Older filament acting inconsistent lately

[CynthiaSinnoh]

I finally did an end of year cleanup around my 3D printer and went through all my filament spools. That’s when it really hit me how inconsistent some of my older ones are. Same brand on the label, but totally different feel when printing.

A couple of spools that used to print fine now seem brittle or need way more tweaking than I remember. At first I thought my printer was drifting, but the more I swapped filaments, the clearer it became that the filament itself was the variable.

Has anyone else noticed older filament behaving differently over time, even when it’s been stored reasonably well?

 

[Alan]

That’s a good catch, especially once you start swapping spools back to back. It really highlights how the filament itself can change over time. Did you notice this more with one material type, or across different filaments?

 

[freshRootb33r]

I finally did an end of year cleanup around my 3D printer and went through all my filament spools. That’s when it really hit me how inconsistent some of my older ones are. Same brand on the label, but totally different feel when printing.

A couple of spools that used to print fine now seem brittle or need way more tweaking than I remember. At first I thought my printer was drifting, but the more I swapped filaments, the clearer it became that the filament itself was the variable.

Has anyone else noticed older filament behaving differently over time, even when it’s been stored reasonably well?

sounds like a poorly stored filament. to prevent things like this, store your spools in a cool, dark, and dry place. Airtight containers or vacuumsealed bags with desiccant packs are highly effective storage solutions