replacement mainboard for Anet A8

Hi, I have what I understand to be an Anet A8 that came without the mainboard - one such as this 2016 Upgraded Quality High Precision Reprap Prusa i3 DIY.

I do have a RAMPS 1.4 shield, 5x DRV8825 drivers and an Arduino Mega 2560 R3 that I got off eBay for another project. Can those be used as a replacement mainboard? Or is it better to look for the mainboard that should come with the A8 printer? I've searched eBay for a mainboard that looks like the one in the documentation but haven't found any, nor did I find a reference on anet3d.com. I also did not find the pinout for the LCD module. TIA.

Of course the Mega/Ramps is suitable for the printer, the only thing you need to look for is the mounting holes, but even at that you can print an adapter.

Thanks. Been reading some more and figuring it out. I've ordered a Dupont connector crimping tool to make some adapters for the wiring as cables of the stepper motors, thermistors and endstops are terminated with JST XH connectors. The only issue may be with the LCD module which is a model with 5 buttons and no rotary encoder like most of the LCD modules that I've seen used on Prusa i3 + RAMPS.

I think I'm most worried about setting things up when the electronics are wired up, this is my first 3D printer and I'm not really sure where to start. Which firmware would you recommend to get started?

One question re Z motors, should these be wired up in parallel and connected to a single Z motor header on the RAMPS, or should I connect each Z motor to one of the Z motor headers?

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siddharta
One question re Z motors, should these be wired up in parallel and connected to a single Z motor header on the RAMPS, or should I connect each Z motor to one of the Z motor headers?

Looks like the headers on the board are in parellel so that answers that.

Everything's wired up with an adaptor board I made (not neat at the moment but I'll spend some more time on the wiring later) and after fully destroying one and partially destroying another Arduino and some modifications to the RAMPS to prevent that from happening to another member of the Mega species (removed D1 and added a separate regulated 5V supply derived from the 12V input voltage) I've uploaded Repetier firmware as it seemed easier to get started than Marlin.

One question, with the print fan wired to D9, should it come on as soon as the board is powered on and run continuously? As this is happening and I'm not certain if it's normal, as it's driven by one of the MOSFETs that has its gate driven by the Arduino Mega D9 pin and I understand D9 is designed for a second extruder.

Where would you recommend to start? Connect only one stepper, the two thermistors and the fans and see if that is working well?

Thanks!

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siddharta
One question, with the print fan wired to D9, should it come on as soon as the board is powered on and run continuously? As this is happening and I'm not certain if it's normal, as it's driven by one of the MOSFETs that has its gate driven by the Arduino Mega D9 pin and I understand D9 is designed for a second extruder.

Yes, this is correct. This fan should be powered all the time. It is supposed to cool your hotend so that heat will not creep up and plastic is not melt/jammed in the barrel.
You have another "print fan" connector on RAMPS that actually cools the print. This fan is controlled by slicer settings.

D9 function depends how your firmware is set up. It can run second extruder, if set so.

It's up and running, electronically speaking at least. Motors, endstops and thermistors all working as they should. Now I'm having some calibration problems but for that it seems better to open another thread. Thanks to all that pitched in!

How did it turn out ? can you give more insight after 5 months ?

I would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi, it actually worked out well, with both Marlin and Repetier firmware. The only issue was with the display (or, to be accurate, the keypad) which at the time wasn't very well supported in firmware and I had to spend quite some time getting that to work. Now both Marlin and Repetier have support for the 5-button keypad + LCD2004.

I've in the mean time replaced the 2560+RAMPS with an original Anet mainboard with Skynet firmware as I needed the Arduino and RAMPS for another printer and the price of the Anet mainboard is the same as the combo of the two. Wiring is also neater as I didn't crimp new connectors to the cables but rather made an adapter board for the JST connectors on the Anet cables to 2.54mm headers as used on RAMPS, no need for that with the original mainboard. The Skynet firmware is a definite improvement over the original Anet firmware.