An issue that many casual 3D printers will run into is filament that has been out of its original sealed bags and has taken on moisture from the atmosphere. This moisture causes the filament to become fragile and if flexed several times the filament will break and cause a print fail. This is a big issue if there is an extended time between prints and and the filament is either left on the printer or on a shelf. There are professional grade dryers available but there are also DIY and low cost options. The option we are going to use is based using a low cost food dehydrator.

Title: DIY Filament Dryer
Client: Personal Project and Home 3D Printer Users
Made with: Apple Pages, iPhone 16 camera, ring light
Time in Development: 14 hours
Collaborators: Solo-Project
Background
This project is to create the instructions to convert a dehydrator into 3D printer filament dryer. If PLA 3D printer filament is left out in the air it will take on moisture and it will make the filament fragile and easy to break when flexed.
Solution Developed
During the research process it was actually found that inexpensive dehydrators were going to be easier to modify since more expensive models had larger heaters that could heat the filament to the point it will start slump out of specifications. Within the smaller more inexpensive models the heaters are split between top and bottom mounted heaters. The model that I selected used a top mounted heater and fan. Also the size of the 1 kilogram filament spool meant that machines with at least 5 trays were the only ones considered.
Results
During the prototyping phase it was found that the grills for three of the trays had to be removed to provide space for the spool. This left two spares that could be used for loose filament that is not on a spool. The advantage of having to modify three trays it was possible to do a couple of takes to get the best pictures.
Users of the book will be able modify the inexpensive dehydrators into a filament dryer in the course of an afternoon. The dryer can successfully dry the filament in four to six hours.