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Old PLA very brittle?

Blue_Alien

Old PLA very brittle?
April 05, 2014 12:14AM

Registered: 13 years ago
Posts: 1

I have some 1.5 year old Ultimachines PLA that I have kept in a bucket with desiccant when it was not in use. I pulled it out to print with today and found it to be very brittle. Has anyone had similar experiences with their PLA?

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3dkarma

Re: Old PLA very brittle?
April 06, 2014 04:57PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 581

Had some 3mm stuff that went the same way. About the same age, too.

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Traumflug

Re: Old PLA very brittle?
April 07, 2014 04:02AM

Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 7,616

I'm currently building a printer (Original Mendel !) with about 3 year old printed parts and I can see nothing unusual.

My usual advice: try it! Trash can doesn't care wether you throw away filament or printed parts.

Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

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pokey9000

Re: Old PLA very brittle?
April 07, 2014 05:44PM

Registered: 13 years ago
Posts: 195

I have a roll of 3mm Ultimachine natural PLA that's about 2 years old that I still occasionally use. It's survived a couple of humid summers in a closet with no breaks.

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RP Iron Man

Re: Old PLA very brittle?
April 07, 2014 06:26PM

Registered: 12 years ago
Posts: 246

Quote
Blue_Alien
I have some 1.5 year old Ultimachines PLA that I have kept in a bucket with desiccant when it was not in use. I pulled it out to print with today and found it to be very brittle. Has anyone had similar experiences with their PLA?

I just had the exact same problem today. I had some Ultimachine PLA that had been left if a non-air-tight bag with desiccant for a few months and it was breaking all over the place sad smiley

I guess I really need to start storing my filament properly...

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Traumflug

Re: Old PLA very brittle?
April 08, 2014 04:18AM

Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 7,616

Is it possible humidity makes PLA brittle? If yes, a few hours in an oven at 50 °C should solve that.

Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

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Re: Old PLA very brittle?
April 09, 2014 12:41AM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 1,381

I would think moisture would act as an interstitial lubricant, and make the filament flexible, but I don't know.

It's possible a filler is degrading, and making the filament brittle.
Makes one wonder about the long term use of some PLA objects.

PLA is branded as a biodegradable plastic, so maybe it's breaking down.

Toss some into a drying oven, and some into a bucket of water and test it.