Best Practice - Drying 3D Printer filament for use on Stratasys Fortus machines

People serious about running a top notch 3d printing or production operation should always dry their 3d printing filament, both Stratasys and Argyle brand materials: new and partial used spools. 

What type of Oven or Dryer can I use to dry 3d printing materials / fliament?

Many customers have industrial vacuum drying ovens since the vacuum speeds up the process. Some companies use the Fortus build chamber set to run Ultem or they use a kitchen oven. Many of our customers dry every spool prior to use: new Stratasys Model and Support filament, new Argyle Materials Model and Support filament and partial spools off the shelf. 

Justification for pre-drying 3d printing filament.

A full spool takes two days to consume on the Fortus machine so you can dry the pending spool(s) for two days. Drying isn’t an admission of poor quality it is a Best Practice ie. the smart thing to do. There is a reason there are dryers on the machine themselves. Just as a injection molder always drys pellets prior to molding so too should a Fortus 3d printer operator dry the filament since it is nothing more than pellets in filament form.

What is the filament drying temperature and dry time?

For generic spools set your oven to 70C. Argyle Materials is about to carry a high temperature spool that can be dried at elevated temperatures of 130C for drying highly hydroscopic materials like Ultem 9085 and Ultem 1010 and Ultem Support. At 70C a 48 hour dry time is preferred, however, usually 12 hours overnight is sufficient. At 130C for high temperature materials the same durations apply. For new Stratasys canisters simply remove the foil tape, take the lid off and place the entire canister and spool without the lid in the oven. When ready to use the Stratasys canister afix the lid with masking tape; the metal tape is overkill. For Argyle Materials refills of ABS, ASA, PCABS, PC, Ultem 9085 Ultem 1010 and Breakaway Support (HIPS) simply remove the spool from the vacuum sealed bag, place the spool in the oven and load into a canister when ready for use. For partial spools, both OEM and after market, remove the lid form the canister, dry and replace lid by holding in place with masking tape when ready for use.

Now your 3d printer is ready to perform running dry material just like an injection molder runs dried materials