Hello there! My friends gifted me an Ender 3 printer, and I achieved my first successful print today! I have a few (probably stupid) questions:
- I will store it in my garage, in a shelve among other things. It is quite dusty, so I’m thinking of building a plexiglass hermetic box to keep it while powered off. Would it be a problem to keep it closed also while printing? This would change the type of box I’ll build, because there is not much space and I’m trying to save the most of it
- How do I store the filament? I (currently) have only one filament (black PLA), so I see no need to remove it from the printer each time, but leaving it “connected” (I don’t know how to say it) will not allow me to store it in a different way the printer is stored. Do I need to store it in special ways or can I leave it connected? (And bonus question, what is the correct word to say it?)
- If I don’t move the printer, how often should I calibrate it?
Sorry if these are basic questions, I’m taking my first steps into this magic world… Thanks in advance!
Thanks for the super exhaustive answer! The silica gel that comes packed with the filament isn’t enough to keep it dry?
It kind of depends on where you are. if you’re someplace dry, you may not even need that much.
for PLA, I’ve found a session in the dehydrator (and recharge the packs at the same time!) is enough to keep it just fine… in a gallon size ziplock. and many PLA brands don’t necessarily need to be dried (oh, you’ll get zitting, for sure. And it can be brittle from the steam getting forced out if it’s been open for a while.)
PETG and TPU need more, because they’ll soak up any moisture they can.