Expiration Date on Filament?

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ajmadison
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Expiration Date on Filament?

Post by ajmadison » Tue Sep 11, 2018 6:48 am

Long story short, I moved 3 times in 18 months. Just when I thought I would get back to printing again, I was in job hunting mode, then relocating cross country, packing, moving, unpacking, etc. etc. etc. So I have filament in two states. Still factory sealed but purchased 18+ months ago. And spools that are partially used, but stored in one of those lidded plastic storage tubs with a bunch of silica gel packets. Then there are spools that all but used up. Those I can toss without too much heart burn. I endured my share of annoying filament on a couple of projects, so having to dis-assemble the extruder and cleaning it out, or the removing shattered filament from extruder drive would irritate me. On the other hand tossing out a bunch of spools with $15+ of filament on each one gives me penny pinching heartburn. But if my filament is all past the 'best by' dates let know and I won't test my patience or waste my time.

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sthone
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Re: Expiration Date on Filament?

Post by sthone » Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:41 pm

It all depends on how good the filament is as well as how it was stored. Like you I store my filament in Plastic tubs (my lids have seals) with silica gel packets and I have Makergear filament that came with my printer and is 4+ years old that is still fine. Then I have other cheap stuff that is less than a year old that gets brittle still. The brittle stuff can be dried out (or so I hear), some people put them in the over others use food dehydrators. I haven't tried drying them out myself though. It's better to just start with good filament and not worry about it. If you do buy the cheap stuff.... use it up quickly. :D
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boucha18
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Re: Expiration Date on Filament?

Post by boucha18 » Wed Sep 12, 2018 2:54 pm

You should be good with the sealed stuff so long as there aren't any holes in the packaging. If you have a bit of trouble, there is definitely a need to dry the filaments. The opened stuff would benefit from drying. Filaments outside of PLA should definitely be dried(ABS, Nylon, TPU...). I use a food dehydrator that was cheap ($36) on amazon. In my experience, the small amounts should just be tossed(too much trouble :D ).

airscapes
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Re: Expiration Date on Filament?

Post by airscapes » Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:32 pm

Ninjaflex needs to be dried, is that correct? I did not do that prior to first use.. How bad does is suck up moisture.. PLA like or Nylon like??

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sthone
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Re: Expiration Date on Filament?

Post by sthone » Wed Sep 12, 2018 5:47 pm

airscapes wrote:
Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:32 pm
Ninjaflex needs to be dried, is that correct? I did not do that prior to first use.. How bad does is suck up moisture.. PLA like or Nylon like??
I don't think so... its flexible so it's not going to get brittle. I have an off brand of flex (Zen Toolworks) that I've had for 4 years and it still prints fine.
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airscapes
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Re: Expiration Date on Filament?

Post by airscapes » Wed Sep 12, 2018 6:18 pm

Thanks, I had kind of figured that to be the case ..But to tell the truth, I have not googled the question yet. Since the stuff we not really vacuum sealed I did't think it was hydroscopic but probably should goggle it now :)

airscapes
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Re: Expiration Date on Filament?

Post by airscapes » Wed Sep 12, 2018 6:31 pm

Good resource on Ninjaflex https://ninjatek.com/resources/

boucha18
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Re: Expiration Date on Filament?

Post by boucha18 » Fri Sep 14, 2018 1:12 am

Yes Ninjaflex is like other filaments and will absorb moisture. Instead of becoming brittle like other filaments it will begin to lose other properties. I mainly deal with functional parts in nylon or tpe so drying is a must if I start to see problems. Some of the issues you may see are extra stringing, less interlayer strength and less fatigue strength.

airscapes
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Re: Expiration Date on Filament?

Post by airscapes » Fri Sep 14, 2018 3:53 am

This is the response from the manufacture:

Hello,
Ninjaflex does not typically absorb water from the atmosphere. We have 90% of our stock sitting in the open air and see no issues when printing.

Thanks!
Technical Sales Support Specialist
NinjaTek | A division of Fenner Drives
311 West Stiegel Street
Manheim, PA 17545
office: +1-717-664-8390
Email: Mike.Crotti@ninjatek.com
www.ninjatek.com

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