this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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How to dry silica gel (feddit.org)
submitted 21 hours ago by BennyInc@feddit.org to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world
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I have a questions I haven't found answered anywhere, but maybe someone here can help out.

First, some background:

I have bought this silica gel with indicator a while ago and have used it in my AMS and also for storing my filament in ziplock bags.

I now want to dry some of the silica gel, and have looked at the various options there are. I want to rule out the use of my kitchen appliances, as I am not fully convinced of the silica with indicator being really fully non-hazardous. I also recently bought a Creality Space Pi dryer, which I would like to use for drying my silica as well. Of course I would need to print a container for that, and since I only have PLA and PETG available at the moment, I wouldn't be able to drive the dryer too hot.

Online you can find many different opinions about the ideal drying temperature for silica gel, ranging from 60°C to 145°C.

Efficient energy usage is no big concern for me with this, as my PV modules produce a lot of excess power during the current season.

Question:

What temperature should I dry the silica gel at, and does a longer drying time at lower temperature equal the same results as a quicker drying at higher temperature?

Or does higher temperature actually remove more humidity overall, which a lower temperature can maybe not achieve regardless of time?

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[–] myplacedk@lemmy.world 10 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

A little tip for when you try out different methods: Check the weight of the silica gel, to check your progress.

For example: Take a container from the AMS, weigh it. Give it an hour in a food dehydrator. Weigh it. Repeat until weight no longer drops. Give it a couple hours or more in an oven that's at least 100 °C. Then weight it again.

Now you know how long it takes in the dehydrator, and how well it works.

Later you can weigh it again, and compare to the weight out of the oven. Now you know how much water is in there.

[–] BennyInc@feddit.org 3 points 14 hours ago

The scientific method, eh? 😄