Conclusion

My final series of tests occurred on March 7th, in the first few days of Spring Break, with plans to complete the paperwork and digital presentation in the upcoming days of break, in anticipation of the April 1st deadline. Due to the chaos that then ensued in the following days, I decided to wait to collect and present my conclusions.

All videos I was able to upload have since been uploaded to the above YouTube playlist. While video quality varies, I feel that the print quality maintained a surprisingly steady quality across the board. No roll of filament demonstrated a clear decrease in usability. The sole failure test I experienced was due to the print failing to stick to the heat bed, and that can be attributed to the bed’s surface being improperly prepared beforehand.

One note to remember is that I brushed each filament roll off beforehand each time, so the presence of dust and other detritus that might have accumulated over time was negated slightly. Also of note is the fact that the time between prints was not entirely consistent due to time constraints in travel and schoolwork.

One other event I experienced was relatively unconnected to the project, but could matter later. I had a small print of a clip in my car to be used to hold a cord for a phone. Recently, in the summer months, I’d noticed that the clip had softened and stretched due to the heat of the vehicle. This brings to mind the concern that a roll of filament left in high temperature areas could fuse together and melt if left there for an extended period of time.

Overall, I feel I can conclude that you can generally store PLA Filament however you like,given that you maintain your printer and don’t overly abuse the rolls. If I was to continue the study, I would add the further rolls of one stored in a passenger vehicle and another submerged in water, to broaden the tested aspects even further.

 

 

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