AMS Dry Pods Lrg, Sml, Hygro, Trays, & Funnel V20

Please Read This!
NOTE! These Dry Pods are too wide for the AMS 2 Pro! A new Print Profile for dry Pods that I have designed specifically for the AMS 2 Pro has been posted here: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1321169-ams-2-dry-pod-system-v5#profileId-1357362

There are many alternate Print Profiles posted here. Some were created a long time ago, and include models of pods that are many versions back. As a result, they may not include improvements and changes that were added to the later versions of the Print Profiles. If you use one of these profiles, please do not complain if a problem that has been fixed in later versions is found in the profile that you print. I have no control over the non-Designer print profiles, and once posted, the poster seems to never look at them again, much less, update them…

This Print Profile includes all the components you need to upgrade your AMS to use loose (silica gel) desiccant. And the additional Dry Pods allow the AMS to hold more desiccant, which will mean longer times between refreshes. And the Spool Pods provide even more space for desiccant, and add weight to spools so they don't bounce as much when they are empty.

For Newbies:

• From Plates 1-7, pick a plate for the hygrometer that you want use. All the Pods on that individual plate will fit into your AMS 1. The remaining plates are optional. If the plate (1-7) that you printed did not include a funnel, then you can print just the funnel.

   

• There are additional plates for 'Claymore' pods which can be used if you vacuum pack your filament spools for storage, or Spool Pods, which can provide additional desiccant inside the AMS, or add weight to a mostly empty spool so it doesn't bounce around. Spool Pods can be used when storing filament, but they are sealed closed if you use vacuum bags and provide no drying benefit so they are not recommened for this application. If you are using regular plastic bags or a bins, then they work great.

Four types of hygrometers are supported: Bambu or Amazon Round, Bambu or Amazon Rectangular, Xiaomi, and Vaikby.

Note that the Print times defined by the print profiles above are for all the Plates in the respective Print Profile. Plate 1 of the All Dry Pods, Desiccant Trays, and Funnel Print Profile, which includes all the parts that you need to outfit an AMS with a round hygrometer, takes about 14.5 hours to print. If you use the Fast Dry Pods, Desiccant Trays, and Funnel Print Profile, the same Plate takes about 9.75 hours to print, but you give up some surface quality. Printing Plate 2 (without a Funnel) takes about 13.75 or 8.5 hours, respectively. Both Print Profiles generate fully functional and strong parts.

The latest Print Profile has been expanded to make it more friendly to printing with Bambu Handy. Now there are multiple Plates, each configured for a different type of hygrometer or no hygrometer. See the V9 release notes at the bottom.

The “All Dry Pods, Desiccant Trays, and Funnel" Print Profile has been printed by over 30,000 users successfully. My Profile was configured specifically for printing with Bambu PETG-HF, and it took several iterations to come up with the profile settings that would work reliably. However, these Print Profiles have also been successfully printed in PLA, ABS, and ASA.

If you have issues with these print profiles please add a comment to say why. I can't improve them if I don't know how they are failing.
 

Dry Pod Hygrometer options:

• Bambu or compatible Round Hygrometer with vertical or 30 degree tabs,  with a hole all the way through it, which should generate more accurate measurements. A 42mm diameter x 14mm deep body and a 46mm diameter bezel is supported. (Plate 1 w Funnel and Plate 2, no Funnel.)
• Bambu or compatible Round Hygrometer with a shallow hole for the hygrometer, which allows the Dry Pod hold more desiccant, but may be less accurate in measuring the overall humidity level of the AMS. A 42mm diameter x 14mm deep body and a 46mm diameter bezel is supported. (Floating).
• Bambu Rectangular Hygrometer.  A 45x26x15mm body and a 48x29mm bezel is supported. (Plate 4).
• Xiaomi Bluetooth Thermometer Hygrometer. A 43x43x12.5 mm body is supported (Plate 5).
• Vaikby Hygrometer. (Plate 6).

Rear Desicant Trays are supported. To snap the covers on the tray pods, slide the cover in the against the front, then press the back down.

Spool and Claymore Pods are also supported.

All Pods support the Funnel.

All the hygrometer Dry Pods have a hole all the way through them, which helps generate more accurate measurements and allows you to use a screwdriver or other tool to push the hygrometer out of the pod to replace its battery or change it's settings. 

The Rectangular, Xiaomi and Vaikby Hygrometer Pods use small (horizotal or vertical) tabs that mate  to hold the hygrometers in place.
Note, the requirement to use Supports for these pods, makes it it very difficult to have precise control over the height of the top tabs. It may be necessary to scrape the tabs with a knife to get the hygrometer to snap into place correctly.

It takes about 350 to 375 grams of desiccant to fill all Dry Pods and Desiccant Containers.

The Dry Pod, Spool Pod, and Desiccant Container covers include a detent to hold them in place more securely, but they can be a tight fit. Before you add desiccant, fit the covers into place to prevent fumbling with them when they are full of desiccant. The first time you insert a cover it may take some force, but it quickly becomes easier to slide. 

Note: Using the STL Raw Model files and enabling supports may generate supports inside the Dry Pods, which can be hard or impossible to get out.  Supports are only needed for Dry Pods with hygrometer openings. None are needed for the Narrow or Wide Dry Pods. If you use my 3MF file, I applied Filament Painting  to all the parts to prevent any unnecessary or internal supports. However, some minimal supports are needed for the hygrometer Dry Pods.

The Desiccant Insert Top and Bottom parts snap together. I haven't used any glue with mine. And a full one survived a drop off a desk onto a carpeted floor and did not pop open. But you may still want to glue them because the parts are thin.

Ensure that the covers fit before adding desiccant to the Pods! This may mean using a knife to scrape off any left over support material on the slot entrance.

Also note that the covers are designed to be tight and may be very hard to insert the first time. I put a small bump in the corner of the covers to act as a detent to keep them from sliding out accidently. There is also a matching indent in the top (see images below) that it fits into. Note that this bump makes it hard to insert the cover into the top, especially the first time. But once you get a cover inserted, and work it in and out a couple of times, it slides relatively easily then clicks into place when fully inserted.

Note that the covers need to be inserted in a specific direction. In the picture below, the ‘indent’ the pod track is pointed to by the arrow on the left, that a 'dent' in the cover track (illustrated by the blue circle) that is used to lock the cover in place. The (red) rectangular area in the cover is where you place your thumb to press the cover into place. Also the curved red arrow shows how the cover should be rotated into place when inserting it, then pressed in to the left. Note that the first couple of times a cover is inserted, it can be very tight.

Spool Pods

Spool Pods (Plate 3) have two useful features: 1) Each Spool Pod adds another 82 grams of desiccant to the AMS, and 2) they provide additional weight to spools so they don't bounce around as much when almost empty.

Each Spool Pod consists of a Top, Bottom and Cover. The Top and Bottom snap together. Align the Top and Bottom on a table top then press hard on the Top until you hear a snap. You may have to put some shoulder into it, because it takes a fair amount of force to snap them together, but no glue should be needed because these really lock tightly together. After making sure that the cover slot surface that interfaced with the supports in the top is clear, press the Cover into the Top. The first time it may take a lot of force, but it slides easily after a couple of uses.

The Spool Pods are designed to simply snap into Bambu Filament Spools. They can be removed from a spool without removing the desiccant. Spool Pods are not effective when storing filament spools in vacuum bags, because the bag seals the vent holes on either end, and the inside of spool hubs are not vented.
 

The inside shape of Bambu spools is different on each side: Smooth and Edge. I find that if I press the Spool Pods in from the ‘Edge’ side they go in and out much easier, than if I insert them from the ‘Smooth’ side. See the photo below which show inserting the Spool Pod from the ‘Edge’ side. 

Claymore Pods

Claymore Pods are designed for storing filament spools in vacuum bags. The inside of a Claymore Pod is vented, which allows exposing the desiccant to the filament, even after vacuum is applied. All sides of Claymore Pods are vented to enable faster refreshing. Claymore Pods are compatible with the Funnel and use the same covers as the Large Dry Pods (Dry Pod Large Cover.stl). The term ‘Claymore’ comes from the pod's resemblance to the shape of the personnel mine designed in the 50's. Note that no supports are used inside the Claymore Pods. This results in a rather ragged top inner surface, however it does not affect strength or functionality.
 

Claymores support channels to attach the optional Claymore Hygrometer (right side in figure below). The Claymore Hygrometer part that can be attached to a large or small claymore.

The round hygrometer in the Claymore with Round Hygrometer pod can be rotated into any of 4 orientations.

The Bambu Hygrometers can be found in the Maker's Supply store or the Amazon versions work as well. See ordering information below.

Note that both the Bambu Round and Rectangular Hygrometers are included in the Bill of Materials below. Delete the one that you are not using if you press the ‘Buy Now' button.

Or a Round Hygrometer can be purchased from Amazon at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0885TFLZX?th=1
 

The Xiaomi Bluetooth Thermometer Hygrometer can be found here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114642177360

In the Android Play Store search for “Mijia Reader” for the phone app that can connect with multiple Xiaomi hygrometers.

The Desiccant Container/Trays can be loaded with generic desiccant and dropped into the slots in the back of the AMS. The top of the Desiccant Containers snaps in very tightly, but I would recommend gluing them as well. Also, the funnel slot cover is a tight fit. The first time it may take some force, but it quickly becomes easier to slide. And there is a detent to hold it in the closed position so it won't work its way out over time. The Desiccant Containers have vent slots on top and bottom to support faster drying, and the tops are now printed as a single part.

I used this desiccant:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BLYLUSY

This desiccant does not include beads that change color when it absorbs moisture. Since I already have a Dry Pod hygrometer, the color beads are hard to see through the slots in the Dry Pods, and the AMS also has a hygrometer built into it, I felt that there weren't any significant benefits to using desiccant with color change beads. Also, the color change beads in desiccant contain methyl violet and other unfriendly chemicals, so they should not be dried in an oven or microwave that you also plan to cook food in. Non-indicating silica gel beads are safe.

To refresh the desiccant; pour it into a glass tray, place in the microwave for 4 minutes in defrost mode. Let it cool, then pour it back into the Dry Boxes. DO NOT put the Dry Boxes in the microwave! The desiccant gets VERY hot and will melt the Dry Boxes.

I have put PLA pods in a filament dryer set for drying PLA. After a couple of times of doing this the covers started to warp, and the sides of pods bulged. If you are going to refresh your pods this way, I would highly recommend printing them in ABS.

Here is a very interesting video by Stefan at CNC Kitchen who goes into great detail on the different types of desiccant, their strengths and weaknesses, and a variety of methods for drying them. He also spends a lot of time discussing filament bags, but the drying techniques that he describes for them also apply to loose desiccant.

Note that the Dry Pods will also work with the Hydra spool tray or my “AMS Tray with sliding dividers for wide spools”.

Or if you are using the factory Bambu AMS spool tray then the Desiccant Containers can be used to replace the desiccant bags in the slots on the bottom of the tray, and the original AMS desiccant covers can be snapped on top of them.

With fresh desiccant, the humidity went down to 10% (Level 1) after a couple of hours, and it was only at 20% (Level 2) after 6 months.

Here is a cool time lapse video by Rafael Bueno of the print:

24/4/7

V2 Added Pod for round hygrometers with vertical tabs.

24/06/13

V3 version adds an extension to the Funnel that allows it to cover Wide Dry Pods so desiccant is not lost when filling them. The same Funnel works also with Narrow Dry Pods.

24/10/7

V4 version modifies the dry pods that hold the hygrometers to support either vertical or 30 degree tabs. Adds detents to covers to lock them in place, and more desiccant volume to the through hole hygrometer drypod.

24/10/12

V4.1 adds a loop to the funnel so it can be hung on a hook, or with a string on the neck or a desiccant bottle.

24/11/1

V5 adds Wide Dry Pods for the Bambu Rectangular and Xiaomi Bluetooth hygrometers.

25/1/9

V6 adds modified support blocking on the Round Hygrometer Pod to prevent internal supports for Threshold Angles up to 45 degrees. The file sets the angle to 25 degrees, but sometimes the Support Threshold Angle is overridden by previous slicer settings when the file is loaded and some people were complaining about supports inside the pod. Now if it is overridden, you shouldn't see internal supports being generated. No changes were made to the geometries of any parts.

25/1/13

V7 updates the Desiccant Containers/Trays to use the funnel, a feature that has been suggested by many. The new Desiccant Trays are slightly larger, have vent slots on top and bottom to support faster drying, and the covers are now printed as a single part. The Top snaps in very tightly, but I would recommend gluing them as well just to be safe. Those beads go everywhere when they get a chance.

25/2/28

V8 Drops the height of the Desiccant Trays 0.5mm so they are not quite as tight a fit.
Added Spool Pods, where each pod holds an additional 82 grams of desiccant. They use the funnel for loading, snap together, and into spools.

25/3/4

V9 Creates separate Plates for each Hygrometer type, so prints are easier to manage with Bambu Handy.
Dropped the height of the Desiccant Container by another 0.5mm, so they are not as tight a fit with newer AMS units.

25/3/30

V10 Adds Small and Large Claymore Pods to the 3MF file.
Made a slight change to the top of the Spool Pods to minimize tabs breaking off.

Reoganized plates to enable easier printing with Bambu Handy.

25/4/16

V11 Modifed Spool Pods to minimize tab breakage.
 

25/5/2

V12 Added support for Vaikby hygrometers.
 

25/5/2

V13 Updated ‘Dry Pod Large Without Hygrometer’ STLs to include detent notch for covers.

25/7/18

V14 Added Claymore Pod with Round Hygrometer support. The round hygrometer can be rotated into any of 4 orientations.

Corrected cover size on Large and Small Claymore Plates.

25/7/25

V15 Adjusted cover slot of Desiccant Insert Bottoms (V5) to allow covers to fit better.

25/7/29

V16 Updated Spool Pod design to minimize breaking the clips when inserting the Pod into a spool.

25/8/7

V17 Updated Hygrometer Claymore Pod design, adding detents to better hold the hygrometer in position.

25/9/20

V18 Corrected Plate 4 that had large Pods without notches for the cover detents.

25/9/21

V19 Corrected spool covers so they fit properly. Tested with PETG-HF.

26/1/5

V20
- Changed Claymores to improve print quality of inside top surface.

- Added channel claymores to attach Claymore Hygrometer.
- Added Claymore Hygrometer part that can be attached to a large or small claymore.

The latest Plate options are:
Plate 1) Dry Pods: 2 Wide, 2 Narrow, 1 Round Hygrometer, Desiccant Trays, w Funnel.
Plate 2) Dry Pods: 2 Wide, 2 Narrow, 1 Round Hygrometer, Desiccant Trays, No Funnel.
Plate 3) 4 Spool Pods.
Plate 4) Dry Pods: 2 Wide, 2 Narrow, 1 Rectangular Hygrometer, Desiccant Trays, No Funnel.
Plate 5) Dry Pods: 2 Wide, 2 Narrow, 1 Xiaomi Hygrometer, Desiccant Trays, No Funnel.

Plate 6) Dry Pods: 2 Wide, 2 Narrow, 1 Vaikby Hygrometer, Desiccant Trays, No Funnel.

Plate 7) Dry Pods: 3 Wide, 2 Narrow, Desiccant Trays, No Funnel (No Hygrometer).

Plate 8) Funnel only.

Plate 9) Large Claymore Pod.

Plate 10) Small Claymore Pod x 4.

Plate 11) Small Claymore Pod with Round Hygrometer.