{"id":10377,"date":"2025-01-21T13:06:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T13:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mark3d.com\/en\/?p=10377"},"modified":"2025-01-21T14:27:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T14:27:02","slug":"how-to-store-markforged-3d-printing-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mark3d.com\/en\/how-to-store-markforged-3d-printing-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Store Markforged 3D Printing Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to Store Markforged 3D Printing Materials<\/h2><\/div>

How to store Markforged 3D Printing Materials<\/strong><\/a>. Are you struggling with wet material? Are your prints failing? Wondering how to make your 3D printing materials last longer? We’ve got the answers here.<\/p>\n

Just like you have to properly store aluminium and steel, materials for 3D printers have to be stored properly and looked after. <\/p>\n<\/div>

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What is Wet 3D Printing Material?<\/h3><\/div>

Many 3D printing filament materials are hygroscopic. This means that they absorb moisture from the air, resulting in “wet” material. Once a spool of material has absorbed moisture its properties change significantly.<\/p>\n

When the filament is heated in the 3D printer’s nozzle, it reacts differently to normal. The water inside the material will heat and expand. This causes inconsistent extrusion, and this can cause prints to fail.<\/p>\n

Onyx<\/a>, Nylon<\/a><\/strong>, PETG, PLA<\/strong><\/a>, ABS, Polycarbonate, PVA, and TPU<\/strong><\/a> are some examples of materials that are hygroscopic – though to differing degrees. We’ll talk about this more later in this guide.<\/p>\n

Pictured to the right is a box containing a spool of Markforged Onyx<\/strong><\/a> inside its protective packaging.<\/p>\n

You can learn more about 3D printing materials here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

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How To Stop 3D Printing Filament Getting Wet<\/h3><\/div>

Thankfully there’s an easy way to prevent your 3D printing filaments from getting wet: proper storage. Reputable filament manufacturers ship their materials in airtight packaging to stop any moisture getting in. In the case of Markforged, spools are heated and vacuum sealed into their packaging to ensure the material remains dry. The first solution is to keep your materials in their packaging until it’s time to use them, which will give them the best protection.<\/p>\n

When it’s time to print you should be as efficient as possible. The longer the material is exposed to the air the shorter its lifespan, so try to plan a series of prints that will use up the material. Saving your longest print to work through the night will help with this. Realistically though it can be difficult to plan and use up all of your material in one go.<\/p>\n

Markforged 3D printers<\/strong><\/a> have feature that helps past this point: dry boxes<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Dry Boxes and Material Cabinets<\/h3><\/div>

For the best possible protection, once a spool of material has been opened it must be sealed in a dry box within 15 minutes with its desiccant pack(s).<\/p>\n

Each spool of filament is shipped with desiccant. Different materials come with different types and quantities of desiccant, tuned to how hygroscopic they are. It is vital that you only use the desiccant packs that came with a spool of filament<\/strong>. Too much desiccant, or the wrong type, can draw more moisture into the dry box.<\/p>\n

Here’s a top tip from Conor Marshall<\/strong><\/a>, one of our Additive Applications Engineers:<\/p>\n

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Don’t hoard desiccant packs in your dry box<\/strong>, as this increases the chance of wet material. This is because the Onyx is more hygroscopic than the desiccant packs so will pull moisture from wet packets. The two which come with the spool are conditioned to that spool and help maintain the packaged environment when the filament is in the dry box. Always DOUBLE click the dry box latches shut!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As Conor says, it’s also vital to properly close the dry box. The latches on the Pelican dry box have to be pushed in so that they are flat and don’t move. You’ll hear two clicks; one when you bring the latch down, and a second click once it is fully sealed shut. When you aren’t printing regularly, you should unload the material from the 3D printer. This will let you close the load tube hole with the little red plug supplied with your dry box, making the container completely air tight.<\/p>\n

The dry box and desiccant packs do a good job protecting from moisture, and material that is properly stored in a dry box should last up to a year before the moisture content becomes too high for printing.<\/p>\n

Just make sure you throw away old desiccant packs!<\/p>\n

The large format Markforged 3D printers, the FX10<\/strong><\/a> and FX20<\/strong><\/a>, don’t have dry boxes. Instead they have material cabinets with individual spool bays. These offer similar protection from moisture.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Details and Exceptions<\/h3><\/div>

Here are some final details and exceptions that should be helpful.<\/p>\n