3D printer upgrading

[gtx1060=value]

So... after careful consideration, i've decided to buy the anet a8 and mod it out - heavily - i plan on doing some y axis cable tightening mods, adding in a little fan air directioner thingy so the air is dispersed evenly and putting on an autolevelling probe along with a better extruder - now, here's my issue, i have no idea what extruder to use and still stay inside my budget of 500 dollars CAD - so @Hackentosher @manikyath i've been looking at the e3d v6 - but i can't seem to find installation guides for my particular printer - any help would be appreciated - and yes, i know it's chinese made but with the mods, it won't be so shitty and besides the extruder is really only the part that counts for me

[werto165]

I have one right now, haven't got too bad prints out of it. 

 

 

 

I just want one of these now: https://www.distechautomation.com/products/prometheus-system 

 

that combined with PVA filament for support would be a dream... e3d v6 lite or w/e it's called is meant to be decent. 

 

Install a mosfet for your heated bed and solder the connections directly for the heated bed as mine arced. 

 

 

Join the facebook group too it's quite handy for a few tips and tricks, a lot of the effort for me was not knowing that I had to calibrate my extruder so it was extruding a load of plastic lots more than really needed. So I followed a guide by thomas sanladerer and now it's fine. 

 

[gtx1060=value]

14 minutes ago, werto165 said:

I have one right now, haven't got too bad prints out of it. 

 

 

 

I just want one of these now: https://www.distechautomation.com/products/prometheus-system 

 

that combined with PVA filament for support would be a dream... e3d v6 lite or w/e it's called is meant to be decent. 

 

Install a mosfet for your heated bed and solder the connections directly for the heated bed as mine arced. 

 

 

Join the facebook group too it's quite handy for a few tips and tricks, a lot of the effort for me was not knowing that I had to calibrate my extruder so it was extruding a load of plastic lots more than really needed. So I followed a guide by thomas sanladerer and now it's fine. 

 

how exactly would i solder a mosfet to the heating bed again? and the extruder should be fine if i install an auto levelling probe right?

[gtx1060=value]

also @werto165 what extruder should i get for the a8?

[werto165]

1 minute ago, gtx1060=value said:

how exactly would i solder a mosfet to the heating bed again? and the extruder should be fine if i install an auto levelling probe right?

I don't have a probe, I've found that once you've got it right, yes it takes a lot of fidding sometimes it isn't too bad, just use a piece of paper on the bed and if theres a bit of resistance it's fine. just have to move the end stop a bit. I'm not too sure, I didn't do it I used an xbox 360 PSU and a reprap RAMPS board, make sure you replace the green connectors too they're crap on the anet. 

 

 

upgrades I've done: 

 

Spoiler

 

[gtx1060=value]

3 minutes ago, werto165 said:

I don't have a probe, I've found that once you've got it right, yes it takes a lot of fidding sometimes it isn't too bad, just use a piece of paper on the bed and if theres a bit of resistance it's fine. just have to move the end stop a bit. I'm not too sure, I didn't do it I used an xbox 360 PSU and a reprap RAMPS board, make sure you replace the green connectors too they're crap on the anet. 

 

 

upgrades I've done: 

 

  Hide contents

 

did you watch that russian guy on youtube's upgrade vids? im doing all of them, but i want a mosfet and nice extruder that won't break the bank @Hackentosher @manikyath

[werto165]

3 minutes ago, gtx1060=value said:

also @werto165 what extruder should i get for the a8?

well I have just got the standard setup, but you'd need a bowden one for that I'm not really that well versed in it, I've had my printer working that good for about 2 weeks, damn it takes so much of your time but it's so much fun, much more fun if you end up designing things for yourself and they work, I designed that spool holder and it  fit with an interference fit like a dream. Also designed an oculus rift mount that needs to be finished at some point it's in it's third iteration at this point. I guess it does help that I'm doing engineering so it's sort of my passion

[werto165]

4 minutes ago, gtx1060=value said:

did you watch that russian guy on youtube's upgrade vids? im doing all of them, but i want a mosfet and nice extruder that won't break the bank @Hackentosher @manikyath

No but I'll check it out. Oh forgot to mention have done an upgraded fan duct, don't know whether it's helped that much with quality as I change so many things at once and sort of lucked out on getting good results. 

[gtx1060=value]

1 minute ago, werto165 said:

well I have just got the standard setup, but you'd need a bowden one for that I'm not really that well versed in it, I've had my printer working that good for about 2 weeks, damn it takes so much of your time but it's so much fun, much more fun if you end up designing things for yourself and they work, I designed that spool holder and it  fit with an interference fit like a dream. Also designed an oculus rift mount that needs to be finished at some point it's in it's third iteration at this point. I guess it does help that I'm doing engineering so it's sort of my passion

i think the channel name is nexi or something or just google anet a8 e3d v6 upgrade

[werto165]

14 minutes ago, gtx1060=value said:

i think the channel name is nexi or something or just google anet a8 e3d v6 upgrade

Yeah watched it, I probably won't add any more upgrades to what I've done already. Just make sure you get your belts tight, I've installed my h frame the wrong way round apparently if you go online there should be a proper way of installing, basically just flip it to what they do on their building video on youtube, their video is wrong which is annoying, I have it in the current config and have no issues but YMMW, sure tensioners could be helpful but I've had my belts only come loose about once in the month I've had it so I didn't really see the point. The z axis end stop can be a pain in the ass at times so I would consider trying to change that but I messed around with again for a while and I've got it just right. Most of my issues were just software related more than hardware, I did have a little bit of an issue with the lead screws not being straight too, make sure they're straight when you get it can be painful to listen to when there is some misalignment. Make sure your flexible couplings for the z axis have a little bit of wiggle room, I think it's a 1.5mm gap from the motor shaft to the lead screw not sure, just check the SD card that comes with the anet it has quite a few helpful tips on it too, I didn't realise this as I was using pronterface for the longest time, don't use pronterface please it's shit, use repetier it's so much better, also I would probably make sure you use the SD card, I have some dodgy USB ports so you might not have to but I would just use the SD card on longer prints there's nothing worse than getting into a print that's about 5 hours long and it dies due to momentary lapse in the USB connection. 

[manikyath]

3 hours ago, werto165 said:

I have one right now, haven't got too bad prints out of it. 

i thought my wanhao has shitty quality when printing at 200% speed (way beyond *any* specification ) but seeing that... i have to reconsider...

[gtx1060=value]

 

16 hours ago, manikyath said:

i thought my wanhao has shitty quality when printing at 200% speed (way beyond *any* specification ) but seeing that... i have to reconsider...

im thinking of getting the anet a8 just for the motors and body design, then adding in an auto leveling probe, e3d v6 extruder a mosfet and maybe a glass print bed - would it be worth it to get a glass printbed or should i just stay with the normal ones and use tape?