Update 1.5

During the last print cycle, I noted that a sensor in the y plane of motion was not triggering correctly. It is intended to act as a notification to the card that the print bed has reached its maximum movement in that direction. It was not doing so and thus the motor would grind for up to 5 seconds before the built in override stopped it.

As this was abnormal, I undertook corrective maintenance on the printer. I have found the error, a pair of loose screws of an incorrect size that blocked the complete movement of the bed, and since have exchanged them for a better design. I also found the cooling fan for the board was starting to fail, and have swapped it out for a new unit. Neither of these changes directly effect the print quality of the selected test product, acting more as a support to the overall printer.

During this time, a cleaning of the hot end was initiated, which culminated in a non related print failing due to improper reassembly. I then managed to correct this error, however I had to further re-calibrated the printer to account for deviations in thread usage.

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.

 

 

Update Two

Here is the playlist used to document the project, with more uploads to come.

I have re-positioned the camera in an attempt to get the focus on the print itself. I have also come to a set method to swap the rolls efficiently and reduce errors. Ideally, I reach the printer immediately after the print completes, and can maintain the hot end temp for a quick swap with no down time. When unable to do so, I then ensure that the hot end reheats to melting and the feed the new role in completely, ensuring I have some extrusion before continuing.

Having completed 5 of the 6 test prints, I now bring you the full second update. All videos have been cataloged in YouTube, I updated the lighting in the enclosure from a single bulb desk lamp pointed in the window of the enclosure to a full LED strip above the printer, and managed to run a full cycle in a single day with no major downtime. I will start to transition these logs into a presentation/report to be published/presented in April.

Update One

I will start this update by embedding all of the videos I’ve collected to this post. Please note I am unable to upload videos directly to this site, and Youtube is refusing to allow Hobby #0 to the page.

Now on to the update!

Over the past 3 months, I’ve tested 3 times, an initial run fresh from the package labeled 0, and 2 runs since then of the individual storage methods. So far I’ve seen no difference in the final products, however I have found the prints are more likely to fail in the initial lay-down layers at the start to to differences in the environment the printer is in. Despite attempting to maintain a stable climate, as the winter months come, the overall environment within the house shifts, leading to variations in the print that are hard to counteract without invalidating the experiment. I’ve included the singular failure that failed farther than 5 minutes into the print, as this could be an example of the print quality becoming affected by the storage environment.

Planning

Plans and Needs

Plans

  • July
    • Project approved
    • Research Background
  • August
    • All To Be Purchased (see below) purchased
    • Printer Area Prepped
    • Dehydrator Modified
    • Test Model Selected
  • September
    • Prototype tested successfully
    • Control Test of all four spools (print-0)
      • Introduction Post
      • Planning Post
      • Methodology Post
  • October
    • Print-1
  • November
    • Print-2
      • Update Post #1
  • December
    • Print-3
  • January
    • Print-4
    • Paper Start
      • Update Post #2
  • February
    • Print-5
  • March
    • Print-6
    • Project/Paper Completed
      • Conclusion Post
  • April
    • Final Project Submission and Presentation

Needs

  • Materials: Things that become part of the finished product
    • To Be Purchased
      • 4 Rolls of PLA 1.75 mm Filament
      • Silica Packets (50+ count)
    • Already Owned
      • Spare Filament for Prototyping
  • Tools: Items used in the process
    • To Be Purchased
      • Food Dehydrator
      • Webcam
    • Already Owned
      • MP Mini Select V2 3D Printer
      • Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint
      • x-acto knife
      • monitor
      • laptop
      • mouse
      • Ipad
      • glass print bed
      • Dremel with rotary cutting wheel
  • Supplies: Things that are used up, such as tape or bags
    • To Be Purchased
    • Already Owned
      • Blue Painters Tape
      • Index Cards
      • Pens
      • Ziploc bags
      • cardboard boxes
      • plastic wrap
      • paper clip
      • binder clip

Methodology

Method to the Madness:

Storage methods are based off of four basic consumer types:

  • Professional
    • Dehydrate filament in dehydrator after each print for 4 hours at 45 degrees Celsius
    • Seal in bag with 2 silica packets and store on cool shelf in dark closet
  • Hobbyist
    • Seal in bag with 1 silica packet and store on cool shelf in dark closet
  • Casual
    • store in open air on shelf of room with mild light exposure
  • Careless
    • store in non-temperature controlled garage under direct light exposure via window.

For each round of prints, a roll of filament in removed from its storage location. It is then put into the printer and a set print is run. After print is completed, roll is stored back in designated location and next roll is pulled out. Repeated until each roll has run once this cycle. Print-0 was undertaken directly from the manufacturer’s packaging, to form a sort of control sample. If a print fails, the test will not be run again. A round of printing will occur once a month. The products of the prints will be compared to each other and the control to measure the degradation of the print quality over time.

Introduction

What is this?

This is a study of the effects of environmental differences in storing of PLA based plastics and the resulting differences in print quality over an extended time frame.

What is in question with this study?

Are the costs inherent to the higher end storage methods reflected in the resulting products?

But… why?

Online, there are dozens of sights and videos promoting their interpretation of optimum storage methodology of 3D printing filament. These methods range from tossing the rolls in bags with silica packets from beef jerky to several hundred dollar specialty equipment meant for makers spaces. Now, while the variety is endless, there is little in the way of hard, long-term data available to the public on how the storage of plastic filament affects the quality of the print. It is hoped that through this testing, an answer to the above question can be found.

References

“How to Store 3D Printing Filament.” 3D Printing for Beginners, 22 Sept. 2016, http://3dprintingforbeginners.com/how-to-store-3d-printing-filament/

“DIY 3D Printing Filament Dryer for Under $40 UPDATED TEMPS.” YouTube, 4 Feb. 2018, tinyurl.com/y6jsbfxm.