· 2 x Dupont (Servo) extension cables
· 1 x 3-pin JST connector and pins
· 3 x wires for JST connector
· 1 x display extension cable
· 5 x header pins: a 3 pin header and one male of two pin header
· Piece of stripboard with 4 rows
. a piece of strip board with four rows. assembling all this gives us
The popular Anet A8 3D printer
Instruction about A8 3D printer hotbed connector
The Anet A8 3D printer hotbed connector is a 6-pin port connector with four colored wires (red, green, blue and black) connects to the soldered pins on the hotbed.
Connection Table
Connector | Pin | Note |
Red wire | +12V | Power for hotbed heating |
/ | +12V | Not connected |
Green wire/Blue wire | Thermistor | Thermistor to read hotbed temperature |
/ | -12V | Not connected |
Black wire | -12V | Power for hotbed heating |
Possible causes of burned A8 3D printer hotbed connector
There several factors could result in burned hotbed connector on an Anet A8 3D printer.
Burned hotbed connector on Anet A8 3D printer
Solutions for burned hotbed connector on A8
Solution 1 - Replacing the burned connector
Replace the burned connector with a new one in the below link.
https://www.amazon.com/Anet-Heated-Mendel-Printer-Upgraded/dp/B07B1TF3YT
Solution 2 – Solder the wires directly onto the hotbed.
Hotbed wiring soldered directly onto the hotbed
2.Apply high temperature silicone (which can withstand 300℃) to secure wire connection onto the hotbed.
]]>
Inserting filament in Anet A8 may be a little tricky for beginners. If the driving cog and guide wheel are too tight, the cog will keep pushing the filament out of line.
Solution:
You can cut the filament under a sharp angle and pre-bend the filament. The curve of the end of the filament can help the filament feed into the extruder.
This situation mostly happens when the printer has been in use for some time. You need to check the feeder. Anet A8 uses a driving cog and a guide wheel to push the filament back and forth. The teeth on the gears bite into the filament to accurately control the position of the filament. When the gears are too tight, they might remove too much plastic from your filament, and your printer will under extruding.
Solution:
There is a screw and a spring on the extruder, which can adjust the tension between two gears. Just tighten the screw a little bit, then two gears will be less tension.
There are two possible reasons for this situation. You need to check the extruder and the nozzle.
Firstly, check the gears mentioned above. It’s common in many 3D printers that the loose gear may moves to the end of the motor shaft while feeding filament. And the filament can’t go forth without the gears pushing.
Another possibility is the clogged nozzle. For any reason, once the hot plastic sits inside the extruder too long, the nozzle of the Anet A8 may be clogged and the filament can’t come out.
Solution:
For the first possibility, you need to remove the extruder fan and move the gear back inside. You also can adjust the spring beside it to tighten the gears if it’s possible.
For the clogged nozzle, you need to heat the extruder to 200℃ to unclog the nozzle. And it’s better to contact Anet for professional help.
Now you can easily deal with the filament problem of Anet A8. And here is a recommended printable upgrades from Thingiverse for Anet A8, which can improve your filament load:https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2366523
]]>Bed Leveling Thumbwheel of A8
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2350276
This thumbwheel is aimed to help level the bed. The screw and wingnut solution that comes on the machine may disturb some of the users. The bed and the support bracket are both threaded, which make it very difficult to adjust. You can print this upgrade out, drill out the screw tabs on the support bracket, and install the thumbwheel. And then bed leveling will be much easier with no need of screws.
Extruder Button for Anet A8
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2182276
The extruder screw may make you feel hurt when pushing it down. Let alone you have to press it hard as the spring is really strong. This button can help you ease this process. It provides you a wider and more comfortable surface to save your thumb.
Y-axis Belt Tensioner for A8
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2149867
Tightening your belts can improve the quality of your prints. A good tensioner should help to tighten the belt. But also not damage, bend or otherwise interfere with the movement of the print bed. And this Y-axis tensioner will provide you a most positive result.
Anet A8 X-axis Belt Tensioner
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2134573
This tensioner is designed for the X-axis belt. It’s great to not only does it provide a way to tension the belt, but it also has slots to hold the end of the belt.
Z-axis Gussets
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1672959
Adding some gussets can reduce Z-wobble. Actually, it’s not necessary since there aren’t really any forces being applied between the extruder and the workpiece. But these gussets do help improve print quality.
Drag Chain Mounts on Z-axis
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2842159
This mount is designed for installing on the Z-axis motor of the Anet A8 printer. It works well with the drag chain to get rid of that mess of wires dropping over the top of the printer. You can print your own drag chain, or you can just buy some online at a very low price.
GoPro Mount on 3D Printer
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2119886
You can install this really cool GoPro mount and film your prints while they’re in progress, and you will get a better quality lime-lapse. However, this mount is especially for C920 GoPro. You can use these GoPro customizable mounts from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:62800 to design your very own mounts and print them directly.
Hotbed Mount for A8
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2008595
For mounting a GoPro or other accessories, here is another mount you can print. This bracket affixes to the top of the H-bracket, below the actual hotbed. Attach it to your GoPro or other accessories using articulating arms.
]]>
For Anet A8 Plus and many other desktop FDM 3D printers with a heat bed, printing temperatures usually include hot end (nozzle) temperature and bed temperature.
Hot end or nozzle temperature setting varies in accordance with the printing filament. When printing with PLA, it’s better to set it at recommended value in Cura or you can vary it at about 190 - 210℃. And printing ABS, the hot end temperature can be at 230 - 250℃.
Appropriate bed temperature helps better adhesion when the filament deposits onto the bed surface. Glass transit temperature when a filament transits from solid to liquid is ideal for FDM printing. For example, 60 - 75℃ is suitable for PLA printing, and 80 - 100℃ is better for ABS printing.
In Cura, print speed is simply the print speed when we open the software. But when we search speed on, detailed speed settings appear.
Usually, lower speed offers better print quality. And here we recommend speed settings as below:
Print speed: 20-40mm/s
Infill speed: 30-50mm/s
Wall speed: 15-25mm/s
Outer wall speed: 20-30mm/s
Inner wall speed: 45-55mm/s
Top / bottom speed: 15-25mm/s
Support speed: 30-40mm/s
Travel speed: 100-130mm/s
Initial layer speed: 15-20mm/s
Skirt / brim speed: 15-20mm/s
Infill pattern and density are two important settings and we should decide the right value when print something for heavy weight purpose. For example, if we print a bracket to support a motor, the infill density is better to be 100%. But if it’s vase, the infill can be set to 0 for transparent-like looking into the inside of the vase.
When printing common parts have no special requirement for strength or any other elements, it’s recommended to set the infill density to 20% - 30%. Too high density wastes your filament and doesn’t make any sense.
Often, grid type infill pattern is recommended to print most 3D parts or components.
Build plate adhesion includes three different types, skirt, brim and raft. They can be applied on printing different objects to enhance bed adhesion and avoid warping from happening.
Skirt is lines circle around the bottom of the printed object but don’t touch the object. It is printed first before the object itself. Skirt is usually applied on object with low warping tendency but higher bottom finish.
Brim is a thin and complete layer circles around the bottom of object and touches the object. We can consider it as a strengthened adhesion type from the skirt type. It also has tiny affection on the object itself and can be handled easily after printing. Usually, 5 – 8mm brim is the best.
Raft is an additional base under your real print. It provides the best aid to bed adhesion and it’s a good reference surface to proceed to print the object you want. If you require great precision of the object and totally avoid warping, raft can be an ideal choice.
Support is not recommended if there is no overhang on the object. And when support is required, we should keep in mind, the less percentage of support, the better finish of the print.
Also, when remove support, be patient enough to avoid damaging the print.
Print settings on Cura should vary according to the specific filament and object. You can follow above instructions and do some test print if you’re not so sure. And then decide the appropriate settings when printing with Anet A8 Plus 3D printer.
]]>There are two fans on the print head of Anet 3D printers. The cooling fan (air blower) is connected to FAN1 connector and the 4010 fan is connected to FAN2 connector on the mainboard.
According to the default setting, the cooling fan won’t operate when the 3D printer is powered on. It operates only when you give commands through the control panel, which is more commonly known as the LCD display.
The 4010 fan will immediately run when the 3D printer is powered on.
The cooling fan doesn’t run first but the 4010 fan operates. Thus, some users think there is something wrong with the cooling fan.
How to detect if the cooling fan is working improperly on your Anet 3D printer? There are two ways we can try.
Method 1
Connect the cooling fan to FAN2 connector and power on the printer. If the fan operates immediately, then it is ok; if not, replace the fan with a new one.
Method 2
Input fan speed commands through the control panel, which is the LCD screen on your Anet 3D printers.
On a 2004 LCD screen of an A6 3D printer, please click on the main menu and then select “Fan speed” and “Set Fan Full”.
On a12864 LCD screen commonly seen on an A8 3D printer, please click on the main menu and then select “Fan Speed”.
Input the fan speed to above 0, and the cooling fan will operate; if not, replace it with a new one.
Loose copper gear installation inside the extruder is the most common reason that filament feeding problem happens.
Sometimes, the two set screws that fasten the copper gear onto the motor shaft might be not well tightened. The copper gear becomes loose and moves to the end of the motor shaft while feeding filament for a while. And the extruder won’t be able to feed filament into the hot end any more.
Solutions:
Push extruder handle inward to release the copper gear with the silver driven gear. Then slide the copper gear back into the right position and refasten the two set screws to fix the copper gear tight onto the motor shaft.
Worn gears inside the extruder can be a rarely seem reason that your Anet A8, A8 Plus or A6 3D printer doesn’t feed filament well.
This can be cause by long time operation. If you observe some defects on the gears, don’t hesitate to replace them with new gears.
If you install your extruder too tight, too strong tension happens on the spring and the copper gear. The copper gear won’t be rotate smoothly and eats the filament.
This problem can be easily detected and the solution is to loose extruder install a little.
Too high retraction settings can be another reason leads to filament feeding problem.
It’s recommended to set retraction length at 2mm and speed at 40mm/s first and do trial prints to figure out the most appropriate retraction values for your A8, A8 Plus or A6 3D printer.
Filament clogging inside the nozzle is also a common problem that leads to filament feeding issue.
Jammed nozzle won’t deposit filament properly and leaves less or no room for the extruder to feed filament in.
If it happens, remove jammed filament inside the nozzle and try extruding filament again until it works properly again.
More about filament jamming, please read this referral guide:
https://shop.anet3d.com/blogs/others/prevent-filament-jamming
Not well leveled print bed means the print bed is leveled too close to the nozzle. Nozzle can extrude fewer filaments to form a complete layer, which means filament is clogging inside the nozzle. The nozzle jams at last and results in improper filament feeding.
Bed leveling guidance:
It’s better to put an A4 paper underneath the nozzle while adjust bed height of your Anet A8, A8 Plus or A6 3D printer. When sliding the paper, you should feel a slight friction between the paper and the nozzle. That can be good for the filament to deposit.
Also, you can do a test print to check if your 3D printer is well leveled.
Read below link and learn detailed guidance on 3D printer manual bed leveling:
]]>
From a connected PC, we can see errors, make settings and send commands to a 3D printer. And we'd able to log into a LAN website and monitor your computer in real time from another location via webcam. Today, we’ll step by step connect the Anet A8 3D printer to a PC via USB.
1. The CH340 on-line printing driver could be found on the SD card on the Anet A8.
SD card: .\A8\A8资料\Software\CH340G Drive
If you lost the A8 SD card, you could download the driver on the following site:
Download driver file for your Mac or Windows PC from below links:
Driver for Mac: http://www.wch-ic.com/downloads/CH341SER_MAC_ZIP.html
Driver for windows PC: http://www.wch-ic.com/downloads/CH341SER_EXE.html
2. Unzip the downloaded file and click on the “pkg” format file. Click on “Install” and follow the wizard to complete driver installation. For a windows PC, the procedures can be clicking on the downloaded file and then clicking on “Open”, and following the wizard to proceed.
3. When installation completes, click on “Restart” to restart your PC.
4. Select the right port and baud rate for your A8 3D printer.
Port: which port connects your printer
Baud Rate: how fast Repetier talks to the printer
The correct baud rate of 115200 for Anet A8. It won't communicate through the COM port unless you do the value right.
Note: if baud rate is incorrect, you’ll see unreadable characters; reduce baud rate until we can read.
5.Set right values for your A8 3D printer.
6.Select Gcode files to do online printing with Repetier.
IV- Do on-line 3D printing with Cura
2. We can see Anet A8 3D printer is already connected to Cura.
That’s all the steps to install online 3D printing drivers into a Mac or Windows PC and make 3D prints with Anet A8 3D printer on Repetier or Cura. Have a try and surely you’ll enjoy the convenience of 3D printing on a PC.
Black LCD screen is a common problem in 3D printing. When powering on the Anet A8 3D printer, but the LCD screen doesn’t light up. There are four possible causes we should check.
Power input failure tends to happen when the power convertor is damaged or cables are broken.
Use a multimeter to measure voltage output on the power convertor and check if the cables are broken, replace the convertor or cables according to measuring result.
Click the Reset button on the motherboard and observe how the D1 light indicator reacts.
If the D1 indicator blinks for a second and then blacks out, use a multimeter to measure out the voltage between the two yellow-circled points (see below picture). And if the voltage doesn’t read around 5 volts, please replace the Anet A8 motherboard with a new one.
If the D1 indicator keeps black out, also replace the motherboard with a new one.
Incorrect LCD screen cable connect can be also a cause that black screen happens. Thus, please check if LCD screen cables are correctly connected and reconnect them if needed.
Unstable cable connection caused by loose contact between the band cable and the LCD screen or dirty pins is another reason why your Anet A8 3D printer LCD screen blacks.
Clean band cable pins and reconnect it to the LCD screen.
Blue screen is another problem we might face when using a 3D printer. In this circumstance, the LCD screen lights up in blue but without any words on it.
Incorrect or unstable cable connection can also cause blue screen, please reconnect LCD screen cables or exchange cable connections.
No firmware flashed into the motherboard can be another cause of blue screen. Replace the motherboard with the right firmware for your A8 3D printer.
Screen squares appears, clean LCD screen cable pins and reconnect them, and then click Reset button on the motherboard. Restart the printer and if screen square appear again, replace the motherboard with a new one.
When messy codes appear on the LCD screen, the firmware of the motherboard may not comply with the LCD screen. Clean screen cable pins and click Reset button on the motherboard. Restart the printer and if messy codes appear again, replace the motherboard with right firmware.
LCD screen displays abnormally can be caused by damaged electronics or unstable connection.
Clean the LCD screen cable pins and loosen the LCD screen a little, and then click Reset button on the motherboard. If abnormal display happens again after the printer restarted, replace the LCD screen with a new one.
]]>
Name
Hotbed fixed
aluminum plate
Four parts below
in this bag
M4*8 screw 28pcs
M4*14 screw 4pcs
M3*12
screw15pcs
5mm*160mm
Screwdriver
M2*12 screw 4pcs wing nut 4pcs
Spring 4pcs
M3*20 screw 4pcs
M2.3*10 screw 2pcs M3*25 screw 2pcs
Z Limit switch A20CM
X Limit switch B50CM Y Limit switch C50CM
M3*45 Sarew 2pcs M3 Spacer 8pcs
Pillarwasher M3*7 4pcs
Pillarwasher M3*15
4pcs
Screw bag include below screws
3mm*130mm
Screwdriver
Hex wrench M1.5
Hex wrench M2
Hex wrench M2.5 Hex wrench M3
Z axis Limit switch fixed plate
X Motor line 40CM Y Motor line40CM Left Z Motor line40CM RightZ Motor line90CM ExtruderMotor line90CM
T type lead screw M8*345mm 2pcs
Threaded rod M8*400mm 2pcs
Threaded rod M8*150mm 1pcs
(1) Turn to zero; Main Menu ` Position" -"Auto home" .
(2) Turm off Step Motor:After turn to zero, main menu"Quick Settings" + *Disable stepper"
(3) Adjust the distance between nozzle and hotbed to 0.1mm.
Anet A8 3D printer uses direct drive extruder that good for various filament materials print, expecially soft materials like ABS, TPU 3D printing filament. Here, we take PLA filament to show how to feed filament on Anet A8 3D Printer.
(1) Peheating: : Main Menu "Quick Settings" - "Preheat PLA" .Enter preheating state.
(2) Install Filament:When the preheating temperature reaches the setting data, push the filament into tube as below. It means installation successes if the material overflows from nozzle.
(Also need preheat the nozzle when pull out the filament from extruder.)
Choose Print File: Main Menu"SD Card" - "Print file" -+"Model File' 'Confim,
After the extruder and hot bed reach the setting temperature, the extruder starts moving and print.
]]>
Anet A8 Plus 3D printer black screen
I – Check if the power indicator lights up
1. Power on the printer and observe if the switch indicator is on.
power indicator
2. If the indicator does not light up, replace the fuse with a new one; if the power indicator lights up, proceed to section II.
Fuse new the power indicator
II – Check if the AC-DC power supply input voltage value is right
Observe from the opening as below picture shows to check if the AC-DC power supply input voltage is correctly set. The value can be switched between 115V and 230V. and should be the same as the local power supply.
If it’s not correctly set, switch it to the right voltage value with a wrench.
III – Check if the fan operates
After confirmation of voltage input value, if the printer screen still doesn’t light up. Let’s check if the fan near the AC-DC power supply operates well.
If the fan doesn’t work, then the internal wiring may be loose or the power supply has no output.
Test according to the following methods:
1. Power off, check and tighten all wiring and re-plug the cable, then power on the printer.
2. Observe whether the yellow indicator light of the PSU is on (Figure 3).
3. If the green indicator is not on, then the power supply is not damaged; replace it with a new one.
4. If the indicator is on, measure the output voltage of the power supply and the power input voltage on the motherboard (Figure 5-6) with a multimeter.
output voltage measurement on ac-dc power supply
measure input voltage on the mainboard
5. Adjust the output voltage to 11.9-12V by turning the knob near the cable connectors as below picture shows.
adjust output voltage of AC-DC power supply
6. Disconnect the power supply and fasten the wiring.
7. Power on the printer again and observe if the D1 indicator on the motherboard flashes.
D1 indicator on the mainboard
8. If it doesn’t, replace the mainboard with a new one.
That’s all the procedures for solving black screen issue on Anet A8 Plus 3D printer; if the same problem happens on your printer, follow them and get your printer work right now.
]]>A well leveled 3D printer extrudes filament evenly and prints the best first layer.
What can a not well leveled hotbed result in 3D printing?
In brief, a not well leveled hotbed fails your print or even damages parts of your 3D printer.
Basic principles for manual bed leveling of your 3D printer
In a desktop FDM 3D printer, such as the Anet A8 Plus, ET4, or ET5, there are four adjusting knobs (or nuts) underneath the four corners of the hotbed.
As we mentioned in previous paragraph, the basic principles for manual bed leveling is to home the extruder kit first and then adjust hotbed height at its four corners to make the hotbed even and get an appropriate gap between the nozzle and the hotbed.
Ordinal four point manual bed leveling
Anet A8 Plus is a typical desktop FDM 3D printer without a touch sensor or a capacitive sensor. Now we’ll take it as an example and learn the procedure of four point ordinal leveling a hotbed step by step under the guidance of HL ModTech.
First, home the extruder kit. Power on the printer and select “Prepare”, and then click on “Auto home”; the extruder kit automatically moves to its home position.
Move the extruder kit to the first point, the front left corner of the hotbed.
How to:
Select "Prepare" and then “Move axis” and click on “Move Y” or “Move X” and select the right unit (10mm, 1mm or 0.1mm); turn the knob button to move the extruder kit over the front left corner of the hotbed.
Tips: this will be the first position that we level the printer bed and adjust appropriate gap between the bed and the nozzle.
Step 3
Adjust the hotbed height at this position to acquire appropriate gap between the nozzle and the bed.
How to:
Place an A4 paper in between the nozzle and the bed and then slide it.
If it’s too tight to slide the paper, turn the knob underneath the bed clockwise to lower the bed slowly until the paper can slide with a little tight friction; if the paper slides too loose, turn the knob anti-clockwise to rise the bed slowly until the paper can slide with a little tight friction between the nozzle and the hotbed.
Step 4
Move the extruder kit to the front right corner of the hotbed and adjust hotbed height for the second position.
How to:
Select “Move X” and turn the knob button to move the extruder kit to front corner of the bed and then adjust the bed height according to step 3.
Step 5
Move the hotbed until its back right corner is underneath the nozzle and adjust hotbed height at the third position.
How to:
Press down the knob button again and then select “Move Y” to slide the printer bed until its right back corner is underneath the nozzle; then adjust the hotbed height according to step 3.
Step 6
Move the extruder kit to the back left corner of the hotbed and adjust hotbed height at the fourth position.
Now we get all four corners of the hotbed adjusted to the same heights and gaps to the nozzle.
In ordinal leveling, we sequentially adjust the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th corner of the hotbed; but in diagonal method, we adjust diagonal corners, and the sequence is the 1st, then the 3rd, the 2nd and then the 4th.
Diagonal method compensates for the other two diagonal corners while adjusting. It brings more accuracy and reliability for manual leveling.
Twice do the manual leveling
Another way to improve accuracy is to do all manual leveling procedures twice.
As manual leveling is still a kind of sensing the friction of sliding a paper between the nozzle and the hotbed, go twice adjust the four corners of hotbed will further enhance the result.
Do test prints to check leveling result
After ordinal or diagonal manual leveling and twice manual leveling complete, we can do some print tests before making 3D printing parts, accessories or models.
Test print for 3D printer bed leveling
Try printing these things on thingiverse.com and check your manual leveling result.
Referral link to understand bed leveling
Click on below hyper link to learn more about bed leveling with Billie Ruben’s guidance.
Billie Rubben's Four Steps Bed Leveling Guide
This article helps you understand bed leveling better and know the importance of bed leveling for your daily 3D printing.
]]>The Anet V1.7 mainboard is the latest mainboard version for A8 or A8 Plus 3D printer. Comparing to old versions, the V1.0 and the V1.5 mainboard, it has improved a lot in designs and performance.
Let’s first check out its wiring diagram to avoid any mistake if wants to reconnect the mainboard.
I - V1.7 Mainboard Diagram
II - Wiring Tag Table
III – Enhancement on V1.7 Mainboard
There are several remarkable enhancements on Anet V1.7 mainboard comparing to the previous V1.0 and V1.5 mainboards for Anet A8 or A8 Plus 3D printer.
The nozzle of Anet A8 or A8 Plus 3D printer is heated by a heating tube which connects to the mainboard. There is a D8 indicator, which is also known as heating tube indicator. We can observe the D8 indicator while heating up the nozzle and find solutions for nozzle heating issues quickly.
D8 indicator for nozzle heating on the mainboard for A8 or A8 Plus 3D printer
Generally, when the D8 indicator lights up, the mainboard starts to output electricity to the heating tube and the heating tube starts to heat up the nozzle.
That’s all the procedures to check out and solve the nozzle heating issues for Anet A8 or A8 Plus 3D printer by observing the D8 indicator; also these methods work for the A2, A12 and A16 3D printer.
]]>
Anet A8 or A8 Plus 3D printer connects its hotbed to the mainboard through the BED tagged screws as below picture shows. And near it, we can see a D7 indicator. This indicator is also known as hotbed indicator.
Generally, if the D7 indicator lights up, the mainboard starts to heat up the hotbed.
That’s all the procedures to check out and solve the hotbed heating issues for Anet A8 or A8 Plus 3D printer; also these methods work for the A2, A12 and A16 3D printer.
]]>1. Guiding Rod Shaft Sleeve
This guiding rod shaft sleeve is not well described in the A8 Plus manual. It can prevent it from going up to high. People who are not good at English may get confused about the name and don’t know where to install it. Let’s check out in the user manual and remember to install it correctly.
2. Y-axis Belt Tensioner
The fixing block and sliding block in above picture are actually black colored. We can mount them with M3*25 hexagon socket screw and M3 nut. These two parts are fragile and we suggest you to print some replacements. Download Y-axis belt tensioner of Anet A8 Plus here: http://3dprintingmods.com/3d-printable-parts-on-anet-a8-plus/
3. Y-axis Rod Holder with Limit Switch
And the end of Y-axis, there is a limit switch that need to be fixed on a 3D printed rod holder. The limit switch defines the Y direction for the extruder. This 3d printed holder is also fragile. You could print a few replacements for any cases. Download Y-axis rod holder with limit switch printed parts stl file here: http://3dprintingmods.com/3d-printable-parts-on-anet-a8-plus/
Today we’ll learn to install a bed leveling sensor on Anet A8 3D printer with Mr. Daniel Kreuzhofer from the Crosslink YouTube channel.
A bed leveling sensor helps your 3D printer to find out how far the nozzle is away from the print bed. That’s specifically important for the first print layer. If you want the first print layer to stick very well to the print bed, the distance between the nozzle and the print bed needs to be very thin. Without a bed leveling sensor, you have to manually adjust the height and level the print bed with the four knobs underneath the corners of the print bed. The problem is it doesn't work pretty well and always has to be redone every time if you change something on your Anet A8 3D printer. For example if you change the filament, you also have to level the print bed again.
But with a bed leveling sensor installed, this whole process is automatically done every time when a new print starts. And you will never have to do any kind of leveling again once you calibrate the sensor properly.
1. Get the right leveling sensor for your Anet A8 3D printer on Ebay or Amazon.
There are a lot of different leveling sensors available on the market.
Link: https://3dprint.wiki/reprap/anet/a8/improvement/autobedleveling?s[]=sensor
A capacitive sensor with JST connectors works on a glass bed is recommended.
Tips:
There are some drawbacks when using a capacitive sensor. It’s a little bit sensitive to the ambient temperature and humidity. They must be the same for leveling the print bed and for doing the print. Otherwise, you’ll get different result.
Sensor must have 3 connectors to do this project.
Sensor recommendation:
Autolevel Sensor Inductive Auto Level LJ18A3-8-Z/BX for Anet A8 A2 A6 3D Printer
2. Print the sensor holder out.
You can either print the front mount or the back mount. It depends on where you want or if you want other parts to be installed on your extruder.
Note:
This must be done before you go to the modification steps because the printer will be unusable once you already start the modification.
Front mounting:
Thingiverse: 1852762
Back mounting:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2368157
Here Mr. Daniel chose the front mounting (see below picture) because he had something else mounted to the back of the extruder.
1. Unmount the original access sensor on the printer.
2. Mount the capacitive sensor onto the printer with the holder you printed.
3. Connect the wiring.
1. Measure out the X axis and Y axis distance from the sensor tip to the nozzle tip with a triangular ruler.
2. Write down these values on a paper.
3. Find out whether the values are positive or negative.
Mr. Daniel got 65mm in X axis and 60mm in Y axis.
However these values cannot be used directly in a configuration file. We need to find out whether they are a positive or a negative value related to the nozzle.
•• Nozzle position
○ Sensor position
Method:
We regard the left corner as the 0.0 start of X and Y axis.
The sensor is to the right of the nozzle, so the X axis distance is a positive 65mm.
The nozzle is behind the sensor at Y axis, so we get a negative distance value, -60mm.
Watch Marlin firmware installation instruction video made by Daniel to learn how:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePgpzkjriso&feature=youtu.be
1. Visit 3Dprint.wiki to learn how to do the configuration on marlin firmware.
Link: https://3dprint.wiki/reprap/anet/a8/improvement/autobedleveling
Information in this page is a little bit outdated because the settings have slightly changed for the latest firmware. We can’t really adapt this 1-on-1 because some of the settings can’t be found. For example, enabling the bed leveling functionality has changed.
2. Download the “Configuration.h” file below and revise the X and Y value according to your measurement.
Link: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21APO6sLlLbuA89NY&cid=FD8CAD08FD1AA4DD&id=FD8CAD08FD1AA4DD%21915863&parId=FD8CAD08FD1AA4DD%21915864&o=OneUp
3. Revise the downloaded “Configuration.h” file with the new probe offset value (the X/Y axis distance value in previous section) to the extruder you measured.
See reference on the link in step one and find the Marlin section.
4. Flash the Marlin firmware with the revised “Configuation.h” file to your printer.
1. Power on the printer and preheat the nozzle and the print bed.
Method:
Press the button on the control panel to select “Prepare” and go to “Preheat PLA” menu. And then select “Preheat PLA”, the printer will start warm up. Wait for 10 minutes or more until the printer totally warms up in the nozzle and the print bed.
2. Back to the main menu and select “Control”, “Motion” and then the “Probe Z offset”.
3. Set the Probe Z Offset value to “-01.00” because the sensor is a little higher than the nozzle.
4. Go back and select “Store settings” to save the probe Z offset value.
5. Go back to the “Prepare” menu and select “Auto home” option.
6. The printer automatically homes the nozzle.
Note: keep the print bed and nozzle warmed up during the calibration.
7. Put a piece of paper under the nozzle and observe the distance.
8. Go back to the main menu and select “Prepare” and then “Move axis”.
9. Select “Move Z” and then select the “Move 0.1mm”; the nozzle is about to move down by 0.1mm every time when you press the lower button on the right of LCD screen.
10. Press the lower button to move the nozzle down until a slight motor vibration and a tight friction can be felt while we slide the paper between the bed and the nozzle.
11. Now we get the “Move Z” value: +0.4.
Right value for “Probe Z offset” = 0.4 + (-0.1) = -0.6
12. Go back and set the “Probe Z Offset” value to “-0.6”.
13. Store the setting as we do in previous step.
14. Go back to main menu and select “Prepare” and then “Auto home” again.
15. Place the paper under the nozzle again after the printer finishes auto homing.
Tips: we can see the paper is moving easily. Auto home gives you a little more distance and the nozzle doesn’t go as low as it would when the printer is not printing.
16. Go back to the “Prepare” menu and select “Move Axis” and then “Move Z”.
17. Select “Move 0.1mm” and we see the “Move Z” value is 0.6mm.
18. Press the lower button to set the “Move Z” value to 0.
19. Slide the paper until we can feel a perfect space between the nozzle and the print bed.
1. Connect your printer to Cura.
2. Load model file into Cura and slice it and send them to your printer.
3. Select “Settings”, “Printer”, “Manage Printers” and then click on “Machine Settings” on Cura
4. Paste the G-codes below into the “Start G-code” section to initiate it to use the auto bed leveling feature.
*** Start G Code Sequence for Bed Leveling (do not copy this line)
G21 ;metric values
G90 ;absolute positioning
M82 ;set extruder to absolute mode
M107 ;start with the fan off
G28 ;move X/Y/Z to min endstops
G29 ;auto level
G1 Z15.0 F9000 ;move the platform down 15mm
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length
G1 F200 E3 ;extrude 3mm of feed stock
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length again
G1 F9000
;Put printing message on LCD screen
M117 Printing...
*** End of GCode sequence (do not copy this line)
5. Now the printer will automatically calibrate at 9 points and we can do our first print.
Thanks to Mr. Daniel Kreuzhofer again that we can install capacitive sensors onto our Anet 3D printers for auto bed leveling features.
]]>A1. Mount the printer bed support bar by tightening the screws from the bottom of the base, and then mount two Z-axis posts holding plates with securing the screws from the outsides.
Note: the bar has three thread holes, two on one side and one on the other; keep the two thread holes (for motor mounting) side closer to the post holding plates.
A2. Slide the aluminum plate into the bar.
A3. Mount the Y-axis belt bearing module to the closer side (as picture A shows) and secure it with two screws according to below picture.
A4. Mount Y-axis motor and secure it with two screws.
A5. Slide the belt into hollows inside the bar and buckle it up with the grooves at the bottom of the plate.
A6. Mount and screw tight the print bed according to below picture.
Note: springs should be placed between the print bed and the plate.
B – Z-axis & Extruder Installation
B1. Mount the left post and secure it as below picture shows.
B2. Mount the right post and secure it as below picture shows.
B3. Slide in the extruder transmission modules from the top of the posts and adjust their offset posts (by loosening or tightening) to ensure tight but smooth movement.
B4. Mount the top bar of the gantry and secure it from the top.
Note: the top bar has grooves for screw head on the top side. Please find out and mout this side up.
B5. Mount the extruder bar and secure it from the other side of the transmission modules as below picture shows.
Note: the extruder bar also has grooves matching screw heads; mount the right side towards the transmission modules.
B6. Slide in the extruder.
B7. Mount the belt to the bearings on the transmission modules and buckle it up with the grooves on the extruder.
Note: gear side of the belt should be mounted inward to the bearing; adjust belt tightness for smooth and solid movement.
C – Z-axis & Motherboard Installation
C1. Mount the Z-axis motor and secure it with two screws as below picture shows.
C2. Loosen the set screws on the mounting hole; slide the threaded post deep into the hole and fasten the set screws.
C3. Mount the motherboard to the base and secure it according to picture C4.
C4. Insert the Teflon pipe deep into its holder on the Z-axis right module.
C5. Mount Z-axis limit switch and secure it with only one screw.
Note: modified design, one screw is better than two.
C6. Mount filament holder according to picture
Wiring Connection
Connect wirings according to marks on the ends of wirings and below plan of the motherboard.
Note: refer to buckle and slot matching also helps.
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