June 2, 2022

Why Buy High-Quality Desiccant?

Desiccants can get contaminated or ruined by off-gases of certain resins. A general rule is to change the desiccant every 18 months.

• Good drying depends on good airflow. Better desiccant provides better airflow by creating less dust to clog your filters. Clean desiccant also helps prevent material contamination.
  
• The desiccant you buy today is going to dry tons of your material for tens of thousands of cycles. The per-part cost of high quality desiccant is almost too small to compute. The quality and productivity advantage is too great to ignore.

Molding problems, particularly in humid months, often trace back to poor drying caused by stale desiccant. The fact is this: desiccant goes bad. Desiccant captures moisture in its pores, which become blocked with contamination over time. And only fresh desiccant gives your dryers a chance to thoroughly dry your material in hot, humid weather.
Type 4A has smaller pores. It is less subject to contamination but adsorbs slightly less moisture.

Type 13X has larger pores. It adsorbs more moisture but is more subject to contamination. Most dryer manufacturers recommend Type 13X for most applications.

1∕8″ Beads (4 x 8) allow better airflow, but adsorb less moisture.
1∕16″ Beads (8 x 12) adsorb more moisture, but allow less airflow.