You bought your first 3D printer, an Anet A8. It was a bit scary at first, I know. You took time to assemble it and made few mistakes along the way. Perfectly fine. You plugged it in, started printing and the end result was good, but lets make it better with several Anet a8 upgrades.
Good is just that – good. But did you know that there are things you can do to make your A8 run even better? Make better prints, be less noisy or be more secure?
There are two ways to have Anet A8 improvements:
- Printing the upgrades
- Buying new parts which provide better performance
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Upgrades for Anet A8 which you can print
Good thing when you already own a 3D printer is that you can use it to print the parts with your A8. Hell, if you’re a crafty fella who knows how to 3d model, you can design parts yourself. Even though I already listed most of the printable parts in my Anet A8 in-depth review, I’d like to clarify what I am using currently and why.
Before I begin, just little thank you to all the authors of the A8 upgrades who uploaded their designs for free, so that other users can improve their printers at no additional cost.
Here is a list of printable A8 upgrades which I’m using. All of these files are free to download and most of them are extremely easy to print.
A8 Duct Fan
An Anet A8 fan duct cools your prints. The original duct fan which arrives with the A8 is not that good. As a matter of fact, replacing the Anet A8 fan is first things most owners do.
While there is a variety of duct fans and modifications available, I’ve been using the Semi-Circular Fan Duct by the user named lockster.
The only downside of this semi-duct is that you have to remove the side fan in order to mount it. This, however, gives a better seal and gives better air-flow. One more downside can occur if you’re used to removing a regular fan duct while leveling your bed. You won’t be able to see the nozzle distance properly, and removing it each time would require taking off the fan. But if you’re using an A4 paper method to level it (which is highly recommended), it shouldn’t be a major problem.
Personally, a semi-circular duct, fixed one more problem. If I wanted to record smaller prints with a camera it would be slightly harder to catch a perfect angle if you’re using the completely circular duct. That’s why I mount my camera in the opposite direction. I must admit that the original A8 duct gave me the best angle for time-lapse recording. I’d rather have better air-flow. So semi-circular it is.
A8 Extruder Button
Pressing the hex screw in order to replace a filament is one of the worst experiences I had with A8. Especially if you’re starting out, you’ll be doing it quite a lot. The screw that needs to be pressed causes a pain in the thumb. Luckily enough, there is a solution. Extruder button is one of the simplest and fastest prints you can do.
I tried out three button designs :
- Extruder Button Anet A8 by dryas
- Extruder Hex Button Anet A8 by carnivoreci
- A8 Ergonomic Retained Release Button by danohpsp
While all three work and protect your fingers well, I found Ergonomic Button the best. It has the most comfortable pressing surface and it has a mechanism to attach it tight by using plastic tie-wraps which came with A8. Its concave shape of the top prevents slippage as well.
So, I recommend that print out the ergonomic button. It takes no more than 20-25 minutes depending on your printing speed. Your thumb won’t hurt anymore. Try it out, thank me later.
A8 No products found.
No products found. Filament Guides
Guiding your filament to avoid its misguidance can be considered as a good upgrade as well. Even though it might have visible effects on your prints it reduces chafing of the filament. Also, it looks cool.
- Anet A8 Filament guide (extruder Anet A8) by jrwells
- Anet A8 Filament guide horizontal (top of the frame) by papinist
I personally tried two guides and both worked well for me. I use them both. One serves as an upper guide, the other is mounted above the extruder hole. One thing though, even though I found the extruder guide helpful it makes inserting filament slightly less comfortable. It requires me to hold the filament below the tiny space from the guide and the hole to be able to put it into the hole precisely. Still, I think it’s a good upgrade.
So my recommendation is to print them both.
I am still testing if the dust-cap really reduce vibrations. Once I am sure I’ll post more info on that.
If you are looking for an A8 extruder upgrade, you can print a Bowden extruder from Thingiverse.
I needed an A8 extruder replacement for testing reasons, and found this highly rated Anet A8 hotend DIY kit. View it here
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A8 – Anti Vibration and stability upgrades
We are all aware of the fact that acrylic frame of the A8 is not the most firm nor most stable one. There are few modifications you can do to improve the stability and reduce vibrations with printed parts.
So far I tried these.
- T corner by Electrico
- Front brace by Leo_N
T corners are one of the most printed upgrades. It’s simple and it works well. These corners will make your frameless wobbly and more firm. There are tons of front braces available, I printed the one by user Leo_N and it fitted my printer perfectly. I also noticed the reduction in vibration.
A front brace by Leo does not require too much filament opposed to the others and it fits perfectly. Gave my printer quite a lot of stiffness.
A8 Belt tensioners
Though personally my most favorite printed upgrades, I left them for the end of this part, since I still believe these upgrades can improve. I’ve been using these two belt tensioners which made my belt tightening easier and helped me improve my prints making them less wobbly.
So in my experience, these two printed upgrades had the biggest influence on my print quality when I started. This is mostly because I had no idea that the belts should be quite tight since the A8 Assembly Video did not go through that in much detail.
For now, I am using the :
There are cons of each of these. First of all, I noticed that the X belt improved tensioner puts a bit more pressure on a steel rod and if you over-tighten it, it can move it in the opposite direction. I would rather if the tension pressure was elsewhere and not on the rod itself.
Secondly, I noticed that the Y tensioner vibrates just slightly and causes additional noise. Also when put directly the screw it uses can scratch the acrylics.
Despite the cons, both upgrades worked well for me, but I hope somebody will listen to the feedback and remix and improve them further since they are essential modifications.
Be aware that I tested these with my rubberized belt which allows much better stretching compared to the plastic belts which arrived with A8. Over-tightening the plastic belts may cause them to snap. So my the advice is to buy better belts, then try belt upgrades. I yet have to try these tensioners with a (eBay link) fiber-glass reinforced belt I ordered.
Heatbed Upgrade Printed Improvements
Update 2/15/2017
Since I moved to printing on a Anet A8 glass bed, I decided to permanently modify my heat bed. I really hate the way the bed has to be adjusted with a screw. So by printing wingnuts, you can modify it permanently. It’s much easier and faster. Furthermore, this adjustment allows me to use the full width of the glass bed 220 x 220, since I no longer need access to the screws.
Here are two heated bed upgrades to print. The second one should be printed only if you’re using a full-size glass.
- Hotbed Glass Corner Holder by thfo
- Wing Nut bed level screw by ozfunghi
Since printed wing nuts will wear and tear over the time since they are plastic, I decided to order metal thumb wheel. You can get them on this link.
Additionally, you can purchase an Anet A8 hotbed replacement here.
Anet A8 Parts you can’t print
While the upgrades you can print with Anet A8 offer a good base for improving your 3D printer, there are Anet A8 parts you need to purchase in order to enhance the performance.
Anet A8 Belts
If there is one part that I tested extensively, that has to be the belt. I tried three types of belts for A8 :
- original plastic belts (arrive with the printer)
- rubberized belts
- (eBay link) fiber-glass reinforced belts
(eBay link in photo)
In my experience, rubberized belts are the most stretchy ones. Also, they are quite cost-effective, since they are 5 times less expensive compared to the (eBay link) fiberglass reinforced belts which are quite hard to find anyway.
But after finally buying a fiber-glass reinforced belt, I must admit these ones are the best I tried so far. They are quite firm. My prints simply looked better when I installed these. The only downside is that I was having trouble finding them online. You might want to hurry up and get yours on time, who knows when they will run it out of stock.
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Mosfet Anet A8
Even though I did not experience any problems with my connectors on a motherboard burning or anything similar, some people have. This is one of the preventive measures to make electronics on your A8 more secure.
By adding a mosfet you will bypass the motherboard heating and put way less “pressure” on it. I am really not an expert in electronics, but plenty of people say this is an essential upgrade which will make your 3d printer safer.
Buy a mosfet Anet A8 expansion| Amazon| BangGood
I am still waiting for mine, and once I upgrade my printer, I will write a separate article on how to connect a mosfet. Detailed instructions on and how to guide can be found on this Wiki Page created by Anet community.
After doing throughout research, we have found this Anet A8 MOSFET package to be highly rated and very affordable. For only $17 you get 2 heatbeds.
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e3D V6 Anet A8 HotEnd
According to the Anet community, you should upgrade to e3D V6 hotend, once you mastered other things. It takes a little time, but if you really want to get serious with your printing quality, replacing existing A8 hotend, with high-quality e3D V6 makes a huge difference in printing quality and speed as well as the versatility of materials you can use.
There are plenty of stories that this upgrade is too costly and that it’s not cost-effective to spend nearly half of the money you spent on a printer itself. I partly agree with this statement. That’s why I ordered both original and 7$ clone V6 hotend, to test if for you. Once both arrive, I’ll let write another article on it.
So far, there are two options :
Titan Extruder – Replaces Anet A8 Extruder
Like with a hotend, E3D Titan extruder enables you to print wide variety of materials without clogging. According to people who own it, it’s an expensive, but worthy upgrade if you plan to print with different types of materials. The Titan Extruder preforms leaps and bounds better than the Anet A8 extruder.
For now, I did not try this extruder, as currently I have no need to print anything else but the PLA. Once I master my A8, I might test the Titan.
Similar to the e3D hotend, Titan also has cheaper, knock-off clones.
Hotbed improvements
Since this is quite a controversial topic, I’ll just list the things people use to improve their heat-bed adhesion. Currently I print with PLA on a yellow painters tape and have no problem with it, but I plan to try BuildTak and glass very soon.
- Glass (you can get it locally)
- buildtak/ Vertex cover
- Insulation cotton (for achieving temperature faster and temperature regulation)
- Blue tape (you can get it locally)
Anet A8 Glass bed
Update 2/15/2018
As promised earlier, I have upgraded my heatbed by putting 220 x 220 x 3 mm thick glass on top of it. If you intend to still level your heat bed with a screw, you should get a slightly smaller glass and these clips to hold it better. On my printer, I have 220 x 220 size glass with slightly drilled and extended holes, glass angle holders, and printed wingnuts.
Personally, I have noticed visible improvements in printing quality of the first layer. Not only is the first layer much smoother on a glass, but the glass bed is way easier to maintain. I usually clean it with acetone after few prints. While I had to replace yellow tape every now and then, the glass is here to last. In the end, glass is a more cost-effective option.
Models are slightly harder to remove from the glass than the yellow tape. Also, I have noticed an improvement in object sticking better to the glass.
I print all my larger models with brim (Brim Adhesion in Cura 2.3.1). As a result I do not use a hairspray, but people suggest it might be a good idea to use it if you can’t get your objects to stick onto a glass.
The only downside of printing on a glass opposed to a yellow tape, is that the heat-bed takes a little bit more time to heat.
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Igus DryLin Anet A8 Bearings
Anet A8 is one noisy fella. Luckily , thanks to magnificent bearings from Ignus, it can be much quieter. Check out the test here.
Wow. Just wow. I am amazed with how well these things are working on my printer. I was ignorant to buy only 4, so I replaced only under the heatbed.
I bought them here, but perhaps you can find better deals on eBay, here’s the link. You will need 7 of those.
Here is an installation video of the Anet A8 bearing upgrades. The process is fairly easy, especially if you have a ring plier tool.
Spare parts
Like it or not, like most of the 3D printers A8 requires regular maintenance. Even after you’ve done upgrades, things can go wrong for various reasons. In my experience it’s always good to have few spare parts for A8, so here are my top 3.
Filaments
Whereas there’s a wide variety of materials you can print with your A8, there’s no “best” one. This is because due to insane amount of modifications people do to their printers, it’s always hard to recommend a universal solution. Below list includes some of my favorites, but yet cost-effective 3D printing materials for my A8. Be aware that what might work for me, might not be the best option for you, due to differences in our setups.
- PLA 3D Printing Material (made by Anet) – link
- PETG 3D Printing Material – link
- Flexible 3D Printing Material – link
- Wooden 3D Printing Material – link
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Anet A8 Power Supply
Some users believe that the stock Anet A8 power supply unit (PSU) is underpowered and have opted to upgrade to the eTopxizu 12v 30a Anet A8 power supply. From our experience, you will see tremendous improvements if you add both a MOSFET and power supply.
Purchase the upgraded Anet A8 power supply
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Summary
As you can see, printed or bought, there are plenty of modification which will help you improve Anet A8. Once again the community behind this printer is enormous and the upgrades are evolving each day. Each and every day someone from the community prints something new designs something new. The list is not definite. It is ongoing and I’ll try to keep it updated whenever I discover something better then what I already had.
What is your favorite Anet A8 upgrade?
Due to my inability to test each and every upgrade, I would like to ask you for help. If you are using particular printed part or you bought something that works well for you – leave a comment below and help me and other readers improve our printer. Which upgrade do you find the most useful and why?
Feel free to leave a link, but it would be good if you can elaborate in which way particular upgrade helped you make better prints or secured your printer.
Last update on 2023-12-06 at 17:09 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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Nice Articles about the A8.
Looking forward for your comparison between the original e3D V6 and the cheap one.
Thanks a lot Julian, ordered both few days ago, so it will take a while for them to arrive and me to test them. Quite curios about the performance of both as well.
Any update on this test? I’m looking at doing so right now, any info that can be provided would, obviously, be appreciated.
Dont like your Y belt tensioner.
The one below is better in my opinion.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2024293
Great article for people researching the A8. I just got mine last week and it has been putting out great prints so far. It’s very satisfying to print your own upgrades.
Yea, thanks for the great article and for taking the time to write it for us.
I’m really looking foreward to yout E3D v6 real vs. clone comparison. I ordered a clone and would like to know how much better the real v6 is.
What is the size of your glass bed then?
220mm x 220mm x 3mm (or cm?)? You wrote 3m, is that a type of glass or something?
It’s millimeters (mm). 3m was a typo, so the correct thickness of the glass it 3mm.
My bed is 220×220 (the same size of A8 hotbed) but if you use the full size, you will not have an access to the screws for bed adjustment. That’s why there are 3 ways :
– use full size, modify the bed the way I did
– use full size and cut of the corners so that you have the access to the screws
– use slightly smaller size of the glass
Hope this helps.
How many fiberglass belts did we need to order? I ordered 2 as I figured there is an x and y belt tensioner. My Anet a8 is in the mail.
One was just about right for me.
on the e3D V6 did you get the long or the short one, whats the difference?
I got shorter one, since I will be doing a direct extruder option, the longer one is for the Bowden setup, you can just Google “Bowden vs direct” to see the difference. A8 has direct extruder, so if you are going to convert to Bowden, there are modifications to be made.
Did you ever do that post on the mosfet?
My mosfet got lost in the mail… So yup, I am waiting for a new one, ordered it few days ago, and will do the post. You can find great piece of info on a Wiki.
I mounted a 80mm cooling fan from a PC onto my power supply. The holes lined up perfectly & bolted right up from the inside. The A8 power supply is undersized & prone to failure due to overheating.
Autolevelling, while advanced, is an amazing upgrade. Unless your printer is bolted to a very sturdy table, you will have to level ever time it is moved even slightly. Autolevel is a tremendous time saver.
I also have a cheap clone E3D hot end on order. I plan to use the Bowden setup as reducing the weight of the hotend as low as possible is what gives the best print results.
Bookmarked this page for when my A8 arrives 😀
If you had to prioritize these upgrades, which would be your top 3, ranked #1-3?
I found this belt on gearbest: http://www.gearbest.com/3d-printer-parts/pp_540279.html?wid=21
They say it is made of fiberglass and rubber. It is the same or works like the one, which is in the article(the fiberglass one)?
I don’t think it’s the same one. Here’s the exact one I bought on eBay.
What about auto level ? Do you have an article about this upgrade ?
What is the best surface to print on ? (If you leave glad out)
I haven’t done this upgrade yet. You have plenty of information on YouTube and Anet Facebook Groups on that one.
As I said, for me glass worked best.
I have done the auto level. To tell you the truth I waited a long time before doing it and now that it’s done I wonder why I waited. Glass is the best to print on yet the sensor I purchased does not work on glass. So I ordered a new sensor and will install it when it arrives. I love using glass and hairspray. Right now I’m printing on the aluminum bed with blue tape and sometimes hairspray on top of the tape.
Have you received either of the E3D extruders yet?
I have but haven’t had the time to test them out yet. I hope I will in the upcoming weeks.
I have done most all of the upgrades you list. I switched to Bowden and got the weight off the X Carriage. Thinking about the auto-leveling but I like printing on Glass…have both inductive and Capacitive sensors – but have not installed yet. Kind of wondering about dual extruders on the A8….
The Bltouch is a servo driven autolevel option that can be used on any surface…I have one and I’m a fan. I have not used any other methods, so my sample size is 1.
Will 2 meter of driving belt be enough? Waiting for printer but trying to buy spare Part from now since most are from china which take way to much to arrive
Yes, it was just about right for me, be careful when cutting it though.
There is a very little mentioned upgrade that works a treat in noise reduction and helps printing precission.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2196720
The fact that if fits directly upon the stock smooth idler and takes about 10 minutes to print means that it’s well woth having. For dome reaon they work well on the Y axis belt but not so well on the X axis were they have a tendancy to break.
Post a photo of your printer with the glass 🙂
Very nice article on the ANET, thank you. It’s really a nice compilation of simple upgrades.
Concerning the frame stiffness after many researchs on the web I ended designing my own version which is very very simple and adds an incredible stiffness to the ANET. I looks now like a rock.
here it is : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2430113
Another add on that might be interesting to add in your list is the autobed levelling feature. Now MARLIN has released a version natively compatible with ANET A8…
So, how do you plan to connect the E3D extruder to the direct drive?
Thanks for a great article. Helped me a lot!
Yossi
Can someone update the link for the titan extruder clone?
Thanks for noticing that, updated.
Hello! And thanks for the info! I flipped the metal frame for the heatbed making the belt more level at both ends. Also, I twisted the belt at the far pulley to reduce noise. I actually did that on both belts. You need to widen the bearings with a washer. Enjoy!
This is a great article with a lot of good information. I wanted to give my experience since I took a lot of your suggestions. I printed the duct Fan, and all of your Anti Vibration and stability upgrades. All these upgrades work great for me and provides add stability. I also printed the x and y tensioners and really didn’t see really any added value and I seemed to making more adjustments than I needed to before I made the improvement. I also did the MOSFET upgrade and printed the board cover and MOSFIT cover by LEO_N https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1803120. This worked great and the board heats up alot faster. The last thing I did was buy and install the Igus DryLin bearings. I took about 30 mins to take apart the bottom on the printer and install the bearing and it was very straight forward. The bearing were incredible quite but after installing them all my prints came out horrible. I tried everything (and I mean everything) to correct the issue (changed belt tension, removed parts that were added, lubricate the rails, etc) but nothing worked. I finally went back to the original bearings and everything printed great again. This is one upgrade I wish I never did (my experience seem unique and I could not find anyone online with this experience). Overall this is a great article and good information for anyone interested in the Anet A8 printer
Anyone else had problems changing to the Igus bearings? I have just ordered them for my printer which will arrive hopefully for Christmas?
I bought a set for my A8, but I found they were too loose, even more than the linear bearings. I’m going back to the original ones.
I Did have massive troubles changing to the dry bearings. Its not the bearings that the problem and why your originals stuff up.
The carriage isnt square (took me a while to fix), or the bearing holders arent straight or (and this was my biggest hassle) the rods are bent. I went to a local supplier in Adelaide and got new rods, prints perfectly now. I dont know how or why the rods got bent, its impossible in the packaging, but i did order a set through ebay before i found the local supplier, and they were bent too. Best way to see how bent the rods are, is take em out and roll them around one another. You will see it straight away. The tolerances on the dry bearings are heaps tighter than on the roller bearings.
Hi DJ
With these cheap printers it’s quite often I see them come with bent rods or other faulty parts.
The QC in them is very bad and they seem to let everything go through.
Norm
What is the thing marked 1. in the third image that keeps the threaded bars in place?
A Dust cap, but it did not prove much useful in reducing the vibrations, especially if the rods are not straight perfectly, so most of the people avoid it, I was just testing it at the time of taking the photo, it says in text.
Have you thought about reviewing different firmware for ANet like latest SkyNet3D and Marlin? Maybe do a “SkyNet3D verses Marlin” test and review?
Would personally also like to see review evaluation of OctoPrint & OctoPi with Anet series as that is something I will be looking at myself later.
I’m thinking about buying the A8 and am debating if I should go out and buy these parts and put them in before I start assembly, but I don’t want the build’s difficulty to increase.
Hi, did you test the E3D – V6 original and Clone yet?
Haven’t done all of these upgrades yet, but have hooked it up to OctoPi – just grab a Raspberry Pi Zero W and camera and it’s a pretty easy setup. I almost immediately wondered why I hadn’t done that upgrade immediately as it really did save on repeatedly wandering over and checking on the print or putting in the Micro SD card. The progress info in Cura, graph of bed temps, etc, it’s all good and for around £20 (including the monitoring camera) is definitely a worthwhile upgrade.
Thanks for your Knowledge sharing. good . Would like to know more experience sharing on Anet A8 modifications and 3D printing, eagerly waiting. Love to hear from you…Thanks…
Take a look to the best Cartesian frame you can find, is under creative commons licence, and even better is a direct swap for ANET A8 printer:
https://www.facebook.com/tatarasteelframe/
This clamp for the hotbed cable is a great upgrade, means not strain on the hotbed connector
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2474429
Thanks. It’s been my experience it’s better to turn the bed sideways and secure it to the corner. I even drilled a small hole in the H plate to secure it to.
I build this is fantastic, probably the best cartesian/prusa frame
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2736479
Hola,yo tengo una ANET A8 desde hace un mes,y estoy encantado con ella,salvo los problemas de la iniciacion en el mundo del 3D , me va de maravilla y ahora acabo de instalarle el Firm de skaynet ” en español y tiene mas funciones que el original, tambien le puse el autolevel, con 9 puntos de testado,y no he tenido ningun problema, ni de instalacion ni posteriormente.
Saludos
Thank you.
I’m happy you are enjoying your printer.
HELLO
You forgot to write that when the original feeder for the titan extruder is replaced, it will also change the direction of rotation of the feeder !!!
Where i can change this ???
Hi Majkeen
This can be changed by updating the firmware but that is not a small job. or you can re-wire it but you will need to ask on the facebook group or do a google search.
Hi norman,
Problem solved: Exchange wire on stepper.
Otherwise problem was diameter feeder:
Original dia 8mm, in the TITAN EXTRUDER is 11mm.
It must be written on the program.
I pronting now with incredible layers. Is not a mirror, but 250% than before 🙂
Majkeen
Good to here.
Now it’s time to set your Esteps.
Follow this.
1. connect with Simplify3D or Repetire Host to the printer.
2. Move the Z up to about 150 and heat to 210
3. Go to the communications tab. (In the Machine control on Simplify) The place where you can send Gcode commands.
4. (After heated) send G91
5. Mark a spot on the filament at 200mm above the Extruder motor.
6. send G1 E100 F300 (This should Extrude 100mm of Filament. and if you simplify you just click the extrude 100)
7. Measure how much did extrude. So if the mark is now 120mm from the motor it only went 80mm
8. Go into the menu Control/Motion (and Esteps if needed) and scroll down to get the E step value. (Probably 100 or close.) We will say 100.
9. do this formula (What you asked for / What you actually got) * current E-steps.
So in that case (100/80)*100 = (1.25)*100 = 125 (Always do inside the brackets first)
10. So your new E step value is 125. you can enter it in two ways
1. go back to the menu. select it and change it with the knob. Then go back and select “Save settings” or “Save to EEPROM” Something like that.
2. in the slicer send the command M92 E125. Then send M500.
11. Go back to step 4. and do it again until you get 100 when you tell it to move 100.
THANKS FOR A GREAT POST. CURRENTLY WAITING FOR MY A8 & HAVE BOOKMARKED THIS PAGE BUT HAVE NOW ORDERED SOME OF YOUR UNPRINTABLE UPGRADES, LIKE GLASS FIBRE BELT ETC. HAS ANYONE ELSE GOT INFORMATION ABOUT THE BEARING UPGRADES?
Thanks RIK
People from this Facebook group can help you with this.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/OFFICIALAnet3DprinterSupportGroup/
Be sure to answer the questions while sending the join request.
Norm
one more thing that I modified was I turned my hot bed 90°and then I went out to thingiverse and I got the X and Y cable chain files… it just makes it so you can run your cords through that and thier not dangling around the printer with a chance of getting snagged… I had this one time when I was printing out a really tall design and my x cable got caught on my y access about 80% in… luckily I caught it but if not it could have damaged all the cables… Thats just my suggestion
Thanks for the suggestions Justin.
The printing community seems to agree that the printed cable chains actually break the wire after a while.
I know what you mean about the cables though. You just have to get into a habit of checking them before you start printing.
Norm
Top 20 upgrades you can print by the most popular with Anet a8 users:
Print upgrades:
1.) Nozzle fan
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1954001
2.) Filament guide 1 (high) 2 (lower)
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1764285
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2357589
3.) Front brace
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2291581
4.) Rear brace
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2336471
5.) The Hulk brace
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2189694
6.) Anti-wobble bracket top and bottom
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2067676
7.) Y axis wire holder chain 20 links
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1915486
8.) X axis wire holder chain links
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1905344
2nd option
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2115095
9.) Extruder button
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2427227
10.)Fan holder
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2656950
11.) Power switch cover
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2320216
12.) main board and mosfet case
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2736372
13.) Bed level thumb wheel
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2224250
14.) lever to press reset button easier
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2122581
15.) Diagonal reinforcement
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2351450
16.) M8 nut cap
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2357524
17.) Top spool holder
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2441675
18.) through center of spool holder Big and small options
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2070272
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2169547
19.) Bolt printer down with little arms
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2390954
20.) Alternate fan mount
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1749614
Modifications purchased with printer. Total $303
1.) Anet a8 Printer with auto leveling- $165
2.) Mosfet Qty (2)-$16- so motherboard doesn’t overheat and cause fire
https://3dprint.wiki/reprap/electronics/heatbed_mosfet
3.) 220mm x 220mm Borosilicate Glass Plate-$26
4.) – Fiberglass GT2 belt Qty(2) meters- $20
– Spring belt tensioners Qty(2)
– 30mm throat Qty(2)
– Nozzle cleaner Qty(4)
– .2mm nozzle Qty(1)
– .3mm nozzle Qty(1)
– .4mm nozzle Qty(1)
– .5mm nozzle Qty(1)
5.) 12volt DC brushless mini fans Qty (3)- $5- for power supply and mother board and mosfets
6.) Upgrade MK8 Bowden Extruder Feeder Kit $20
1 x L-Mount for NEMA 17 stepper motor
1 x Extruder base part (yellow)
1 x Extruder lever part (blue)
1 x Tension spring
1 x Filament gear
1 x Filament idler bearing
1 x SPC tube fitting for 4mm OD tube
2 x PC4-M6 straight tube fittings
1 x Hardware pack (M3 and M4 screws for assembly)
1 x NEMA 17 stepper motor (57 oz-in)
1 x Stepper Motor Connection Cable
7.)V6 Hot End Full Kit 1.75mm 12V Bowden extruder parts access- $10
1 xJ-head Hotend with fan for 0.4mm 1.75 filament
1 xCrater nozzle 1.75 1.0mm
1 xCrater nozzle 1.75 0.6mm
1 xCrater nozzle 1.75 0.8mm
1 xCrater nozzle 1.75 0.3mm
1x crater heating block.
1x 1 meter tube (2x4mm)
8.)14pc X and 12pc Y Axis Tensioner Combo Kit for the Anet A8 3D Printer- $26
The X axis kit includes:
1 x PLA Tensioner block
2 x PLA Tensioner block bolts
1 x Idler screw
2 x Idler flatwashers
1 x 16T idler pulley
1 x Idler nylock nut
1 x GT2 x-axis belt
1 x PLA Extruder mount X axis belt holder
2 x Extruder mount X axis belt holder screws
2 x PLA GT2 belt clamps
The Y axis kit includes:
1 x PLA Y Tensioner block
1 x PLA Y Tensioner block bolt plate
1 x PLA Tensioner block bolt
1 x Idler screw
2 x Idler flatwashers
1 x 16T idler pulley
1 x Idler nylock nut
1 x GT2 Y-axis belt
1 x PLA Y axis belt holder
4 x Screws for belt holder (not shown in pics)
2 x PLA GT2 belt clamps
Replacement Parts included:
2 x 16T idler pulleys
9.) eTopxizu 12v 30a Dc Universal Regulated Switching Power Supply 360w- $18
10.) plug switch- $7
TOTAL- $303
Cool Infos. But there one big thing you forgot – Its a power switch. Or did you never missed it ? I put one on it even before I put the extruder button.
For the bed i use a glue stick. but for some filament you need to heat up the bed quite much. 65°C to 70°C are not rare.
But thanks for all the nice ideas.
Keep on printing.
I have read the post and i is really very helpful as I have got to know about the anet a8 upgrades which has helped me in my work. If you want to know about any technical issue then you can check https://itunessupport.org/blog/cannot-install-itunes-on-windows-7/