'firemen red' Dremel filament left that might be usable, but I'm not holding my hopes up high...
Innofil FR PLA (2018, 6+ years unpacked)
Semi transparent, supposed to be flame retardant, but my *beep* has better fire extinguishing capabilities. It has been out of the box in an uncontrolled environment for 6+ years, but printed perfectly fine in the X1C. I didn't even need to dry it.
I used the quarter spool left to print some desiccant holders.
I noticed that this material has a very low glass temperature, somewhere around 40 to 45 degrees, with a print temperature of 200..220.
Real PLA, White (6+ years unpacked)
Stored outside the plastic wrap but inside the original box, this stuff still prints well. It 'droops' quite fast at just barely over-spec temperatures, so don't print too hot! The glass temperature lies a bit higher, so I set the building plate to 45 degrees and it works fine. Just keep the printer busy and don't overcook when drying, or the filament will sag.
Just as with the Innofil FR, I'm using the leftovers to print desiccant holder inserts for the spools.
123-3D Print Apollo PLA, Gold (6+ years unpacked)
I had some limited success using this stuff. Might give it another go, but I expect it to be worse than the silver PLA below, as it's a little more brittle.
I did some prints running the filament directly into the X1C, and that worked fine. When running it through the AMS things got more complicated and error prone - it kept breaking. It works when directly fed into the X1C, just don't run it through the AMS.
Don't leave it inside the printer overnight, as it may spontaneously break.
123-3D Print Apollo PLA, Silver (6+ years unpacked)
Marginally better than the gold PLA.
It seemd to work through the AMS, but it would spontaneously break (not as often as the gold, but still at random). During a later attempt I left it in the printer overnight, and it spontaneously broke.
I had to resort to printing some Bambu tools on the Dremel so I could remove the broken filament... Sigh. (The Bambu X1C is a decent printer, but some of those connectors are hard to remove / release, so this is one of the first things I should have printed... and I didn't 😏)
Moral of the story: just like the gold stuff only print when directly feeding, and take it out of the printer when not in use.
123-3D Print Jupiter PLA, Black (6+ years unpacked)
I need to do a little more testing. After a few hours drying it printed well on the X1C, though I have to admit that even before drying it didn't feel as brittle as the silver and gold stuff above. This one looks promising. Unfortunately the winding is very poor, and the filament sometimes snags when unspooling...
Reconditioning
PLA comes in all sorts of different flavors, and some can be reconditioned... I've thus far run into four scenarios:
I. Still usable
Even though wet and mistreated, certain filaments still work. You can leave them a few hours in the dryer to reduce their 'wetness' resulting in nicer prints, but even without they still print.
Real PLA and Innofil FR worked like this. There was no need to dry them.
II. Wet
Prints are awful until dried. Then it's fine to use. Dry it a few hours, and done. I've read about hissing and popping, but with the PLA I tried that never was a problem.
PLA: 4 hours at 40 degrees in a dryer will probably do it. Be careful with the temperature.
ABS: 6 hours at 55 degrees might work well. Badly treated stuff might need another 6 hours... Still need to experiment a bit, and the Sunlu S1 isn't the best dryer in the world.
III. Brittle (and possibly wet) until reconditioned
Some filaments are brittle, but will soften up after a few hours in the dryer. I suspect internal stress causes the filament to break whilst being pulled through PTFE tubing, as this stuff typically does print when fed 'directly' into the printer head.
I have good hopes to recondition that black Jupiter PLA. I might go a little closer to the glass temperature, and dry it for 4 to 6 hours. It's probably more about removing internal stress than it is about drying.
IV. Brittle forever
The 10 (?) years old Dremel stuff :-) Nothing you can do to make it better, it seems. A direct fead into the extruder head, bypassing any PTFE tubing seems to work, but that's about it. Leave a bit unspooled overnight and it spontaneously breaks.
I got a bit of red left, ready to be experimented upon 😈 but I'm not expecting much...
What to print?
Obviously, things that you can use, won't require excessive accuracy or looks, and can be handled by your printer. In this case, I've selected some accessories for my Kupper peg board, as well as desiccant holders for storing my spools of filament.
Here are both printers doing their utmost best to chew through the old filament 😏, printing some odd stuff.
(two different types of fast-print desiccant holders, lids mostly printed on the Dremel using Dremel PLA, all containers printed on the X1C using Innofil and Real PLA)
Important
When using old filament, you must assume that it will break. It might take an hour. It might take a night, but it will break.
So if you use your P1 / X1 or any other CoreXY printer: do NOT use the AMS, and make sure to UNLOAD the filament when you're done printing!
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