Filament spool dehydrator mounting adaptor by J741

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

REMIX SHOUT OUT
Tinkerman's "Filament Dryer / Dehydrator" thing provided inspiration for this project, and let me know what already existing things I could re-purpose and use as part of this project.https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1618037
I needed a way to restore old filament that was no longer printing well. Research suggested that moisture in the filament may be the cause, and that the filament needed to be dehydrated. I found the "PrintDry Filament Drying System" which is specifically designed for this purpose, and noticed that it looked very similar to a food dehydrator I saw at a local store, with the same temperature ranges available on its control dial. So being a maker, I chose to modify a food dehydrator to dry my filament; this turned out to be pretty easy. Here's what I did:
1] I used the base of a "Salton VitaPro Food Dehydrator" (the source of warm air feeding the dehydration process) which I found for $40. I set aside the trays and lid, keeping them intact and not used for this project.
• https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/salton-vitapro-food-dehydrator/6000187742641
2] I designed and printed an adaptor piece, to hold my filament spool on the food dehydrator's warm air vent, instead of using one of the dehydrator's food trays.
• Remix Note: I did not use Tinkerman's "Spool Axes", but I did make use of the step element of his design when I made this one.
3] For a cover with a comparable air volume, I found a food serving tray with a dome cover at my local thrift store. It was only a slightly smaller diameter than the dehumidifier, and I got it for only $3. It looks very similar to this one:
• https://www.amazon.ca/Estilo-EST0314-Multifunctional-Serving-Stand/dp/B016V65CUE/ref=sr_1_2
4] I drilled several holes in the top of the domed cover, to approximately match the volume of the air gaps in the food dehydrator's original lid, allowing air flow for the dehydration process.
5] to prevent cover vibration rattle when operating, I used a piece of soft PVC tubing (similar to aquarium air hose), in which I cut a lengthwise slit, then slid it onto the bottom edge of the cover.
• https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/1-8-in-clear-pvc-tubing-nsf/A-p8576308e
Sketchup 2017 source files for the filament spool mounting adaptor are included in the thing files.