One of the biggest issues that causes prints to fail or come out imperfectly is moisture. Many polymer filaments are hydrophilic, which means that they like moisture and will happily absorb it from the air surrounding them – that’s why spools of filament commonly come in airtight containers with little desiccant bags in there with them. This is particularly true for materials like PLA and nylon, which are more hydrophilic than others. So what happens when filament absorbs moisture?
3D printing filaments are made from polymers, which are in turn made up of multiple monomers joined together. Those polymer chains can break down, however, or depolymerize, and one way that this can happen is a process called hydrolysis, which is when a water molecule breaks a polymer chain. So when a supply of filament gets wet and is then extruded, the water inside it vaporizes, causing air bubbles and voids – you’ll know this has happened if you start hearing snapping and crackling noises while printing.
“Through our partnership with Purpose AM, we are launching Apium Filament Dryers and provide our end-users with the complete solution for processing high performance polymers,” said Pinar Karakas, Head of Marketing and Quality Management at Apium. “We offer the unique AM solution with our advanced customer support established by our Service Center experts and forerunner technologies.”
The Apium Filament Dryer has thermally insulated walls, which reduces heat loss, and offers front loading which enables easy filament interchange. It has a rotary desiccant system for the dehumidification of incoming air, as well as a set of HEPA and active carbon filters. It is compatible with all Apium P Series 3D printers and Apium filaments, as well as several other open-system 3D printers.
Apium is ready to ship the filament dryers upon order and offers a 12-month warranty.
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