CFS sealing possible

Flagship K Series Creality Flagship K2 Pro & K2
1

Good day fellow people of 3d printing..

Is there a way to better seal the CFS unit to prevent moisture entry?

I live near the ocean and the humidity is very high. I do not open my CFS very often but the moisture gets in there and it uses a lot of desiccant to keep dry. i have printed some extra boxes to insert but still the desiccant (color changing) does not last very long. ± 2weeks for all of them to go bad. Without me opening the CFS.
changing one spool i see a 20% increase in moisture that is how high the humidity is around here.

1 Like
2

You have a couple options - depending on whether your CFS is seeing regular daily use. If it’s not, then removing the rolls to an airtight desiccant filled container will help - especially if they are pre-dried in a low temperature oven process.

You could always “bag” the CFS when not in use. A Kitchen Catcher bag or even Heavy garbage bag is designed to keep air / moisture sealed away. Bag the CFS and use a removable 3d printed bag clip to seal the bag when not using the CFS. You’ll need to design the bag clip to handle the CFS wires and filament tube but it’s definitely an option

Install the entire CFS permanently in an airtight container beside the printer, with only the CFS Wires and filament protruding, and fill with desiccant - or go to full-on drier mod. with fans and heat. I’ve seen something similar done as a ‘make yourself’ manual change filament holder where 4 or even 6 rolls were ready to go for manual filament changes - it would be easy to adapt for a CFS container.

Install a portable dehumidifier in the room that the printer and CFS are kept to lower the room humidity, and cooler air has less humidity as well, so even a portable air conditioner installed in the room window would work as well, and can also dehumidify.

Add even more desiccant to the CFS. There are designs for front trays, back trays, inside the spool containers as well as the 2 little trays of the CFS unit itself. The rear desiccant holder I designed holds almost 4lbs of filament just in the area behind the spools - so the CFS can definitely hold a lot of desiccant.

If you want to have a link to the drier I designed and am using, just ask - but I’m not here to spam my creation, but honestly try to answer your question.

Hope some of the above helps - even if just to start some dialogue about options

1 Like
3

Hi FagansPlace. I would certainly like to see your CFS dryer design. Thanks

1 Like
4

you can find multipe dryers on CC. there is all different kinds and price ranges. Also their are some you tube videos that show on space pi and cfs and make them one. here is my cheapier fix price range 30-50 usd off of amazon . To get the best results you still need to use desicant beads.

5

If you have that much of a problem with moisture you should run a dehumidifier.

6

I did have the same problem, and tried extra desiccant, heated external dehumidifiers and found this lacking in user friendliness.
Almost a year ago I stumbled upon the solution, at least, I think it is the solution. It works great for me, although it is a pricey one, on the long run I’m quite happy with it.

I’m using a Rosahl dehumidification membrane. It is a small membrane, power under 1 watt, which constantly removes moisture. It is not using heat, but some sort of electrical stimulated osmosis. I have installed one in my CFS, and one in one of my dry-boxes.
I’m in the Netherlands, with humidity levels quite high, and the CFS now has a level of 17%. When changing spools, the humidity of course rises (just do it quick), but drops quite acceptable, fast enough at least in my opinion.

I did use an extra sealing on the lid of the CFS to get a little more air-tightness, just a simple foamstrip of 1mm thick. A thicker strip gives to much force on the closing.

An added plus is whenever I have to change rolls because of a long print, I already add the new roll to the CFS a day or more before the print, and it will be dehumidified in time.

So what is involved for this setup:

  • a rosahl membrane: I used both the M-3J1R and the M-3M1R (end result the same, the larger one slightly quicker)
  • printing the mount and fixing it on the CFS lid
  • extra foam seal on the lid

You do need to drill a hole in the lid, i chose the back of the lid since it is flat. There are several printable mounts available, there is also one which uses a screw-type fixing, so only a round hole needs to be drilled, which is most easy to do.
By the way, I purchase my membranes with a German engineer who discovered this nice option, and posted some printable models and a description, which includes a link to to his kit with the needed sealing rings.

Needles to say, this solution does also have its drawbacks, for example, it is not as fast in dehumidification as a heated drybox and will need a power connection all the time, but on the plus side, it does not overheat the filament, and uses far less electricity on the long run. And no more hassle with desiccant either.

7

My PLA design and build was this: Ultimate CFs Desiccant drier

With 2lbs of WiseSorbent Indicating Silica Gel Rechargeable beads (from Amazon,ca) my printer holds 5% for about 60days and then slowly starts to creep up with ambient at 40% at 25 celcius room temp. I recharge at 17% in the oven at 170 degrees - the lowest my oven will go, on an old cookie sheet for 3 hours, and leave it in overnight with the oven light on overnight. Comes out just slightly warm, but ready for reuse, and drops the humidity back to 5% in about 24 hours. It does hold almost 4 lbs though….