"Let's Learn Something Together" about the Anet ET4

What is Make With Tech and Insider Notes
1

Many thanks to Irv “Dr. VAX” Shapiro for mentoring me and many others to maximize the use of ET4 by Anet. Those who own one have had to do “work around” methods to accomplish what could have been far simpler had the manufacturer provide us the capability of tweaking it using open source. It would be really nice to install a “real” auto leveling system that handles auto level prior to each print.

As one “work around”, I have been working on a document based on what I’ve learned by translating from Chinese a series of YouTube videos by “zhun han”. This procedure works very well.

Anet ET4 Bed Leveling Procedure

Step 1 CLEAN THE NOZZLE
Start with a new or freshly cleaned used nozzle.

For a used nozzle… PRESS… Prepare > CH Filament > Unload
This will preheat the nozzle and withdraw the filament and allow wiping any melted filament from the nozzle with a clean, dry cloth or paper towel especially where the filament exits the nozzle.

USE CAUTION! The nozzle is very HOT!!

It is extremely important that the nozzle is clean without ANY residual filament for successful bed leveling. This step is not necessary for a new nozzle… Proceed to Step 2

Step 2 PERFORM AUTO LEVEL

The nozzle temperature must be less than 50 degrees C before starting.

PRESS… Prepare > Level > Auto. Ensure that the nozzle is less than 50 degrees C prior to installing the leveling sensor that came with the printer.
Plug in the sensor and loosely place it onto the nozzle without applying much upward pressure. The sensor must seat itself onto the nozzle when contacting the bed to be accurate.

Acknowledge the message that the nozzle is less than 50 degrees C. The printer will HOME, then probe the bed at 16 points then center above the bed with a message in green “Auto Level Complete”. Remove the sensor and press the “ok” twice.

Step 3 COMPLETE THE LEVELING PROCESS

Place a piece of A4 (or a regular piece of printer paper) onto the bed then click “ok” twice. DO NOT CLICK MANUAL. The printer will HOME then lower to the center of the bed.

  • Grasp the paper at the edge closest to you and try to pull it.
  • If the paper is tight when pulling toward you then the nozzle is too close to the bed. If the paper is loose then the nozzle is too far from the bed.
  • Adjust the + and – arrows to raise or lower the nozzle. Plus values will raise the nozzle and minus values will lower the nozzle.
  • Press “ok” to continue to check your adjustment.
  • Hold the paper by the end and continue to make adjustments until you can smoothly draw the paper toward you but it buckles when pushing it back toward the nozzle.
[B]NOTE![/B] Do not press on the bed during this entire process. The platform is spring loaded and accuracy can be adversely affected.

Perform a test print to verify the bed is level.

This procedure has worked well for me… Let me know how it works for you!

2

Outstanding. Thanks for doing this. I am posting a new video about installing Capricorn tubing to my YouTube channel as I write this. It should be live in about 2 hours.

3

As always… thanks for what you do. I just posted to your link posted on the forum about my experience with the Capricorn tubing. I guess that I am just lucky that the stock couplers worked with mine. If you do find a way to get a good auto level system to work here, please give me a shout! I am a newbee at this stuff but surely would love to put in a good main board with silent steppers and auto level system that works with everything at operating temperatures. ?

It’s a shame that a good printer is crippled by proprietary software and hardware.

4

For anyone reading this thread, please post if you have found a way to replace the main board with one having silent steppers and capable of being programmed using Open Source. The Anet ET4 would be great if it wasn’t totally proprietary.

Thanks…

Hal