Sovol Dryer PLA Spool Spacer

SOVOL Filamet Dryer heat spacer:

The Sovol Dual Filament dryer has a maximum drying temperature of 50 degrees Celsius, though the metal bearing rods will heat up much hotter. If you are like me, this took ruining a PLA printed spool to learn. My example is included in the photos.

This “Spacer” is a very simple mesh-grate intended to lift the PLA-spool up off of the metal bearing rods, allowing you to dry your PLA spools with the lid cracked (as Sovol intended).

All of my testing was done using a spacer printed in ABS, I was able to dry a PLA spool for 24 hours @ 50 degrees with no signs of warping. Without the spacer, I am able to get the inside of my dryer to around 10% RH while running. With the spacer, the lowest I saw was 13% RH. My apartment is around 33-40% RH for reference. I have not tested the spacer with PLA, but I will update when I do. You are also unable to print from your dryer when the spacer is in, but the bearing rods will only deform the PLA when the spool is still on the bearing rods, if you are printing it is a non-issue.

UPDATE 12/12/2024: After running a PLA spool on the dryer for 36ish hours @ 50degrees I noticed some slight warping on the spool. It is so minor the spool still rolls fine in my AMS, but something to be aware of. I have since been turning my dryer down to 40 degrees for longer dryer sessions and have had no issues. 

Thanks for reading, I hope this helps you as much as it helped me :)