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Revive a spool of brittle PLA - is it possible?

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 10:07 am
by reibuehl
Hi all,

I have a nearly full spool of black PLA that is extremely brittle and snaps at the slightest touch. Is it possible to revive the material somehow? Or do I have to dump the full spool?

Re: Revive a spool of brittle PLA - is it possible?

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 11:53 am
by Roberts_Clif
If the PLA filament was stored dry, and becomes brittle due to crystal changes, warming it up for a day (at 50°C or so) should make it flexible again.
If the PLA filament became brittle due to water absorption and chemical breakdown, heating it will not help.

I live in a dry Climate and have a heated Printer Enclosure, all I need to do is preheat the Enclosure, reinsert the Filament and print.
Has worked on most of the filament that is brittle though not all had to throw an almost empty roll away as it was breaking every 6 inches.
This was in fact a real tightly wrapped smaller filament roll. Have sense only bought the larger Filament rolls.

Re: Revive a spool of brittle PLA - is it possible?

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 2:46 pm
by reibuehl
Water absorption is unlikely since I also have a fairly dry climate here and the spool was stored most of the time in a sealed bag with drying bags.

We have a food dryer. I need to check if that one has a fairly stable temperature regulation and could be used. I think that would be a more efficient way to heat it for a day then the heated bed of the UM2.

Re: Revive a spool of brittle PLA - is it possible?

Posted: August 23rd, 2018, 10:35 am
by gr5
90% of the time when I have brittle filament - it is only the outer meter or so. Try throwing away a meter or two and see if the rest of the filament is fine. For some reason straightening the filament (removing it from the spool) for several days causes it to be brittle. The filament still on the spool (and exposed to humidity, air, whatever) seems fine.

Re: Revive a spool of brittle PLA - is it possible?

Posted: August 23rd, 2018, 11:19 am
by LePaul
That's a good idea. I have some Ultimaker brand PLA that's getting chewed up badly in the extruder, making a real mess. I hadn't had any issues previously with other filaments....I still want to replace the Bowden and TFT since there's a few hundred hours on those. But I really wonder why that PLA is having such an awful time (3 different colors, same Ultimaker brand PLA)

Re: Revive a spool of brittle PLA - is it possible?

Posted: June 13th, 2020, 6:29 pm
by William
yeah it is totaly possible by keeping in a dry place or by drying your filament with a dehydrator or you can make your own filament dehydrator

here is a link for a diy filament dryer
https://www.inov3d.net/dehydrator-filament-dryer/

and a link for a real product
https://www.inov3d.net/sunlu-filament-d ... filadryer/

this one im still reviewing and so far its good