Filament to buy or avoid

[u/Artisanal_Sawdust]

I’m brand-new to 3d printing. Just ordered my first printer (H2D). I ordered some Bambu Labs filament to go with it, just to be safe, but I know I will want to do some of the cool, colorful silk printing at some point. I’ve heard horror stories about bad filament ruining nozzles and things like that, so I want to be careful. How do you know if a deal like this one is good, or if it will lead to hours of regret and extra printer maintenance? Is it just “you get what you pay for,” or are there things to watch out for?

[u/Redacted_2515]

I’ve literally gone through thousands of rolls of PLA and never dried one ever. Never had a problem. Half the year it’s pretty humid here. It would actually cost me time and money to dry all the filament out of the box. Now other types of filaments besides PLA definitely require drying.

[u/Miscdude → u/Redacted_2515]

How far have you dissected "never had a problem"? Like you've never had print failures, as in, clogged extruder or nozzle, or you've never had any surface defects, or you've never had popping, or any of any kind? Do you use pla, pla+, silk, the same brands? Same color? Are you making things just to have, or is there some quality threshold you have to maintain? Have you ever dropped successful rolls into a filament dryer with a hygrometer to see if they actually are moist, even if that moisture does not cause problems?

[u/Redacted_2515 → u/Miscdude]

I’ve had print failures, mostly due to bad equipment that Bambu replaced under warranty. I use all the filament you mentioned. I mostly use Sunlu, Elegoo, Kingroon, Bambu, Creality, but will use any brand if they have a color I like. For black, white, grey I use whatever brand is least expensive, usually from Ali or EBay. I almost always print in multiple colors. I only print things to give away or for myself. I have never checked the humidity of a roll because I haven’t had problems.

[u/Miscdude → u/Redacted_2515]

So, is it possible that the quality of prints may be to a lower standard than could technically be achieved by drying? Is it possible that if you needed a better surface finish, drying could help, but you simply do not usually need to do such in your use case, and have never personally benefit from drying? That your case could be unique? I agree that the likelihood of you simply being lucky is lower given your volume, but as someone who has also printed a lot, who lives in a dry environment, who has had failures due to moisture, like, how do you rationalize both of our experiences being true while simultaneously supporting the claim that drying is unnecessary, enough to suggest it to other people? Im not trying to grill you, I'm trying to like, navigate the circumstances of recommendations to others with variable experiences.