Anet A8 warped bed

[brainfarth]

I bought an Anet A8 a few weeks ago and have had issues with the bed being warped since day one. I am forced to either build a raft every time, or keep an extra close eye on the print in the beginning to make sure the parts are building okay. It is a 220mm x 220mm heated aluminum bed. So I was wondering what a recommended replacement would be. I know very little about these things and have maybe 40 hours of print time on the machine.
Some upgrade parts I have been making:
A8Bed (4) (Medium).jpg
A8Bed (3) (Medium).jpg
Sorry for the bad photos. For the life of me, I cant figure out how to get my HTC A9 phone to take a good picture under LED track lighting.

[grantj]

I have the same problem, its been printing fine for about 48 hours then I notied the parts were not sticking closest to the centre. The plate has dipped by about 1mm in the middle. I have ordered a 5mm ali sheet to replace the 3mm one supplied. I just need o remove the heating element or put some 1 ohm 25watt resistors on the back to heat it up.

[brainfarth]

I'm curious how you are going to remove the element from the plate. Either way, you should share photos of your project.
I ended up buying 1/8" glass plate from a local shop for $4.50 each, to place on top of the bed. I bought a few because I wanted to see if I could etch the glass to create a surface that the plastic would stick to. So far, no deal. The prints keep falling off, so I am using some 2.88" painters tape with no issues. I dont like the idea of sticky glue or hair spray all over my equipment. Something I have noticed is one benefit of having multiple print beds, is that I can pull off the entire plate and throw another prepared one on the bed. That means I can keep my printer busy almost 24/7.

[grantj]

I was using a fancy base material called BuildTak, it worked for a while but then the filament stopped sticking. I have now removed this and have gone back to painters tape. However I am now printing with a 4 line brim and this seems to make the items stick better and gets a good flow of material going before the nozzle starts the main print.

I agree spraying hair spray about doesn't appeal to me at all or using glue sticks etc. The 5mm sheet of Aluminium has now arrived, I just need the 1ohn 50watt resistors to arrive from Hong Kong to make a new heated base.

I'm curious how you are going to remove the element from the plate. Either way, you should share photos of your project.
I ended up buying 1/8" glass plate from a local shop for $4.50 each, to place on top of the bed. I bought a few because I wanted to see if I could etch the glass to create a surface that the plastic would stick to. So far, no deal. The prints keep falling off, so I am using some 2.88" painters tape with no issues. I dont like the idea of sticky glue or hair spray all over my equipment. Something I have noticed is one benefit of having multiple print beds, is that I can pull off the entire plate and throw another prepared one on the bed. That means I can keep my printer busy almost 24/7.