Avoid a Fire Hazard - Anet A8 Safety Upgrades 

While I wholly agree with your upgrades so far..I think you are dismissing an important part of this printer. The learning factor. When I first started in 3D printing, the a8 was my printer. By doing the assembly myself, printing upgrades (a lot of which are over-engineered and un-needed), and upgrading hardware, I learned so much. So much so that you can't effectively put a dollar value on it. Now with my more expensive printers, when something goes wrong, I know right were to look, troubleshoot and fix. If it weren't for the road traveled on the a8, I would know nothing. And the fact is, my a8 is so good now, printers that cost 10x as much do not print as well or as reliably.

like the tape idea for mounting holes

Great video. One suggestion, when you solder the wires directly to the bed you can do it so they are pointing toward the middle. Then you can ziptie them to the H frame and you have nothing coming out the side at all and wire management is easier.

I appreciate not only the very VERY detailed lists of links and parts, but your attitude and speaking voice. You are both very entertaining and very informative. Thank you!

Firmware upgrade should be first thing you should ever do. Marlin or skynet, anything but the stock firmware due to thermal runaway protection being disabled.

I love a video that focuses on safety first! Thank you so much. I bought a different PS for mine at the same time I ordered it. Plus a MOSFET for the heat bed. OH,, I still need the fused power switch.

I have 2 A8s. My son and I built. I don't mind running my overnight. They do have a few needed safety upgrade but they were minor fixes from my point of view. I really enjoy the channel and love that you do honest clear reviews and build lime this. I'm confortable with our printer setups cause I have 20 years experience in the engineering field. This was a pretty simple project from my standpoint. I think that's where a big issue lies. I see a lot of folks on the forums in over the head with these kits. You really need at least a novice electronis skill level and understanding to be working on these things.

I would consider upgrading the gauge of the cable running from the powersupply to the mosfet to the bed. Make it a thicker wire, this will decrease the heat time and reduce the chance of the wire's insulation melting. Also the cooling fan on the power supply you have bought is likely running all the time, if so, look into adding a thermistat to the powersupply, its easy ans reduces that horrible fan noise all the time..

Bill, thanks for designing the PSU/Switch cover. It is the first thing I printed. Also thanks for the link to the stronger power supply which I ordered for my A8 and attached instead of the provided one.

I have done the same upgrades to my CTC Prusa i3 Clone, not a Geetech or A8, but very cheap. I even took the internal fan off of the power supply and put an 80mm fan on the outside of the power supply case. I modified the power supply cover and opened the area up to accommodate the fan shroud. The fan is connected to the 12vdc and it runs continuously with no noise. Plus I don't see myself printing anything that I have to be away from it. And I don't print while I am asleep at night. I also have two MOSFETs, one for the hotbed and one for the hotend. I have not gotten into the CAD side yet to design my own items yet. That is next. I have a few CAD applications that I am looking at to see which one best suits me, for ease of use and affordability. Keep expounding on safety, my wife does all the time.

The PSU of the standard A8 is perfectly fine and does not pose a risk at all. I have over 2000 hours on mine and have no intention of replacing it. There are 0 instances of them catching fire, but plenty of stories with no sources. The A8 printers that have caught fire were on the mainboard and not the PSU at all. Buying a higher amp PSU is fine, but certainly not a safety issue.

Excellent video ! fire safety is a reality among alll 3d Printers !!!

Very helpful video. You show what the safety parts are, why they are important, and how to do them. I will make these safety upgrades to my printer and room now. The parts lists is very helpful too because it takes a lot of time hunting these parts. Thanks a million. Job well done.

Thank you for making this video. Way too often safety is ignored on 3d printers especially when you start talking cheap 3d printers. It's nice to see

So I've been following along, got me an A8, stuck a mosfet on, etc. So far, I'm finding it a good learning experience. Few bits and bobs I want to do, want to add a tensioner here and there ,and maybe an aluminium front (holds the belt and rods). Its fun.

Your screws holding the LCD in are backwards. the head should be on the same side as the LCD. I don't think it matter but it might look better? but that's an opinion not a fact. As for other safety tips: Change out the power wires to the heated bed for 12 or 14 gauge silicone insulated wire and run that to the mosfet. I also used some high temp hot glue and covered the solder joints but that wasn't 100% necessary. You can also flash the firmware to either stock merlin or skynet (I use skynet) This will add thermal runaway protection. For print quality: Change the bearings to lm8uu igus drylin bearings/bushings. Get some new belts and toothed idler pulleys. But if I recall you did all this but the toothed idlers.

I started with the wanhao duplicator i3 and til this day I still use the same thing 3 years later. I did change all the stepper drivers, control board, wiring, extruders..... okay the frame is the only original thing left 😅 great video regarding safety btw

I love your videos. So I am letting you know that when it comes to wiring on a safety video, I have to let you know that never trust color coding on electrical builds. On my Anet A8, I found the wiring of the power supply to be at fault. Will it work YES, is it safe NO. Ifr you look at an electrical outlet, you will see the ground (small half round hole) on the bottom, the nuetral (large blade hole) on the left and the positive or L (small blade on the right). Holding the power cable (that came with the printer) to match the receptacle, I found the BLUE wire was the NUETRAL, trhe BROWN wire was the L or POSITIVE and the YELLOW w/GREEN tracer was the GROUND. This is needed for SAFETY not for operation. The machine doesnt care if the NUETRAL and the LINE (POSITIVE) are reversed. You will care if you touch the wrong part if the wires are reversed. Think about a lamp socket. The threaded portion and the little flange at the bottom. These are where you connect the N and the L. If you reversed the L and N you will get shocked. The threaded socket is the nuetral and the little flange flange is the line (positive). Please share this as all of the videos I have seen use the color code as a means for connecting the wires. For a safety video everyone has forgotten about safety here in the USA.....

This is need-to-know info right here, even if you don't have or use a 3D printer.

What a coincidence! My brother has the same printer and the connector for the heating element under the buildplate melted itself off yesterday. Good choice soldering yours.

Thank you so much for this video! I couldn't find anywhere on the entirety of the internets that showed the proper connections for the 3d printer power switch :D! I really appreciate it!

if you notice the bed has 2 positive heater leads and 2 negative. it is likely that the bed has 2 coils for heating. i made these mods to my a6 but didn't have a multimeter on hand to check if they are 2 heaters, or just additional pins for current handling that anet decided not to use. that all said the stock connector is crap and a fire hazard so it was certainly correct to get rid of it. when i did the mod i soldered new 14 gauge silicone power wires and i used the wire and solder to bridge to second positive and negative pins on the board. in stock form i was lucky to get 96deg C and had visible burn marks in the plastic of the connector and now i easily hit the 115degree cap set in my recompiled firmware. (not sure what anet had as a limit). of course this is with an external mosfet. i happened to purchase an identical power supply and fused switch to yours and will print your cover out of petg. thanks for the video and the cad files.

Great video! Really looking forward to the old man Logan claws part 2. Keep up the good work!

Yep, classic example of why cheap is not always good. That why i got my eye on the Pursa Mk2, no nasty exposed power terminals from the mains where its twice the voltage and current in the UK than US. Whats better?, spending more money on safe quality or a coffin? Love your craftsmanship Bill and Brittany, stay safe :)

My A8 hot end connector on the board was charred last week. Yikes. I didn't even know until it stopped extruding. I ripped it off and direct soldered the wires. The power switch addition was the first I did after I bought the printer and can't believe that feature isn't standard. Stay safe!

its a great printer to start with. really good value, and decent print on day one, with ultra low price.

Fully agree about putting a value on your own time, definitely helps making decisions about whether to make/buy or whether it's worth spending ages shopping around for a small discount.

I got the Anet a8 for 123$ It’s my first 3D printer I’m almost done putting it together and will take all the advice I can get

I've been using this video as reference at least a dozen times trying to upgrade my Anet. It's extremely helpful! I'm running into an issue with the power supply cover file. It seems to be the screw hole is 7mm short for the wiring to be roomy enough for both the fuse switch wiring and the power terminal connections. I sent a comment on Thingverse.

I bought the PSU you linked in the description. I'd been using the out-of-box one on my stock A8 for over a year and this works essentially the same, except this one doesn't spark at the plug every time I plug it in now. I don't think I'm gonna install the switch though. I'm content with just yanking the cord to shut it down, cause it gives me peace of mind knowing it's completely cut off from it's power source when I'm not using it.

Bill. Last week, my similar kit's ramps board caught on fire while I was sitting next to it (thankfully). It was a hictop i3 clone from amazon. I did do a bit of safety upgrades when I built it initially. I upgraded the power supply to a 30 amp 12VDC power supply that looks very similar to what you got. I also upgraded the wires from power supply to ramps board to 12 gauge silicone insulated wire. Also used the same silicone 12 gauge directly soldered to heated bed to ramps board. From what I can surmise, the poor design of the ramps board by hictop had a transistor with a heat sink directly touching the power input screw down terminal. This and the inadequate amperage rating on the screw down terminal Led to the power input screw down terminal melting and shorting out causing a flame up and then caught the abs 3d printed enclosure around the ramps board ( which I’ll never print and use one again). Also probably needs a mosfet for the heated bed. Which I just bought. I replaced my ramps board with a BIQU mks base 1.5 board from amazon for $38 .

One smoke alarm near enough to quickly detect a fire. But far enough to not set off false alarms. Should be more than enough of a safety precaution. Of course I would never leave the house while it's running as is the same for all heating appliances..

Thanks for the STL of the switch cover. One of the most useful things to add to this printer. You might wanna look into the AM8 mod. It makes this Printer so versatile, with the newest Marlin upgrade it's almost a mk3 (just looking at speeds). Maybe with a few versions of marlin, it might get there.

Never heard of comparing a printer with a toaster, great point!

Another option for the spool of print "wire" would be to use a hole saw the size of the hole in the spool. Personally, I would have ground down the proud bracket on the bed holding your wires instead of grinding the plexi frame of the printer. That's just another option. Love the series this season.

Hey Bill, Welcome to the Anet experience! I also have an A8, and it is my first printer. It is a tinker's tool! Awesome when it works... annoying (polite version) when it doesn't! Great source for upgrade videos is Nillabean & 3D Make Noob! Both have one, and show very useful upgrades... My next printers (addictive like tattoos) are the Kossel and CR-10... Have a great day!

i just threw the original wire in the trash cause it seems way too small. ill get some better wire. those original wires are about good enough to run old school christmas tree lights, and how many houses have they burned down in the last 50 years lol! anywho, love watching y'alls vids, has helped me get my machine up and running.

One suggestion, since I'm doing something similar with an P3Steel , use fire retardant filament for the power supply cover. I also use an auto-shut relay (MKS PWC) that can kill the AC power to the printer if something goes wrong or when print finishes or when the emergency stop is pressed.

I personally love my A8, especially the endless possibilities to upgrade it with 3d print or buy new stuff. Yeah sure there are safety issue, but they can be fixed and they are not that expensive. (MOSFET +power supply for around 30€). The manufacturer also upgraded the plug on the head bed I think. It seems a bit sturdier so now it seems not mandatory anymore.

Hotend MOSFET isn't needed. If anything it causes more problems. The hotend draws very little current compared to the heated bed. What you should do, it check that the hotend heater element is secure in the block before turning on the printer each time. This can work work loose over time and can be a big problem if it falls out.

You don't need a heated bed for PLA at all. And since the heated bed causes most of the concerns, there is no reason to use it at all. It also reduces power consumption and waiting time for the printer to heat up. You only need that bed for ABS but ABS is problematic (needs heated bed, needs a housing, needs ventilation because of the fumes ect). PLA is cheap, relatively environment friendly, easy to use and for the hobbyist everything she needs.

I should really get to resoldering mine... The bed heater's been ok for a month in the 'pointing backwards' direction, but better safe than sorry!

Thank you for video! does you bed heats up to 120C ?

POWER SUPPLY: If you're upgrading yours like the one in the video. Please read this so I can save you some additional frustration. Learn from my mistakes! ;) 1) When you're looking at the position of the current power supply, the new on will have to be mounted closer towards the front of the A8, in order for the power switch cover to clear the frame bracket on the bottom back edge. I tried keeping the position of the top left screw hole already in the frame from the current power supply so I only had to drill 2 new ones on the bottom, only to assemble and realize I *****ed up. 2) Don't take short cuts if you want to avoid frustration.... measure twice, cut once!! The tape-hole seems like a good idea, but it's risky since the tape stretches and curls slightly when you pull it off. I highly recommend using an "L" shaped measuring tool to measure the new power supply hole locations because It'll be more accurate, and you'll want to make sure it's mounted perfectly straight and at the right height (Very important for power switch cover to sit properly)

about the last scene /i am using a glass bed 2 mm ,heating before at 80 degree celsius ,and then start the print .no problems.about the mosfet ,i don t know if its working ... a good whiring is a must do

In addition to the upgrades I use an AFO Auto Fire Out automatic fire extingusher ball. They run about $40 on Amazon.

i made the same calculation for my anet a8 but i learn so much it was really worth for me so for me with the kit you learn a lot and its fun (1 am 62) and i prefer to build my tools

Anet board is famous for not having any fuses, polyfuses or otherwise. It's better to also add individual fuses for bed and nozzle that are suitably rated. Something like 5A slow blow for the mainboard + print head, maybe 10-15A for the bed. You can also consider adding NC thermal snap switch to the print bed.

Would love to see a pre-upgraded part versus a upgraded part, with focus on the quality. Still, a good video. Happy to see you are still human :)

Great and helpful video! I would highly recommend a genuine Mean well supply if you have the money. I have found that many of the cheap psu's don't last very long because of bad components and poor heat regulation. A good psu can make all the difference!

I just got a new Anet A8 and it seems that the hotbed connector has been upgraded. It now uses thicker prongs and the kit now runs two + and two - wires between the board and the hotbed.

Thermal runaway is disabled by default (a BIG safety issue). There is a version of the Marlin firmware for Anet printers to correct this

I consider some of this mods not to be really necessary for safety, like changing the PSU or resoldering the heat bed cables, but I'm a fan of modifying stuff as much as possible so I will probably do some of this

I'm going to do the a6 as i have never used a 3d printer but i have my hobby I like rc cars and trucks.I like the soldering the bed wires but with the heat couldn't you just stick a external fan back there to keep the heat down? and if your not using the printer just unplug it?

Had my Anet A8 since 2017... Havent done any of the "safety upgrades"..... Been just fine... And i often leave it on for long prints, over nights.. while im out the house etc..

There is no need to solder the wires to the hotbed. I have had 6 A8’s....the first two burned the connector, the second two ( I sold the. To friends not wanting the hassle of delivery and build etc) I used Bondic or the clone on eBay “5 second fix”. Run some on over the metal wire holders in the connecting cable female connector. This stops the real issue which is twofold. The female pins in the connector are pushed in after the wires are crimped to the female pin....and they are a loose fit and with the printer bed moving get tugged in and out during the travel.....which makes them a loose fit in the connector....which allows arcing and resistance heat. Stop this pins moving and it’s cured. Just remember to check the Bondic is in place and if needed ...add a bit more. This saves all the problems created by needing to adjust / change or repair any part on the hotbed that requires it to be removed from the printer.

In addition to the smoke detector, a good ABC fire extinguisher in the room is also a good idea. I've got two...

Soldering is usually not a safety upgrade, as we usually are not that good at soldering high current wires. It takes training. Usually it is better to crimp then solder, unless you have gone through a proper professional soldering course. And crimping usually put less strain on wires. It might be better to connect the non connected socket for black and red so you don't put all current through one socket, instead it passes two sockets instead of one. The MOS fet is also a good choice. A real safety matter IS to upgrade the firmware with new Merlin, as it has a heat run away protection (and some other things that makes it better). A smoke detector IS a good choice. Should be mandatory.

I'll be getting my CR-10 early next year, hopefully. Can't wait :D

These are some good upgrades! Though, there is one thing I am concerned about, which is soldering the wires directly on to the bed! Yes, you should not use the connector that came with the Anet, but why is everyone breaking of the soldered plug off the heatbed? This doesn't make any sense. Why not just solder the wires to the pins of the plug, as the problem is not the plug itself but it's counter part, where the wires are attached to. In fact, some people desolder the plug rather than breaking it off as you did, making it unsafer than it was before. This is due to the strong heat dissipation you're getting from the aluminium plate. If you solder something directly to it you really need to heat the whole plate up first, otherwise you soldering joints wont last long.

That power supply you "upgraded" to is a cheap knock-off of the MeanWell supply I used on my from-scratch delta printer. I know this because last week I added an off-board MOSFET driver for my heated bed, and while I was at it I switched the bed to 24V for faster heating. The rest of the system still has to run on 12V, though, so I had to buy a separate 24V power supply and I ended up with one just like yours.

This is why I paid $1200 for my Robo R2. One of the safest on the market and has an auto shutoff if it going beyond a heat threshold. I can print safely at night

On the hotbed is there a better disconnect then the one that comes stock on it? I know with pinball machines they tried coming out with better connectors due to some connectors melting down. I just hate having wires like that hard wired onto my hotbed. Not that it is a temporary fix though to get the hotbed working again though.

The main problems are the PSU and the heated bed, and the less than optimal way the extruder carriage and thermistor is connected. I've been using the original PSU with an fan strapped to the front of for over a year without a problem, it definitely need a cover and switch though The external mosfet may help your anet board last longer but all the burnt out wires are down to people not making a good enough connection. The extruder heat cartridge is held in with one screw with the thermistor flapping in the breeze, usually there is a tapped m3 hole next to the thermistor adding a small m3 screw and washer can help keep it in (not the same printer but the hotend is the same) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JGF6QbaXpiM.htmlm4s I would probably have beefed up the wires on the heatbed and added another set from the PSU to the mosfet to minimise voltage drop. Now that Marlin has Anet A8 configuration as one of it's examples flashing that would give you thermal runaway protection which adds a but of safety.

This is a great video can't wait for the next one.

Hi, I just soldered the wires to the hotbed. I did not check for the resistance between pins before I took the connector off. I was wondering if it is normal to get low resistance (1- 2 ohms) between the "+" and the "-"? I verified that it's not shorting through the metal platform. But I am still iffy about it because some of the insulation got ripped off when I pulled the connector. It would be helpful for me to know that this resistance between those pins is normal. Thank you!

Very informative video!

Old man bill with the long beard! hahah good video I have a cr 10 coming in. so I might use some of these tips

Tip for everyone who considers putting up a smoke detector above the printer. Put it at the ceiling where the smoke collects. Not any lower. Otherwise, any smoke will just go past the smoke detector and further up. By the time the smoke level gets far down enough to reach the detector, it may be way too late. There are very good reasons why smoke detectors are placed at the level of the ceiling and not any lower. Most smoke detectors can't detect smoke that goes past it. They only detect it once it accumulates to high enough levels.

What was the purpose of turning the heating plate so the wires came out of the left side instead of the back? Working on my upgrades.

How about a cage for the exposed circuit board, to prevent accidental zaps and perhaps even furball accidents?

Did the Anet A8 kit already come without an auto-leveling sensor, or did you remove it to later replace it with an endstop switch?

You missed a fan for the main board it gets very hot and there are quite a few cases of main boards burning out and new firmware with safety features the default firmware lacks thermal runaway protection.

@8:07 that squared nozzle installation job though.... lol

That's very interesting. I was about to do a video about low cost 3D printers for MTE but this has given me reason to pause. After all you've been through getting this up to spec, (and we thank you for your sacrifice :) ) what WOULD your recommended first 3D printer for prop making be?

You did a better job than I did pulling the connector off. Mine ended up stripping the copper stripping and ruining the bed, making it unusable. I don't see a single seller of these beds that can deliver within 2 weeks. Awesome.

I have a question - when you replaced the power supply switch, what did you do for the cord to power it? did you just switch to a regular computer PSU? or did you hard wire the old cord to the poles of the outside of the switch?

Why did you turn the heated bed 90 degrees?

Awesome, thanks.

I'd highly suggest going to 24V on your printer. The total current of the printer goes down in half and the excess heat created is 25% of the original.

Wonderful and helpful video. Thank you. I found your video because I searched for an error of Thermal Runaway (Anet A8 heatbed shorting out). Also, I found the same problem with the cable chain on the bed. I also had to grind away the frame to make room for the mount.

When you sanded the acrylic you lost part of the rigidity of the frame. That will make it more wobbly

I noticed you didn't say what amp of fuse you decided to go with. and the power supply doesn't say what the ac current draw is.

The z axis rods could be better stabilized to be able to print higher, you can find many 3D printed solutions on thingiverse

Belt tensioners for X and Y axis are common additions to the Anet. I think they're necessary. You might be able to use a turnbuckle on the x-Axis, but that seems like it might be finicky. The screw type tensioner for the Y axis is definitely a thing though. That's a must have vitamin for this printer. A ring shroud for the blower is also common, but I think it depends on what type of filament you're running through your printer. There are some filaments that you might not need the air flow. As far as the power supply mod, I prefer to use a surge protector with a built in on/off switch. I can just switch it off a short distance away. I prefer to put distance between me and a faulting machine, and it doesn't require me to hard wire things together. It does lack that personal touch thing though. Ehh... the mosfet is interesting. Is that like a solid state relay? If it is, that's a worthwhile investment, since I think running a 3d printer entirely off of rectified DC power is wasteful. Solid State relays can allow a DC powered control board to turn on and off AC current, which does two very advantageous things: the power supply no longer needs to directly supply the power to the heating element and the main board no longer has to control the current through the 12 volt i/o ports. It's a handy upgrade for most power supplies involved in 3d printing (especially for $20-40 bucks depending on source and timing). It makes the motors the most significant power draw for the power supply, and that's not too bad for Nema 17. My only issue is that it might need extra thermistors or a thermocouple, since you shouldn't be limited by the DC power supply at that point, and you're technically only one thermistor fault away from frying your heated bed or heater cartridge with 'infinite' mains power. Maybe an inline fuse...

Great video man! Thanks for getting this message out to everyone!

While adding the MOSFET is great, the way it is mounted leaves you with live Mains Wires ready to touch.... Edit: Wait, it´s just the 12V line from the PSU. No Mains exposed. i´m an Idiot. Still a small case might be a good idea.

Have you seen the CR-10 printer, it looks really good 🤔🙂

Hey I have the new power supply and mofset. I was hoping you would have a diagram or something for how to wire it up correctly :(

Nice recommendations on the upgrades. I'm in the process of changing out the power supply (40a) and waiting for other safety components such as thicker wire for the bed and mosfets. My stock power supply blew up on me mid-print using ABS filament, I believe it was one of the transistors or transformer, couldn't tell because it's all black around that area. Prior to it failing, I had multiple successful prints with PLA filament without any issues, but I guess because of the higher temps required for ABS, it drew more than the power-supply can handle. For anyone thinking about replacing their power-supply, I say don't risk it and do it. It was scary expierence as electrical sparks were flying everywhere for a good 3-5 seconds.

i think ill just do he power supply and the switch. if one of the belts breaks, i can just buy a new one. i dont feel comfortable turning​ the bed sideways.

hi bill good evening from finland!

love your vids

the anet a8 runs unchanged, right out of the box, for now four years in my shop. i think, the people who have those issues are just a few that had bad luck.

What printing program are you using?

Great job Sir :D

Where are all those links?

I can't stop seeing Bill as Logan now 🤔

Oh yum, those power supplies are only CE listed. Some would argue that means Conformité Européene, while others including myself would say it's "Chinese Export". I mean realistically the upgrade was worth it... but seriously the garbage they are willing to put CE markings on? If you were REALLY worried about a fire... you'd get a UL listed supply. Let me put it like this: a CE only certified power supply for a laptop is one that costs $30 and dies within 6 months. A nice one from a reputable maker will be UL listed and last 5+ years, and in fact I've had power supplies in old computers last their lifespan and beyond (15+ years). Edit: While CE isn't necessarily a bad standard it is much easier to register an item as CE certified, and also it's commonly faked on exports from China. CE certifications are cheaper as well, so you get some less than savory things sliding through CE certification from time to time, and many many junky items with a fake CE marking coming through as well.

I swear, the A-8 is like the Ruger 10-22 of the 3d printer world..