Hello 3D Printing Friends! Today on the BV3D Channel, we'll take a look at the Eibos
Series X Easdry filament drying system! Stick around and we'll get into it,
right after this! I'm Bryan, and YOU... are watching BV3D!
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Okay, so today we're going to get a look at the Series X Easdry filament dryer from Eibos,
and their Eurus filament storage bags and vacuum pump.
Eibos sent this over for review free of charge, so a big thanks to Eibos for that!
Also I think that logo is pretty cool. It's the word Eibos,
but it looks like a person with a hat and sunglasses. And a big nose.
And a somewhat strangely-shaped mustache. But it's cool, and I like it. Anyway,
before I get to the Easdry filament dryer I want to talk about filament and moisture.
And if this seems like a "dry" subject, that's okay! This video is divided into chapters,
so you can skip over things, or go back to things, right from the video's timeline.
Okay, so pretty much all 3D printing filament is hygroscopic to some degree.
"Hygroscopic" is a fancy word that means the filament likes to absorb water.
Even straight from the factory, the filament has some moisture in it, and
that's okay. If you're careful with your filament, and you keep it stored properly,
moisture may not be much of a problem. For some people, it's never a problem. Some people are
lucky enough to live in an area where the relative humidity is pretty low. In areas like these,
there's just not a lot of moisture in the air. But where I live, the relative humidity can be
on the higher side. In fact it's usually 50% or more, pretty much all year round.
So, I learned some interesting things while watching a recent live stream in
which Repkord's Supreme Leader, Pooch, and Andrew from 3D Gloop,
were discussing PLA's hygroscopic properties, filament drying, and storage.
In fact, some of the big takeaways from that stream are that PLA is hygroscopic
and will absorb moisture from the air.
I knew that one.
The pigments in PLA can be more hygroscopic than the PLA itself.
That one I did not know.
And PLA has a shelf life. At some point it may not be worth the effort to try reviving it.
I didn't know that one either.
Now also, there's nothing wrong with drying PLA a couple of times.
But! Multiple drying cycles can be A Bad Thing.
Drying PLA, then leaving it out to absorb moisture, and then repeating that cycle over
and over and over again can damage the polymers in the PLA, making it brittle
and hard to print with. So once your filament is dry, you should try to keep it dry.
That stream is definitely worth the watch, and you'll find a link to it in the description.
So ideally, you'll want to run your filament through an active drying cycle as
few times as possible, and then do your best to keep it dry.
After drying it, keep it stored in a sealed environment with a desiccant pack.
The desiccant is MUCH more hygroscopic than the filament,
and it'll absorb the moisture from the air before the filament can.
Okay, but why even keep it dry? What's so bad about filament when it's got a lot of
moisture in it? Well, moisture in filament can affect prints in different ways. It can make the
filament more susceptible to stringing, where you end up with lots of web-like strands on a print.
It can also lead to an ugly surface finish. So if a spool of filament that you've had
for a while has started to get stringy, or the prints are looking kind of bad,
and you're using the same settings you always do, it might be time to dry it out.
Several years ago, the way to dry filament was to bake it in the oven for several hours.
But oven thermostats are notoriously inaccurate,
and some people found themselves with a real mess on their hands. Or at least in their ovens.
Now, more recently, people discovered they could use
a common food dehydrator with slight modifications to dry their filament.
These days, there are a number of purpose-built filament drying solutions to choose from.
And I reviewed a couple of the ones from Sunlu. But one thing about the
Sunlu dryers is that they can be a little bit complicated to use. On the one hand,
they have an automated drying cycle, and you can adjust how long they run until they turn off.
But on one of them, a cycle can last a maximum of 24 hours.
On the other, a cycle can last up to 99 hours, which is a little over four days. So if you have
filament that you want to ensure stays dry over the course of a multi-day print, that's handy.
Now if your print runs longer than four days, and some larger prints do,
you'll have to restart the Sunlu dryer at some point to make sure it stays on.
And that brings us to the Eibos Series X Easdry. It's a basic filament dryer that's super easy to
use. Unlike other filament dryers I've used, it doesn't have a separate power brick. It
just plugs into the wall. You turn it on or off with the power switch on the back.
Setting the temperature for a particular kind of filament is done with a simple rotary knob.
It runs for as long as you need, until you turn it off.
And there's a hygrometer on the front to show you the relative humidity inside the unit.
People who have knocked the Sunlu filament dryers for not having a fan will be pleased to know that
the Easdry DOES have one. And I was pleased to find out that it's really not very loud.
The Easdry fits most spools comfortably, and you can use it to keep filament dry while
you're printing, because it has three filament exit paths. One on the front, one on the top,
and one at the back of the unit. The spools are supported from the hub, not from the rim.
I find this pretty handy because I have a few spools with damaged rims,
and I can't do the "print while drying" thing with the Sunlu dryers.
Loading filament in the Easdry is ease-ee.
Pull down the release cord -- yes, cord -- on the side cover to unlatch it, and then KEEP pulling
away from the unit to pull the cover off. The cover seems to require a bit of force to remove.
On the one hand, I suppose that means it's making a good seal against the rest of the unit,
but on the other hand, I kind of worry that at some point the pull cord thing might give out.
With the cover removed, slide a spool of filament onto the spool holder.
If you're intending to print with the filament while you're drying it, Eibos includes a fairly
long piece of PTFE tubing. Poke it through one of the grommets at the filament exit points,
and load the filament into the tubing before putting the filament inside the unit.
Eibos includes a pair of silicone bands that you're supposed to put on the end
of the spool holder, to sort of keep the spool from rubbing against the side cover.
I'm not sure how necessary those really are, but I've been putting them on just in case. So
after the filament is loaded, turn the Easdry, on set the dial to whatever kind of filament you're
drying, and let it do its thing. The fan pulls in air from outside, the internal heater warms it up,
and then that air flows through the unit, around the filament, and is exhausted out a set of vents.
And as it runs, you can watch the hygrometer on the front and see the relative humidity inside
the unit dropping. The small manual included with the Easdry shows the temperature ranges
for the different filament types, along with the minimum run times needed for drying.
You can see that the temperatures for drying PLA are in the 40 to 45 degree Celsius range,
and Eibos says you should dry it for longer than four hours. Similarly, PETG's temperature
range is from 55 to 60 degrees Celsius, with a drying time listed as longer than two hours.
When I dry my PLA, PETG, and TPU, I usually run it for at least eight hours,
sometimes longer. Usually I'll start it in the evening, and then turn it off the next
morning if I'm intending to store it in a bag with desiccant right after drying it.
If I'm intending to dry and print at the same time, I can just leave
the Easdry running for the duration of the print, and then bag the filament.
So my testing for filament dryers generally consists of weighing a spool of filament,
putting it through a drying cycle, and then weighing it again afterwards.
Any weight loss is due to moisture having been removed from the filament.
Think of it this way: a sponge weighs more when it's wet than when it's dry. Same principle.
So I weighed a spool of Printed Solid Tree Green PETG, and it was 1180 grams.
I dried it for nine hours, and then weighed it again, and it weighed 1180 grams.
So it lost a gram of weight, which means a gram of water had been removed from the filament.
For the curious, a cubic centimeter of water weighs one gram. So I printed a
cubic centimeter to help visualize that. This much water was removed from that spool of PETG.
Now I've done before and after prints in a previous filament dryer video,
showing the beneficial effect that drying can have on filament,
and I'm showing those photos here now, to illustrate the improvement after drying.
It's important to keep your filament stored in as dry in environment as possible. Usually
the way I do this is to put the filament back in its bag with its desiccant pack,
but some filament doesn't come in resealable zipper bags,
and that makes it very difficult to keep it dry when it's not in use.
Some spools are small enough that I can put them in one gallon zipper bags,
but others just won't fit at all.
But Eibos has this covered as well. The other thing they sent me was the Eurus
filament storage system, consisting of three large filament storage bags with zipper seals,
and a USB powered pump to suck as much air out as possible. With this, you can store the filament
when it's not in use, and that will help keep it dry. You can get the vacuum pump and three storage
bags for a bit under $30 US, or you can get the pump and ten storage bags for just under $40 US.
So, I like that the Easdry is so uncomplicated to use.
Turn on the switch, and set the knob to the type of filament you're drying.
And I like the hygrometer that shows the relative humidity inside the unit. The active
air circulation is great, and the noise level is low. You can print while drying, and you've
got flexibility in where you place the unit, with the three different filament exit points.
And for long prints, it runs until you turn it off. But that feature can also be a drawback. If
you're only wanting to run it for a few hours, you might forget to come back and turn it off. Also,
it fits most, but not all, spools. When a spool is too wide, the side cover might not close. Even if
you do manage to close it on a spool that doesn't fit well, the cover presses against the spool
preventing it from turning. So in that situation, you can't dry and print at the same time.
For storing filament after it's dry, I really like the Eurus system.
Vacuum-sealing the dried filament in bags helps keep that filament dry until I'm ready to use it.
About the only thing missing from this awesome drying and storage system is a way to store
multiple spools of filament and still be able to print with them,
while at the same time keeping them dry. That would be useful for
a printer with a multi-material unit, or a printer with multiple extruders,
or even just something to feed several printers that are all in close proximity to one another.
For that, you might want a purpose-built filament storage solution like Repkord's Repbox.
It'll hold a bunch of filament spools, it's got a lot of customizable options, and you
can outfit it with a seal kit and rechargeable desiccant packs to create the optimal environment
for simultaneously storing AND printing with the filament you've dried with the Easdry.
Overall, I think the Eibos Easdry and its companion product, the Eurus vacuum sealer,
is a great solution for actively drying and then storing your filament when it's not in use.
It's quiet, and super easy to use. Plus you can
print with the one spool that's in the Easdry, which keeps it dry during use.
Well, 3D Printing Friends, that's about all the time we have for this episode!
And now that we're at the end, let's go print something cool!
Hey, real quick before you go, I wanted to say THANKS for being one of the Super Awesome People
who sticks around all the way to the end, and thanks for all the likes, comments, and shares.
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Well, that's it for this one! Thanks again, and I'll see you next time, here on the BV3D Channel.