Reddit reviews BNTECHGO 14 Gauge Silicone wire 3 ft red and 3 ft black Flexible 14 AWG Stranded Copper Wire

Get rid of the connectors altogether and just run straight wire. That's what I did and no more warm/hot wires. I even upped it a awg. Here is what I used.....

https://www.amazon.com/BNTECHGO-Silicone-Flexible-Strands-Stranded/dp/B017U6PGLO/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?keywords=14+awg+silicone+wire&qid=1565624169&s=gateway&sprefix=14+awg&sr=8-12

Seconding everything people have said here and want to add the following.
A glass bed with 10mil PEI from CS Hyde will do wonders for bed leveling.

Upgrade your Y plate as soon as possible, the stock one warps over enough time making bed leveling nearly impossible.

All metal hotend such as the micro swiss is amazing, no more clogged PTFE tubing, easier to clean if it does.

Z brace is a must, also print a fan cooler like the Diicooler on thingiverse. Replace the stock part cooling fan with a nice radial fan, plenty on amazon, make sure its 12v. This helps prints come out cleaner.

Yours should come with thumbwheels, if not, print some, bed leveling is easier with it.

Print some spring cups as well, keeps the springs straight and not bending when leveling the bed.

DO THE MOSFET MOD TO MAKE IT SAFE!

Watch this vid and do his printed mods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpcm4XEbP1Q&t=752s&list=PLyIdpN_zILcknsQzSZSiWhQ685NxkWsvD&index=2

Also, stay far far FAR away from Shaxon filament! It broke my hotend, check my post history to see the red glob of death I dealt with. I have had very good luck with eSun PLA.

Links for bought parts:
Fans: [here (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MJU6JR2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)]

Glass plate: [Here (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B2YLWF9/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)]

Hotend: [Here(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E1HANLS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)]

Y plate: [Here (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B251KBS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)]

MOSFET: [here(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HEQVQAK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)] and wires [here(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017U6PGLO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)]

Buy some real 14 AWG silicone jacket wire, (this is what I'm using) and a set of quality XT60 connectors like these.

Ideally you want crimped ring terminals for all power leads that connect to screw terminals, putting bare wire into them isn't how they're meant to be used.

The 14 AWG has enough area so you can solder them to both positive and negative pads on the heatbed respectively, and terminate those with 1 XT60 connector. A word of advice - dismount your heatbed, flip it upside down and put it on something that can take some heat for a bit like corkboard. Heat it up to 60-80C, turn it off, then remove the stock connector and solder the wires. Otherwise you'll get nowhere trying to solder to a room temp heatsink.

The matching XT60 connector uses the same 14AWG to crimped ring terminals, going to the MOSFET board. For reference, here's one I'm using on my printer.

I only removed the power pins from my bed, I pre-cut the connector so I could leave the middle pins and connector shell for the temp sensor attached to the bed, then I could still use that to disconnect those wires. Works great because the little retaining mechanism is in the middle of the connector over the sensor wires.

Pre-tin the XT60 wire cups and the wire itself before you try to solder them together unless you've got both a beefy soldering iron and good soldering skills, otherwise your connector will end up with a faulty solder connection.

Now it's easy to disconnect the heatbed.

I don't have much to add just going to go in to a bit more detail. I usually try to keep at least 2 or more of each screw or nut my drones use, that includes the motors, camera mount, ANY screw.

Loctite/thread locker will help but some times repeated hard crashes loosen screws and you may not realize it. With that said you don't want to use anything above blue Loctite such as red or green, you want to be able to get the screws off!

I also bought a ton of micro JST connectors and a crimper to repair balance lead connectors. This wouldn't be needed if you are diligent about keeping your battery wires away from your props, I was not, but some times it is unavoidable.

And the random things I keep around are; velcro, VHB tape, shrink tubing of various sizes(you can get assortments from Amazon), spare VTX pig tails, various sizes of silicone wire (26awg for ESC signal wire, 18ga wire for power and ground to ESCs, 14awg for power leads), flush cutters, different tipped tweezers, spare antenna cable for the receiver, servo leads, circlip pliers.

All that comes to mind at the moment but I am sure I am missing stuff. Here are some links!

Flush Cutters

26awg Silicone Wire

14awg Silicone Wire

VHB Tape

Micro JST Crimper

Micro JST Connectors

Circlip Pliers

Servo Connectors-not silicone

Tweezers

Would this one from Rep Rap Champions and this 14 gauge AWG Silicone Wire be sufficient? I think I am sold on going that route after reading those instructions and that being the only board listed that is available.

Buy

($6)Wires:For the MOFSET mod

($1o)MOFSET

($6)Wire spades:For the MOFSET mod

($8)Assorted M3 Bolts:You need some for a few mods and for the bolts you will inevitably strip on this cheap wonderful machine

($13)Longer assorted M3 Bolts:For a few mods

($9)M4 Bolts:For one of the mods

($9)Metric allen wrench set:Had to order one of these since metric tools aren’t common round these parts

(~$20) PLA of preferred choice- You’ll run out of the sample bit quick so go ahead and order a roll or two to be prepared. You will note some upgrades require ABS so a small spool of that to your order will also help.

($6)M3 Lock nuts:Critically needed for a simple mod

($10)Threaded rod and nuts:Please note that this item seemed difficult to find online. I recommend going to your local hardware store and getting two 5/16” rods of at least 16” in length. They should have an assortment of threaded rod in various lengths available. Also note that the pitch of the threading matches the nuts you buy. Further instructions regarding this can be seen in Azza’s Z-Axis braces below.)

($6)9mm Wrench for the nozzle: Don’t wait for your first clog, go ahead and have this on hand to remove/change the nozzle. Note to only tighten/loosen the nozzle when heated.



Below is the order of printable upgrades I recommend but I suggest you mix in a few other prints along the way because this is a hobby after all and you should be having fun. It helps to have your quality as tuned in as much as possible for some of these so be patient and keep trying if you need to.

Print

Spool holder- temporary : Until you can mount your spool on top of the enclosure or any other personal preference.

Belt tensioner- print x2

Z-brace

Shielded stop button

Cable relocator : It’s a pain, but if you spend the time to do this and turn your extruder motor 90 degrees then you can get the full Z height without ruining your cables. It does involve opening all the cables to the PSU and feeding a few extra inches back through the cable chains.

Cable shroud : Looks nice if you do the cable relocator.


The following need to be printed in ABS:

M3 Bed Nut retainer: 10/10 upgrade. I know they look worse than the nice metal stock ones, but these help keep your bed level longer.

CiiCooler

Glass bed Holder


Now that the first major round of printed upgrades is done it’s time to shift to a few more supplies to pick up to really fine tune the machine.


Buy

($5)Radial fan: For CiiCooler

($5)Glue sticksThis and a glass bed is magic

($25)Borosilicate glass 8” x 8”

($26)Y-Carriage plate upgrade: This has been a nice upgrade as I now only need to relevel the bed every couple weeks instead of every print. Check out this guide for a ‘how to’ as well as a free upgrade by shifting your Y pulley over.

($15)rechargeable dehumidifier: For keeping in the bin with your opened filaments

($9)Extruder gears: Might be able to hold off on these, but will need eventually. If for some reason you have a Maker Select with metal X-axis blocks (V1 and V2, but not V2.1) then this is a must. You can follow this guide for a how to.

($28)Metal extruder plate and lever: Not needed, but nice.

($14)Noctua 40mm fan: Not needed, but makes the printer a lot quitter. A LOT quieter.

($50)MicroSwiss All Metal Hot End: The destruction of my PTFE tube by this point pushed me to doing this upgrade. If needed you can follow this guide for replacement. Remember to tighten/loosen when the nozzle its hot.

($6)Ceramic cotton: Tore off the stock one when replacing for the all metal hot end by accident. At least its thicker than stock

Now that the printer is in its final form, its time for the enclosure which is a stacked Ikea Lack hack.

Print

Spool holder

Pi Case

120mm fan cover

Fan grill

120mm fan PSU modification: I edited this to fit upside down since my PSU is mounted on the underside. This was nice since I blew the 40mm fan anyways so it made everything a lot quieter than before.

IKEA Lack filament guide

Webcam holder: This is one I designed specifically for the webcam I happen to have lying around. The camera mount piece can be changed out no problem though for what ever webcam you have or buy. The SketchUp file is included on Thingiverse for such purpose.

Buy

($20)2x Ikea Lack: Luckily there is one right down the street from me. I am located in North America though, so we do not have the STUVA, if you live literally anywhere else you may check in to this as an alternative.

($80)Plexi glass for enclosure: Could be cheaper alternatives, but it looks cool

($9)Foam pads for feet

($42)Raspberry Pi3: For OctoPrint. I also suggest using a different USB cable than the stock one provided by Monoprice or you will have issues.

($9)2x 120mm fans: Used for the power supply cooling and enclosure

($6)Rocker Switches so that the enclosure fan can be on for PLA, but off for ABS

($15)Dimmable LED lights

($10)8mm LED light connectors


Total:
$250 printer + $452 upgrades/parts + ~$80 PLA/ABS to date