How I built a DIY filament dryer from an inexpensive food dehydrator for my Creality Ender 3 V2 3D printer. This houses a standard 1kg spool of filament, allows printing directly from the dryer, and improves print quality and consistency.
- Arduino Controlled Food Dehydrator
- Arduino Food Dehydrator
- Arduino Dehydrator Reviews
- Arduino Dehydrator Machine
This little Arduino is well suited for the project since it goes well in price compared to my $70 dehydrator, a more capable Arduino can speed up things but it was not going to be the right choice, basically because I was also hoping to make this solution available for public. Why buy a dehydrator and spend time modifying it if you already own everything needed to build your own fancy / overkill / g-code driven filament dehydrator oven? Needed parts: 1 x arduino mega 2560 r3 board 1 x ramps 1.4 board 1 x 2004 LCD with encoder and SD card slot 2 x 40 mm 12V fans 1 x 500W ATX power supply two pairs of mini tamyia connectors with 10mm silicone wire two pin dupont.
Why dry filament?
I live in a sub-tropical climate which means typically high humidity for much of the year. Many filaments are prone to absorbing moisture from the air which causes issues with print quality and consistency. When printing with PLA, I had issues with stringing where the filament wouldn’t break cleanly but instead string across the print like spider webs.
I also wanted to position the filament spool next to the printer, not on top as is typical. This is more convenient for changing filament but can also help to reduce ghosting artefacts in the prints.
Build instructions
What you’ll need
- A food dehydrator – I purchased a Devanti 5 try food dehydrator (model: FD-BT5-1142-BK) for $55 on eBay.
- A PTFE bowden tube and PC4-M10 fitting – I purchased this for $15 on eBay.
- Tools for cutting the plastic trays – Strong side-cutters, assortment of files, or a Dremel.
- A 3D printed adaptor to connect the PTFE tube neatly to the side of the deydrator. I have made this part available on Thingiverse.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1 – Print the adaptor
Download the adaptor from Thingiverse and start that printing. I used 0.12mm layer height, 50% infill, and no supports or rafts.
Step 2 – Modify the food dehydrator trays
The food dehydrator will come with 5 trays and a lid. We only need 3 trays for a standard 1kg filament spool, so put 2 trays aside.
1 of the 3 trays will be used as the base to hold the spool. This can be place on the dehydrator base, no modification necessary. The trays have a raised circle in the middle that conveniently holds the spool and allows it to turn easily.
the 2 remaining trays will need the centre mesh cut out of them. Use some strong side-cutters or a Dremel to cut the mesh out so you are left with just the tray’s outer rings.
Step 3 – Fit the PC4-M10 fitting to the adaptor
The PC4-M10 fitting is obviously M10 (metric 10mm diameter). The 3D printed adaptor has a 9.5mm diameter hole for the fitting to screw in securely. You may need a wrench/spanner. The PTFE tube can then be inserted into the fitting – push it through so that it’s flush with the other side.
Step 4 – Mount the adaptor to the dryer
Take one of the tray rings and file a 25x13mm notch on the side from the top, as shown…
Step 5 – Insert filament and connect to 3D printer
Arduino Controlled Food Dehydrator
The adaptor can now be slid in to the notch from the top…
The dehydrator trays should be stacked as follows (top to bottom):
- Lid
- Tray ring – mesh cut-out
- Tray ring – notched with this 3D printed adaptor installed
- Tray ring – unmodified (filament spool will sit on this)
- Food dehydrator base
Connect the PTFE bowden tube to your printer’s extruder. Here’s a view from the top (lid removed from dryer for this photo).
Ready to print!
Ensure that the filament spool can turn freely and isn’t hitting anything.
Set the dehydrator to it’s lowest temperature setting, and turn it on. After a few minutes, turn it to the middle setting. I measured this at 45~50°C which has given me good results with PLA – you may wish to check this with a thermometer on your setup or research other temperatures if you’re using different types of filament.
With that all put together, it’s ready to go! 🙂
Shared by Thingismith on Thingiverse:
Shortly after creating my first filament dehydrator https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2520281, I found CreativeTools’ Filament Spool Holder. My first version worked fine, but I found some shavings on the spool holder when changing filaments, caused by the friction between the holder and the spool. Also, my original holder was only sized for certain spools, not as universal as I had expected. Not a big deal, but I’m a big fan of maximum efficiency…so here you go, a slightly better version than the first.
Here are the links I had in my first version: Dehydrator: https://www.amazon.com/Flexzion-Dehydrator-Food-Fruit-Dehydration/dp/B01J51JLCC/ref=sr_1_23?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1499306986&sr=1-23&keywords=dehydrator+machine
and Wilton’s cake caddy, which I got from Joann http://www.joann.com/cake-caddy/5717806.html#q=cake%2Bcaddy&start=1, for about $10 (don’t forget to use your coupons!)
Arduino Food Dehydrator
The only other thing you need is 2 #4 x 5/8″ pan head screws. You could use another dehydrator and top, there are suggestions on Tinkerman’s original dehydrator page: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1618037
I didn’t mess with CreativeTools’ duster, the filament is in an enclosed space, not likely to gather dust. My snoot is intended for a PC4-M6 Male Straight Pneumatic Connector. The PTFE tube keeps the air from reaching the filament before it reaches the printer and keeps the filament from crimping.
Special thanks goes to CreativeTools and Tinkerman for sharing their original ideas!
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Arduino Dehydrator Reviews
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Arduino Dehydrator Machine
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