If you have an Ender 3 with TMC silent drivers, then you don’t need these TLSmoothers. They only help the noisy 4988 drivers. Print the Benchy and look for zebra strips to verify you need them.
@@innerfire369 3D printers are finicky enough beasts to wrangle and tune as it is. It can be tempting to go wild with mods, but don't add in-circuit / piggyback electronics unless your experience and results indicate it's actually needed (or not performing to a level you want, and said electronics will _actually help get you there)._
@@pr0xZen as an electronic engineer i can tell you with confidence, that those diodes are needed, to avoid reverse current. It was a cheap move not to include them in the original design
Another great video and perfect timing! Sitting here with 3 tl smoothers in front of me and getting ready to install. It goes so much easier for me when I see the actual fix. Thanx and keep it up. 👍🏻😁
I just installed these on my Ender 3 after converting it to direct drive. Night and day difference in terms of quality. Perfectly straight lines, no zebra pattern or salmon skin.
I've put them on 3 different machines - and I will continue to put them on new machines, if that's any kind of endorsement for what they accomplish. Tips: • The TL boards aren't insulated on the underside. Stick the board to a piece of white duct tape then trim. Now you aren't worried about shorts AND you can Sharpie the underside of the board with the axis it is installed to. • The Ender3Pro cover is on the underside of the box, not the top. • Don't use the ball end of the supplied 'wobble' hex wrenches to break the bolts free for the first time. The heads are soft and the loose fitting ball end will strip out the head of the hex bolt. Opinion: • Definitely quieted my HIctop 3dp-18 (Prusa clone) by a HUGE amount. • It seems to have quieted my Ender3pro enough to have noticed. • Don't feel it quieted my CR10s-5 • A couple before/after tests on the CR10s-5 show a bit of an improvement for ghosting along the walls • The Hictop and the Ender3pro where already good for support roof spacing, but the smoothers seem to have improved Z movement in a way that makes the supports even easier to remove and still leave a clean surface behind. Weird side note: On my CR10s-5 I usually run a 1mm nozzle and am running larger items... So that motor is going at a pretty good speed as well. I thought to myself _Well, its the same motor and same chips driving it... Might as well give it the same upgrade_ - It doesn't seem to have done any harm. And if it helps with the same type of "micro noise" or whatever you want to call the issue these clear up with axial movement then it made sense it might help reduce any chance of little zits or coasting issues etc. I can't say that it has or hasn't just yet - but no harm, no foul.
Interesting video, thanks for the tip! I have just got an Ender 3 after 3.5 years of having a Velleman Vertex because of the fact they're so ubiquitous and therefore well-supported by the community. You channel is pretty valuable for mods and upgrades to improve quality. I was printing several of the same thing today and noticed that the extrusion width on parts was much more variable than when I do just a couple. I think this could be due to retraction settings.
@CHEP so I have a technical question for you. I guess I will start by providing a scenario. I recently upgraded to the v1.1.5 "silent board" and it did make quite a bit of difference with regard to sound. Based on this video, I did a test print to see if I had that notorious salmon skin and I could see them, albeit very minimally. So I decided to install TL Smoothers and run the test again. Of course since I had 4, and the new electronics lid I printed was designed for 4, I used all 4 for the X, Y, Z and E stepper motors. This is when things got interesting. I started to run the same test print to see if any changes were made removing the salmon skin, but didn't even finish the first layer and I stopped the print. Not only did the stepper motors sound louder than the original stock board, but my hot end fan apparently burnt out, cause it stopped spinning. I tested the leads with the electronics fan to make sure they were still getting voltage and that fan worked just fine. Do you know what could have caused any of this? Thanks for the help, and keep up the great work!!
@@FilamentFriday thanks so much for the quick response!!! That explains the extensive noise, won't be doing that again. I assume it has to be coincidence since the hot end fan is screwed in and I checked those connections and they are not loose. Either way, its time to replace both fans (electronics and hot end) with noctua's. Thanks again and keep up the great work!!
Love these mods to improve printing, but since you are looking at such minor improvements its only fair you look at the minor drawbacks as well. The fan and vents in the control box are there for a purpose. If you block the vents you block the airflow which could lead to over heating.
I hate to give bad comments, but that board needs all the air flow it can get and blocking the vents stops the flow over it. I would rethink where you put those smothers...
I installed TL Smoothers on my Ender 5 last week because of the exact same problems you showed here. The diagonal vertical lines and salmon skin. It's very noticable when printing PETG due to the shininess. I think the Ender 3 has the same version board as the Ender 5. I'll know in a few more weeks when my Ender 3 Pro arrives. Thanks for the video.
thats my problem with smoothers on Z. how do you TELL if there is a difference? I have not devised a test that will let me determine if its having any useful effect to warrant the $4. I also put it on E but thats more from habit not testing. someone said it helped at one point in the past and I just always did it. same thing though. no way to empirically test if it makes a difference. but X and Y oh yeah. :-)
I think the only way to truly tell if TL smoothers help on Z is by creating a print with many Z hops. Perhaps in on later it z hops up or down just a little more or less. But it would be very hard to tell because more than likely you'd have lots of more noticeable artifacts. All that said, the same drivers are being used on all the axis. Therefore, if the artifacts are showing up on x and y, they are also on z and the extruder. It's just, right now, we cant tell due to layer height being 0.8mm versus 0.1 or less on x and y. Anyway, its $8-12 more for 2 (or 3) other steppers. Cheap enough to just do it.
alas that won't help unless you have something to look at before and after to identify as "yep that fixed that" like the salmon skin we can clearly see fixed here. just because I don't have a problem with my Z does not mean there is no problem but I can't "see" a difference off hand so far. @@jeric_synergy8581
@@nerys71 I think one needs to see the the advantage of smoother on the z axis as the possibility for using micro steps on the z axis, that you would usually have to avoid. Then you compare a print that was micro stepped in layer height (with smoothers) to one that was optimized to fill steps (without smoothers). And even if it might not be an advantage in print quality, it frees you from the need to calculate your layer height.
When I use to build custom power supplies in the 80's, I used 12 volt Zener diodes, and 1 regular 1N4001 diode inline, but reversed. This would cause a .7 volt voltage drop, so my power supplies would output 12.7 volts, vs 12 volts. If I used two 1N4001's inline, this would bring it to 13.4 volts. This was useful if I was making a car charger, or powering car electronics on the bench.
Hi chep i didn't fit a tl smoother on the z axis just the x and y,also on the screen control panel information along the bottom changed when i turned on the printer.
Thanks for that. To the point as ever. Having seen this before it can do no harm and for the sake of £8 it was worth doing to prevent issues. I did it slightly different to you in that I used all 3 boards, may as well store them in use as in a draw! I used hot melt glue to insulate the pins underneath and spent a bit of time threading the wires in to get them against the side up against the machine frame. My machine had issues of lack of heatsink cover to one of the mosfets, cured by adding a new bit, but as overheating had been an issue to some people I decided to avoid that risk. I like you format and delivery keep up the good work it is a mine of useful information for newbies like me. Regards Clive
The other benefit to these is they block feedback current you get from moving the axis by hand, which is why your LCD screen lights up if you move them. If, for example, you have a curious cat that climbs on the X axis to investigate the spool of line and places enough weight on it to move the Z axis down all the way, you can get enough current back up that line to kill the driver. The diodes prevent that from happening a second time ;)
Um... if you can't tell the two Phil A. Ments apart, here is a trick: look at the shape of the highlights only: WITH the TL smoother the highlight has a flowing outline, without, the highlight's contour is jagged and uneven, revealing surface defects (clearly visible on the arms). That's a trick that dates back to automotive modeling and lives on in 3D analytics tools like the "zebra striping" function in Rhino 3D or Maya.
Chris, I completely agree with you. I have glanced at other videos on tl smoothers and they gave the impression it was really complicated! This is just Plug'n'Print.
@@Spardin Bought mine a couple weeks ago, an ender 3, and doesn't have issues with this either. Something on it has a datestamp of December 2018, but I can't remember what it is. My benchy doesn't have those issues either. I still might buy them though lol, only $10.
I tried them once some time ago on my 1.1.3 board and found no noticeable difference - however since then I've replaced the board with the 2.1 version (from the CR range - slightly larger but fits in the Ender 3 just fine). Just tried the same benchy before and after installing the smoothers on the 2.1 board and while I didn't get salmon skin anyway, the diagonal lines that I do get were cleared up by the smoothers.
I installed the same boards on mine as well. I use a glass bed as well. I did notice on some prints not all that the boards had no effort. Not sure why but it is not a big issue. Great video love the work.
I saw a video by Thomas Sanladerer that said tension should be tight enough to be able to strum like a guitar, while my X does strum, my Y does not, it is looser than that but has caused me no issues so far.
I thought I've heard on the newer Ender3's, TL smoothers aren't necessary/don't cause an improvement, is that likely true? I have a CR-10S I've had for about a month and a half and will have 2x Ender 3's arriving tomorrow. The benchie from my CR-10S does not exhibit the issues the one on your Ender 3 did, so I'm not sure it'd be a worthwhile upgrade on that at least.
I don't think the Z would add any effect, nice improvements. My FlashForge never had salmon skin but it also has a 32bit board, my Maker Select Mini clone does have pretty bad / ok salmon skin at times. Is there a Salmon skin test print?
Ok so I know how a diode works and what it does in a circuit, I did not know why it worked in this context since looking at the diagram of the smoothers did not give me a clear picture of how they smoothed the print, but I think I get it now. Diodes has a property called forward voltage and this number is a voltage drop that happens when current flows through the diode. So in practice the smoother drops the voltage a bit going to the motor, this voltage drop is a bit more than the voltage of the voltage spikes causing the noise on the prints. So the only real effect this should have is the motors will see a little less power since the diodes will dissipate some, it should not affect the rest of the electronics in any meaningful way...
Hi chep,i found the problem with my ender 3 pro,it was the extruder heat block came loose from the bracket,can you make a video on flashing a boot loader onto the ender 3 pro,I've watched other guys do it on you tube and they make it very complicated.
When I opened up the case to the circuit board I saw that all the cables are glued into the board. I can't take out either the X or Y parts to connect to these little guys.
Its also weird because my older version of Marlin 1.1.7 didn't have diagonal lines in the benchy but now 1.1.9 does. Maybe the planner and step pulses have been changed?
Hi, do you think is good idea using smoothers with Ender 3 Vs´2 Neo? I ordered 4 pieces and i hope it will helps smooth motors and be litlle bit quiet. Thank for reply
I noticed one of the main sources of vibration in the Ender 3 is the resonance produced by the heavy roll of filament located on top of the Z-frame. Mechanically It is a really weird placement and though it save some work space real state I am sure it introduces more artifacts than you could smooth with any method, and also the main reason that slowing down the printing speed in an Ender 3 and specially acceleration and jerk have so much impact on the final result. Corollary: remove the filament rolls from the printer and place it in a separate holder beside it and the prints should improve a lot (alternatively, you will be able to print faster with the same quality). I am right now printing the necessary stuff to have this configuration. LG
Great videos. You seem to use the Ender 3 a lot vs the CR10 mini. Have you found the Ender 3 to be easier to work with or do you still prefer the mini.
Hello Chuck, thank you for your good and numerous videos to the Ender 3. They have helped me a lot now. Have you tried the TL-Smoother on the Z axis? Greetings from Germany Jacky
Hey, there are 4 axis E,Z,Y and X do I need to put this smoother for each of these or only the one which you showed in the video is enough? OR if I put it to all 4 does it make any chance? does it make it better? Thanks,
@@FilamentFriday It seems like the bigTreeTech SKR Mini E3 has improved driver, is actually slightly cheaper, and more expandable in the future than the creality silent board. I believe the SKR Mini E3 is plug and play - the same as the creality silent board upgrade?
@@jwgmail yes but I am still confused on coding part, he makes some changes on codes and I do not know If I need to do it or not or I need to do it for updating the card. it is a little bit complicated but I already ordered 1.1.5 card so I will use it for now but maybe later I can upgrade it
Another great video Chuck. Been watching your channel for awhile now. Was watching the Jets vs Predators game. Watch all the Jets games as I'm from Winnipeg. Saw a bunch of the Dads made the trip. I saw a guy that looks an awful lot like you. Watching the Jets vs Stars tonight and again they show you guys. Never put 2 and 2 together till now but that's pretty cool and a small world. Hopefully this is the Jets year. Enjoy your trip.
Chuck! I need your help. I just bought a ender 3 pro, and the x and y axis stepper motors have press fit gears so you cant install motor dampers. How do I solve this issue? Thanks Chuck🤗
I had the same problem. My advice, DO NOT try to pry them off. I ended up breaking the collar that keeps the belt from jumping off the end of the drive gear. Fortunately, the belt stays centered by itself. I put neoprene pads on the rubber feet that was on my Ender and it's almost silent now. If you can isolate the machine from the table it is very quiet.
Driver tuning plays a big role in the salmon skin effect. Too low or too high VREF will increase the ripple appearance. Just right will smooth them out considerably but will not remove them completely. The A4988 drivers need to be set in mixed decay mode by grounding the ROSC pin but all printer manufacturers sets them to auto decay because its makes them much quieter but creates these step disparities.
Print speed also has big effect on this. Everything's a spring so perhaps at certain speeds it gets exacerbated as frame, belts etc. stretch and vibrate. On my older tevo tornado, maxing out the driver Vref completely removed the effect on almost all prints (only visible on vase mode prints). That printer had an accident, so second tornado i ran with same control box and it has more móire (salmon skin), but it disappears if i drop speed; So this second tornado is having more flex in the frame than the first one. Could be as simple as some screws slightly less torqued, or belts different tension. Velocity painting talks to this as well.
on my Ender 3 Pro where the motor connectors connect theres a blank side they just fit. I bought these for my Ender 3 Pro (1.1.4 mobo, it was noisy without thermal protection , activated, which I managed flashing the firmware) at first the Z axis motor grinded very loudly (others were OK), so I swapped the connectors round on the smoother board & that stopped it so perhaps they do need wiring one way. Just as noisy as normal, but does seem to give slightly better quality prints (not massively). Though now the fan on the hot end (the front one) doesn't seem to have enough power to spin up full speed (if I push it, itll work for a min or so) not sure if this is anything linked.
Thanks for this great recommendation. Do you think it would increase the print quality, if you change the XYZ motors against 0.9 stepper motors? Best regards Martin
I think the actual drivers on the motherboard makes the biggest difference. Like you said, the Prusa i3 Mk3 doesnt need these because that MB uses better drivers. But, I dont know how you change the drivers on the Creality boards, since they are all soldered in.
Installing .9 degree just makes the diagonal lines happen twice and much. Driver tuning plays a big role in the salmon skin effect. Too low or too high VREF will increase the ripple appearance. Just right will smooth them out considerably but will not remove them completely. The A4988 drivers need to be set in mixed decay mode by ground the ROSC pin but all printer makes sets them to auto decay because its makes them much quieter but creates these step disparities. Any ways .9 degree steppers are a great upgrade for the extruder.
Do you see any diagonal lines and "salmon skin" on the printed details? I'm cant! And by the way on the ender-3 is the same hardware. I think that they don't need that "T-smoothers". Sorry.
I built a tray that mounts smoother's to it and a fan ring on it so they are held up by fan mount. Decreasing the airflow is never good. Far as not putting a smoother on Z axis why not? noise can come from anything be it small feed back from home or other sources. Vibration also causes issues if the vibration is significant enough.Running CNC at work we have some issues on servo caused by feedback. I am going to installing mine today and i'm not changing settings and see how it compares on all planes.
i just installed these and now the auto home is grinding and set backwards. Ive triple checked the connections and cant seem to resolve the grinding on the z axis... help!!!!
I bought 4 of these (for all 3 axi and extruder) and one of them did something similar - seemed to change directions randomly and grinded all over the place. Did the same when i put it on different axis. Eventually after fucking around with it i decided that Z axis doesn't need it that bad after all. I guess they can occasionally be just badly manufactured. Prints do seem better though.... echoing is almost non-existent
Dude, I really like the content but MAN, did you seriously taped those smoothers straight to the air vent holes? Am I the only one seeing a huge risk of frying your printer here?
There are many large holes in the case so it’s not an issue and there are still vents open. I’ve checked the board and it’s staying just as cool as it was before the install.
Ok, I'm confused, diodes are normally used to prevent current from going back on a circuit making them directional yet you say these TL smoothers can be installed in any direction, wouldn't installing them backwards completely disable your steppers?
The even weirder thing is that these seems to work, when a smelloscope cannot really detect any difference in the signals beyond margin of error. My guess is that the diodes cause ever so slight voltage drop and the loop nature causes the pulse to over so slightly extend itself for higher time. I've been theoretizing as well that the effect is due to missed microsteps, as it's very hard to keep the stepper motor rotor middle of 2 poles super accurately without some amount of back and forth. Stepper motors are generally +/- 5% accurate per step, but when you account for microstepping that means you could be 1-2 microsteps off at 1/16. This combined with the fact that belt drive systems have veeeery low steps per 1mm only about 80, when to properly utilize your stepper motors you'd need like 800. 80 microsteps per 1mm, means being 2 steps off is 0.025mm, which would most definitively be visible but you would not feel it. 1 full step = 0.2mm and +/- 5% means 0.01mm variance, and add to that microstepping caused inaccuracy... There is also belt backlash which is at about that order of magnitude on typical setup as well where belts are loose AF (any typical 3d printer has way too low belt tension). These are precision machines, but typical construction is highly inaccurate.
@@skaltura My theory is that they help compensate for the momentum during deceleration so it doesn't feed power back into the board and thus the motors are more stable because the electrons have nowhere to go when slowing the pulses down or stopping them.
I just did this upgrade....will try test print tomorrow hopefully. But on mine...turns out the connectors were hot glued in, that caused bit of trouble getting them out/ off...and just my look that one of the connectors on my TL smoother was broken, just the plastic...seems to be on ok so shouldn't effect anything....I am little worried on the vents being covered as I'm currently building a sound proof enclosure for it...so lil bit worried about heat build up anyway...thick chipboard and sound proofing...so gonna be hard for heat to escape? Anybody done this?
I bought these for my Ender 3 Pro (1.1.4 mobo, it was noisy without thermal protection , activated, which I managed flashing the firmware) at first the Z axis motor grinded very loudly (others were OK), so I swapped the connectors round on the smoother board & that stopped it so perhaps they do need wiring one way. Just as noisy as normal, but does seem to give slightly better quality prints (not massively). Though now the fan on the hot end (the front one) doesn't seem to have enough power to spin up full speed (if I push it, itll work for a min or so) not sure if this is anything linked.
Awesome video and thanks for the upload. I am a total noob and love your videos. I currently use your bed leveling gcode and always get an awesome print. ~Ivanskis
Another excellent clear and concise review Chuck, thank you. I do have a question. What effect, if any, do you believe the TL Smoothers have on a large surface top layer? Or how about a Filament Friday on the best way to achieve a smooth clean large surface top layer. Maybe a TL smoother on the Z-axis would help a little here?
What about when you print in VASE MODE? do you think smoothers help? or not so much> Maybe Z smoother in VASE MODE? thanks... i have 2 or these smoothers not sure i want to install or not...thanks
@@FilamentFriday Okay... i am a newbee ..one other question ..i have printed the same model 6 times each time changing cura settings...size layer height speed,line width etc... i still get same weird lines like little circles in some areas they are showing up in same spots on model...is this the model file? when it was remixed etc?? PS..They show up in vase mode and regular mode this model can be printed in both... because i thought i needed smoothers to fix... thanks
@@FilamentFriday From what I know of computers, your modification could actually force an relatively big increase of temperatures on the electronics. Fans are distinguished into pressure and high flow optimized ones. The Ender-3 mainboard fan, with lots of space betwen it's fins is a standard high flow fan, optimized to move as much air as possible, but without the ability for building up pressure, to actually force the air through the tiny holes left in the case. You can easily imagine this, as the air that was sucked in by the fan, can move back out between the fan's fins again, without even going past the electronics, if there's no easier way to go.
I got those exact same diagonal lines on my Benchy print, I wondered what that was! Good to know there's an easy solution to fix it. Another upgrade for the shopping list... ^_^
Another great video, thank you! 2 quick questions: 1. Does this dampen the noise during printing at all? 2. Theoretically, could I put the smoothers at the other end of the motor connection? (By connecting the smoother to the motor itself?) The connection looked the same. I know it would be ugly hanging there, and I would see about making a little case/mount for them, but before I go into the hassle of making a design for it, I would like to know if that would even work. Thanks again for the videos! They're so helpful!
The connector is different on the motor than what is on the board. I think smoothers made my Anet A8 a little quieter. Seems like the steppers weren't as loud.
@@JohnSmith-mk8hz Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it! I'm still fairly new to all of this, and I appreciate how helpful the 3D printing community is! I'll keep that in mind. I don't know if I'm at the level yet where I need to use smoothers, but this will be helpful info for the future if I get more serious about the quality of my prints.
If you have an Ender 3 with TMC silent drivers, then you don’t need these TLSmoothers. They only help the noisy 4988 drivers. Print the Benchy and look for zebra strips to verify you need them.
Hello, how to check what drivers I'm use? My board is 4.2.2
If you have noisy steppers or your benchy has the stripes then you need these. I don’t know if another way to tell.
@@innerfire369 3D printers are finicky enough beasts to wrangle and tune as it is. It can be tempting to go wild with mods, but don't add in-circuit / piggyback electronics unless your experience and results indicate it's actually needed (or not performing to a level you want, and said electronics will _actually help get you there)._
@@pr0xZen as an electronic engineer i can tell you with confidence, that those diodes are needed, to avoid reverse current. It was a cheap move not to include them in the original design
Can it be mounted on extruder and y-axis? I accidentally bought 4
Sir You are one of the top Ender 3 features reviewers on youtube, please continue!
I wasn't sure if i needed TL smoothers, i saw your video, and i receive my TL smoothers tomorrow.
Thanks CHEP. The Ender 3 Master :D
Another great video and perfect timing! Sitting here with 3 tl smoothers in front of me and getting ready to install. It goes so much easier for me when I see the actual fix. Thanx and keep it up. 👍🏻😁
I just installed these on my Ender 3 after converting it to direct drive. Night and day difference in terms of quality. Perfectly straight lines, no zebra pattern or salmon skin.
does it reduce the noise of ender 3 , i am planning to do this upgrade to my ender 3
@@meestake6290 it doesn't reduce the noise of the stepper motors. If you're after an upgrade that reduces the noise, look into a silent main board.
I just added a DD to my Ender 3 Pro and noticed this problem afterward. Do you have a 4.2.2 board? Did you put on the extruder as well?
I really haven't bothered with these so far, but given your explanation and demonstration, I'm gonna give em a try. Thanks Chuck.
I've put them on 3 different machines - and I will continue to put them on new machines, if that's any kind of endorsement for what they accomplish.
Tips:
• The TL boards aren't insulated on the underside. Stick the board to a piece of white duct tape then trim. Now you aren't worried about shorts AND you can Sharpie the underside of the board with the axis it is installed to.
• The Ender3Pro cover is on the underside of the box, not the top.
• Don't use the ball end of the supplied 'wobble' hex wrenches to break the bolts free for the first time. The heads are soft and the loose fitting ball end will strip out the head of the hex bolt.
Opinion:
• Definitely quieted my HIctop 3dp-18 (Prusa clone) by a HUGE amount.
• It seems to have quieted my Ender3pro enough to have noticed.
• Don't feel it quieted my CR10s-5
• A couple before/after tests on the CR10s-5 show a bit of an improvement for ghosting along the walls
• The Hictop and the Ender3pro where already good for support roof spacing, but the smoothers seem to have improved Z movement in a way that makes the supports even easier to remove and still leave a clean surface behind.
Weird side note:
On my CR10s-5 I usually run a 1mm nozzle and am running larger items... So that motor is going at a pretty good speed as well. I thought to myself _Well, its the same motor and same chips driving it... Might as well give it the same upgrade_ - It doesn't seem to have done any harm. And if it helps with the same type of "micro noise" or whatever you want to call the issue these clear up with axial movement then it made sense it might help reduce any chance of little zits or coasting issues etc. I can't say that it has or hasn't just yet - but no harm, no foul.
Once again, a clear presentation of valuable information. Thanks!
Interesting video, thanks for the tip! I have just got an Ender 3 after 3.5 years of having a Velleman Vertex because of the fact they're so ubiquitous and therefore well-supported by the community. You channel is pretty valuable for mods and upgrades to improve quality.
I was printing several of the same thing today and noticed that the extrusion width on parts was much more variable than when I do just a couple. I think this could be due to retraction settings.
@CHEP so I have a technical question for you. I guess I will start by providing a scenario. I recently upgraded to the v1.1.5 "silent board" and it did make quite a bit of difference with regard to sound. Based on this video, I did a test print to see if I had that notorious salmon skin and I could see them, albeit very minimally. So I decided to install TL Smoothers and run the test again. Of course since I had 4, and the new electronics lid I printed was designed for 4, I used all 4 for the X, Y, Z and E stepper motors. This is when things got interesting. I started to run the same test print to see if any changes were made removing the salmon skin, but didn't even finish the first layer and I stopped the print. Not only did the stepper motors sound louder than the original stock board, but my hot end fan apparently burnt out, cause it stopped spinning. I tested the leads with the electronics fan to make sure they were still getting voltage and that fan worked just fine. Do you know what could have caused any of this? Thanks for the help, and keep up the great work!!
TL Smoothers only work with 4988 stepper drivers. The fan sounds like mor coincidence or you bumped a connector when install the Smoothers.
@@FilamentFriday thanks so much for the quick response!!! That explains the extensive noise, won't be doing that again. I assume it has to be coincidence since the hot end fan is screwed in and I checked those connections and they are not loose. Either way, its time to replace both fans (electronics and hot end) with noctua's. Thanks again and keep up the great work!!
Love these mods to improve printing, but since you are looking at such minor improvements its only fair you look at the minor drawbacks as well. The fan and vents in the control box are there for a purpose. If you block the vents you block the airflow which could lead to over heating.
There are lots of holes in the case so I didn’t really affect anything.
I hate to give bad comments, but that board needs all the air flow it can get and blocking the vents stops the flow over it. I would rethink where you put those smothers...
There already lot of openings in that box for air flow like below the circuit , at the back from where wires enter, enough for fan to withdraw air.
Fitted them to an Ender 3 Pro and there's noticeable improvement. For 10 bucks they're a no brainer.
I installed TL Smoothers on my Ender 5 last week because of the exact same problems you showed here. The diagonal vertical lines and salmon skin. It's very noticable when printing PETG due to the shininess. I think the Ender 3 has the same version board as the Ender 5. I'll know in a few more weeks when my Ender 3 Pro arrives. Thanks for the video.
thats my problem with smoothers on Z. how do you TELL if there is a difference? I have not devised a test that will let me determine if its having any useful effect to warrant the $4. I also put it on E but thats more from habit not testing. someone said it helped at one point in the past and I just always did it. same thing though. no way to empirically test if it makes a difference. but X and Y oh yeah. :-)
I think the only way to truly tell if TL smoothers help on Z is by creating a print with many Z hops. Perhaps in on later it z hops up or down just a little more or less. But it would be very hard to tell because more than likely you'd have lots of more noticeable artifacts. All that said, the same drivers are being used on all the axis. Therefore, if the artifacts are showing up on x and y, they are also on z and the extruder. It's just, right now, we cant tell due to layer height being 0.8mm versus 0.1 or less on x and y. Anyway, its $8-12 more for 2 (or 3) other steppers. Cheap enough to just do it.
Empirically, make some test prints. @^@
alas that won't help unless you have something to look at before and after to identify as "yep that fixed that"
like the salmon skin we can clearly see fixed here.
just because I don't have a problem with my Z does not mean there is no problem but I can't "see" a difference off hand so far.
@@jeric_synergy8581
@@nerys71 I think one needs to see the the advantage of smoother on the z axis as the possibility for using micro steps on the z axis, that you would usually have to avoid. Then you compare a print that was micro stepped in layer height (with smoothers) to one that was optimized to fill steps (without smoothers). And even if it might not be an advantage in print quality, it frees you from the need to calculate your layer height.
When I use to build custom power supplies in the 80's, I used 12 volt Zener diodes, and 1 regular 1N4001 diode inline, but reversed.
This would cause a .7 volt voltage drop, so my power supplies would output 12.7 volts, vs 12 volts.
If I used two 1N4001's inline, this would bring it to 13.4 volts.
This was useful if I was making a car charger, or powering car electronics on the bench.
Best regards from germany. I can understand it with my shool-englisch learned 35 years ago! Trank you for this video!
Thanks Chuck! Definitely doing this after watching your vid. Didn't realize how easy it was. And cheap!
Hi chep i didn't fit a tl smoother on the z axis just the x and y,also on the screen control panel information along the bottom changed when i turned on the printer.
Great video.......just a thought.....can you place them out by the motor instead of in the box that would make the installation a lot easier?
You would need a longer cable than the one included.
@@FilamentFriday Is it a different connector at the motor?
Update..... It is different connector at the motor end..... O well just have to place them in the box by the motherboard.
Best regard from Sweden
What about Ender 3 PRO? Do I need to install them?
I use the smoothers on X, Y and extruder, not the Z.
Great info, thanks for taking the time !!!
Thanks for watching
Thanks for that. To the point as ever. Having seen this before it can do no harm and for the sake of £8 it was worth doing to prevent issues.
I did it slightly different to you in that I used all 3 boards, may as well store them in use as in a draw! I used hot melt glue to insulate the pins underneath and spent a bit of time threading the wires in to get them against the side up against the machine frame. My machine had issues of lack of heatsink cover to one of the mosfets, cured by adding a new bit, but as overheating had been an issue to some people I decided to avoid that risk.
I like you format and delivery keep up the good work it is a mine of useful information for newbies like me. Regards Clive
The other benefit to these is they block feedback current you get from moving the axis by hand, which is why your LCD screen lights up if you move them. If, for example, you have a curious cat that climbs on the X axis to investigate the spool of line and places enough weight on it to move the Z axis down all the way, you can get enough current back up that line to kill the driver. The diodes prevent that from happening a second time ;)
Chep, have you noticed that the ender 3 with the tl smoothers is quieter or just the same?
Um... if you can't tell the two Phil A. Ments apart, here is a trick: look at the shape of the highlights only: WITH the TL smoother the highlight has a flowing outline, without, the highlight's contour is jagged and uneven, revealing surface defects (clearly visible on the arms). That's a trick that dates back to automotive modeling and lives on in 3D analytics tools like the "zebra striping" function in Rhino 3D or Maya.
I was looking for this, great video thanks!
You’re welcome
I do like your chep profile for Ender 3. Love it. The only profile I have been using, the magic .12
If anyone can explain smoothers it's Chuck! Thanks Chuck!
You’re welcome
Chris, I completely agree with you. I have glanced at other videos on tl smoothers and they gave the impression it was really complicated! This is just Plug'n'Print.
I've got a 1.1.3 board and I don't have any salmon skin pb en 3D benchy.
@chuck : what is the version of your board , please ?
would like to know as well as i just bought a ender 3
@@Spardin Bought mine a couple weeks ago, an ender 3, and doesn't have issues with this either. Something on it has a datestamp of December 2018, but I can't remember what it is. My benchy doesn't have those issues either. I still might buy them though lol, only $10.
I tried them once some time ago on my 1.1.3 board and found no noticeable difference - however since then I've replaced the board with the 2.1 version (from the CR range - slightly larger but fits in the Ender 3 just fine). Just tried the same benchy before and after installing the smoothers on the 2.1 board and while I didn't get salmon skin anyway, the diagonal lines that I do get were cleared up by the smoothers.
Nice! I bought some of these, but I heard they were not needed on the Ender 3, so I never install them. I'll have to install them now.
I installed the same boards on mine as well. I use a glass bed as well. I did notice on some prints not all that the boards had no effort. Not sure why but it is not a big issue. Great video love the work.
See you next Friday Chuck. I will install them on my ender 3.
Here... (paaaaauuse) ...on Filament Friday. I love that pause haha! :)
Why dont you just conect them before the motors? To avoid invading the board space?
Different connector at the motor.
Keeps a cleaner look and doesn't get in the way of anything
Great range of videos. Useful ender 3 testing
Could you please give some tips regarding the belts on the X and Y axis? How to tension them and how tight it should be.
Loosen screws, pull tight, tighten screws
I saw a video by Thomas Sanladerer
that said tension should be tight enough to be able to strum like a guitar, while my X does strum, my Y does not, it is looser than that but has caused me no issues so far.
I've got it pretty tight so I think I'll be OK.
I thought I've heard on the newer Ender3's, TL smoothers aren't necessary/don't cause an improvement, is that likely true? I have a CR-10S I've had for about a month and a half and will have 2x Ender 3's arriving tomorrow. The benchie from my CR-10S does not exhibit the issues the one on your Ender 3 did, so I'm not sure it'd be a worthwhile upgrade on that at least.
If you don’t see the diagnosis nail lines then you don’t need them.
I don't think the Z would add any effect, nice improvements. My FlashForge never had salmon skin but it also has a 32bit board, my Maker Select Mini clone does have pretty bad / ok salmon skin at times.
Is there a Salmon skin test print?
I installed mine today and did not work, kept banging to the right of the end rail, flipped the connectors around and still the same thing :(
Love ❤️ the TL Smoother. They made a big difference in my prints,
That’s great to hear.
CHEP.
Will these TL Smoothies work on the Anycubic Chiron 3D Printer?
Would there be value in using these with the Creality v1.1.5 silent board for my ender 3 pro?
No. Don’t need them with that board.
Love what you're doing, Chuck! Bought them through your affiliate link!
Thank you.
I wonder or asking if you know? Do the smoothers put any excess strains on motors or electronics? That is something I have not seen anyone say.
michael shampine - none that I know of.
Ok so I know how a diode works and what it does in a circuit, I did not know why it worked in this context since looking at the diagram of the smoothers did not give me a clear picture of how they smoothed the print, but I think I get it now. Diodes has a property called forward voltage and this number is a voltage drop that happens when current flows through the diode. So in practice the smoother drops the voltage a bit going to the motor, this voltage drop is a bit more than the voltage of the voltage spikes causing the noise on the prints. So the only real effect this should have is the motors will see a little less power since the diodes will dissipate some, it should not affect the rest of the electronics in any meaningful way...
Hi chep,i found the problem with my ender 3 pro,it was the extruder heat block came loose from the bracket,can you make a video on flashing a boot loader onto the ender 3 pro,I've watched other guys do it on you tube and they make it very complicated.
When I opened up the case to the circuit board I saw that all the cables are glued into the board. I can't take out either the X or Y parts to connect to these little guys.
you gotta rip that glue off with some needle nose pliers.
Great video. Are you worried about how much venting you covered by sticking them over the slots in the enclosure?
No, there are lots of holes at the back of the box and air can still get by the TL-Smoothers.
It’s been running fine for over 2 months without issue.
Its also weird because my older version of Marlin 1.1.7 didn't have diagonal lines in the benchy but now 1.1.9 does. Maybe the planner and step pulses have been changed?
Hey would you mind doing a video on flashing the firmware for runaway protection and installing bltouch?
Working on the reflash video.
@@FilamentFriday thank you sir!!!
Do you have a octoprint video?
No. Sorry.
Thanks for the video Chuck.Great Job..
Great info, what about for an Ender 3 V2? 🤔
No need.
Not sure if I would have stuck them over the air vents in the case.
i also don't like that... cooling is very important imo..
Like I said in the video, there are a lot of openings for air flow. It’s been running a long time without any issues.
What happens if you connect 2 tl smooother in 1 axis
Probably prevent it from working properly.
What is the magic number for the Z axis on the Ender 3? I've searched the internet and could not find it
ua-cam.com/video/WIkT8asT90A/v-deo.html
Multiples of .04. I mostly use 1.2 with my ender 3 pro. But you could use 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0, ect.
Is it correct that TL smoother with the standard Ender 3 nothing good
My stepper motors make electric buzzing noise after installing, any ideas?
Hi, do you think is good idea using smoothers with Ender 3 Vs´2 Neo? I ordered 4 pieces and i hope it will helps smooth motors and be litlle bit quiet. Thank for reply
I noticed one of the main sources of vibration in the Ender 3 is the resonance produced by the heavy roll of filament located on top of the Z-frame. Mechanically It is a really weird placement and though it save some work space real state I am sure it introduces more artifacts than you could smooth with any method, and also the main reason that slowing down the printing speed in an Ender 3 and specially acceleration and jerk have so much impact on the final result. Corollary: remove the filament rolls from the printer and place it in a separate holder beside it and the prints should improve a lot (alternatively, you will be able to print faster with the same quality). I am right now printing the necessary stuff to have this configuration. LG
Which is why I showed exactly that in my video:
ua-cam.com/video/nBjldxIsOhQ/v-deo.html
I really love your awesome videos!
Won’t the two diodes give a 1.4v voltage drop to the stepper coils?
Yes, that is how it works blocking the low voltage effects that cause the issue. They don’t affect the current which is what drives the steppers.
Where I can to know more about "trinamic with feedback" - what it is and how it works and what it gets?
www.trinamic.com
Always good stuff here.
The magic numbers? If you have bed levelling they wont work.. right?
Yes.
you closed the vents
Great videos. You seem to use the Ender 3 a lot vs the CR10 mini. Have you found the Ender 3 to be easier to work with or do you still prefer the mini.
I like them both.
Hello Chuck,
thank you for your good and numerous videos to the Ender 3. They have helped me a lot now.
Have you tried the TL-Smoother on the Z axis?
Greetings from Germany
Jacky
No. I really don’t see the need or at least I don’t know what it would improve that I could measure.
Hello from Portugal. Thanks for your channel. The profile to print those test model still the cat profile or using another? Iam a Cura user.
Would these benefit an I3 Mega S? I don't know what drivers it uses.
Not sure. I don’t have that printer.
4988
So basically TL-smoothers are essentially hardware debouncers?
Hey, there are 4 axis E,Z,Y and X do I need to put this smoother for each of these or only the one which you showed in the video is enough? OR if I put it to all 4 does it make any chance? does it make it better? Thanks,
I would recommend the Creality silent board with better drivers instead. Then you don’t need these. Otherwise only put these on X, Y.
@@FilamentFriday It seems like the bigTreeTech SKR Mini E3 has improved driver, is actually slightly cheaper, and more expandable in the future than the creality silent board. I believe the SKR Mini E3 is plug and play - the same as the creality silent board upgrade?
@@jwgmail I checked SKR Mini E3 and it is really much more harder than installing Creality silent board. I will go for it.
@@Burak0015 I just put in the SKR it was pretty easy. You should google this:
teaching tech skr mini e3
@@jwgmail yes but I am still confused on coding part, he makes some changes on codes and I do not know If I need to do it or not or I need to do it for updating the card. it is a little bit complicated but I already ordered 1.1.5 card so I will use it for now but maybe later I can upgrade it
Another great video Chuck. Been watching your channel for awhile now. Was watching the Jets vs Predators game. Watch all the Jets games as I'm from Winnipeg. Saw a bunch of the Dads made the trip. I saw a guy that looks an awful lot like you. Watching the Jets vs Stars tonight and again they show you guys. Never put 2 and 2 together till now but that's pretty cool and a small world. Hopefully this is the Jets year. Enjoy your trip.
Yep, that’s me. Thanks.
So if I move an axis quick enough manually with the machine off It will power the screen back-light and fan. I wonder if these would prevent that.
Somewhat but not completely.
Be careful doing so, feeding back power like that can fry everything.
Chuck! I need your help. I just bought a ender 3 pro, and the x and y axis stepper motors have press fit gears so you cant install motor dampers. How do I solve this issue? Thanks Chuck🤗
I had the same problem. My advice, DO NOT try to pry them off. I ended up breaking the collar that keeps the belt from jumping off the end of the drive gear. Fortunately, the belt stays centered by itself. I put neoprene pads on the rubber feet that was on my Ender and it's almost silent now. If you can isolate the machine from the table it is very quiet.
Can you test it on Z and E? Curious about how it works with zhop on creawesome and making the extruder less noisy if at all. Thanks for the videos!
Try it on the extruder to chep, it helps also.
Great video as always !!!, but i have a doubt, can i use tmc 2208 and this smoothers at the same time ?
Yes. But may not need the Smoothers.
Driver tuning plays a big role in the salmon skin effect. Too low or too high VREF will increase the ripple appearance. Just right will smooth them out considerably but will not remove them completely. The A4988 drivers need to be set in mixed decay mode by grounding the ROSC pin but all printer manufacturers sets them to auto decay because its makes them much quieter but creates these step disparities.
Cool
Print speed also has big effect on this. Everything's a spring so perhaps at certain speeds it gets exacerbated as frame, belts etc. stretch and vibrate.
On my older tevo tornado, maxing out the driver Vref completely removed the effect on almost all prints (only visible on vase mode prints). That printer had an accident, so second tornado i ran with same control box and it has more móire (salmon skin), but it disappears if i drop speed; So this second tornado is having more flex in the frame than the first one. Could be as simple as some screws slightly less torqued, or belts different tension.
Velocity painting talks to this as well.
I don't know what you said (my own ignorance), but I appreciate you sharing advanced knowledge -- gives me something to look up/google!
Thanks man!
@@jeric_synergy8581 just open your printer up, find the model number and look up the schematic
Hi Chep I have 4 of these 8 diode boards can they be used in the ender 3 pro?
Sure. It’s the same board as regular ender.
@@FilamentFriday Thanks Chep 😁
on my Ender 3 Pro where the motor connectors connect theres a blank side they just fit.
I bought these for my Ender 3 Pro (1.1.4 mobo, it was noisy without thermal protection , activated, which I managed flashing the firmware) at first the Z axis motor grinded very loudly (others were OK), so I swapped the connectors round on the smoother board & that stopped it so perhaps they do need wiring one way.
Just as noisy as normal, but does seem to give slightly better quality prints (not massively). Though now the fan on the hot end (the front one) doesn't seem to have enough power to spin up full speed (if I push it, itll work for a min or so) not sure if this is anything linked.
Thanks for this great recommendation. Do you think it would increase the print quality, if you change the XYZ motors against 0.9 stepper motors? Best regards Martin
Possibly on some prints but I’m not really sure.
I think the actual drivers on the motherboard makes the biggest difference. Like you said, the Prusa i3 Mk3 doesnt need these because that MB uses better drivers. But, I dont know how you change the drivers on the Creality boards, since they are all soldered in.
Installing .9 degree just makes the diagonal lines happen twice and much. Driver tuning plays a big role in the salmon skin effect. Too low or too high VREF will increase the ripple appearance. Just right will smooth them out considerably but will not remove them completely. The A4988 drivers need to be set in mixed decay mode by ground the ROSC pin but all printer makes sets them to auto decay because its makes them much quieter but creates these step disparities. Any ways .9 degree steppers are a great upgrade for the extruder.
Do I need to use with Cr-10 mini ?
Do you see any diagonal lines and "salmon skin" on the printed details? I'm cant! And by the way on the ender-3 is the same hardware. I think that they don't need that "T-smoothers". Sorry.
I would like to know as well: @Chuck did you test it on one of your Mini's?
My CR-10 minis don’t show the lines.
I built a tray that mounts smoother's to it and a fan ring on it so they are held up by fan mount. Decreasing the airflow is never good. Far as not putting a smoother on Z axis why not? noise can come from anything be it small feed back from home or other sources. Vibration also causes issues if the vibration is significant enough.Running CNC at work we have some issues on servo caused by feedback. I am going to installing mine today and i'm not changing settings and see how it compares on all planes.
i just installed these and now the auto home is grinding and set backwards. Ive triple checked the connections and cant seem to resolve the grinding on the z axis... help!!!!
The wires are probably backwards.
reverse direction from the firmware
I bought 4 of these (for all 3 axi and extruder) and one of them did something similar - seemed to change directions randomly and grinded all over the place. Did the same when i put it on different axis. Eventually after fucking around with it i decided that Z axis doesn't need it that bad after all. I guess they can occasionally be just badly manufactured.
Prints do seem better though.... echoing is almost non-existent
I never suggested it on Z. Only X and Y.
Dude, I really like the content but MAN, did you seriously taped those smoothers straight to the air vent holes? Am I the only one seeing a huge risk of frying your printer here?
Michal He said in the video, that this is not a problem
@@firelord7776 Yeah, he said it so that makes it ok 😀...
There are many large holes in the case so it’s not an issue and there are still vents open. I’ve checked the board and it’s staying just as cool as it was before the install.
Ok, I'm confused, diodes are normally used to prevent current from going back on a circuit making them directional yet you say these TL smoothers can be installed in any direction, wouldn't installing them backwards completely disable your steppers?
There are parallel opposing diodes. Look at schematic around 0:45
The even weirder thing is that these seems to work, when a smelloscope cannot really detect any difference in the signals beyond margin of error.
My guess is that the diodes cause ever so slight voltage drop and the loop nature causes the pulse to over so slightly extend itself for higher time.
I've been theoretizing as well that the effect is due to missed microsteps, as it's very hard to keep the stepper motor rotor middle of 2 poles super accurately without some amount of back and forth. Stepper motors are generally +/- 5% accurate per step, but when you account for microstepping that means you could be 1-2 microsteps off at 1/16.
This combined with the fact that belt drive systems have veeeery low steps per 1mm only about 80, when to properly utilize your stepper motors you'd need like 800. 80 microsteps per 1mm, means being 2 steps off is 0.025mm, which would most definitively be visible but you would not feel it. 1 full step = 0.2mm and +/- 5% means 0.01mm variance, and add to that microstepping caused inaccuracy... There is also belt backlash which is at about that order of magnitude on typical setup as well where belts are loose AF (any typical 3d printer has way too low belt tension).
These are precision machines, but typical construction is highly inaccurate.
@@skaltura My theory is that they help compensate for the momentum during deceleration so it doesn't feed power back into the board and thus the motors are more stable because the electrons have nowhere to go when slowing the pulses down or stopping them.
👍
Thank's. I'll order that right now.
Dear my ender 3 motherboard dont have any space for this smoother. Why? Thank you.
Sorry now I read correctly Y AXIS. Thanks
I just did this upgrade....will try test print tomorrow hopefully. But on mine...turns out the connectors were hot glued in, that caused bit of trouble getting them out/ off...and just my look that one of the connectors on my TL smoother was broken, just the plastic...seems to be on ok so shouldn't effect anything....I am little worried on the vents being covered as I'm currently building a sound proof enclosure for it...so lil bit worried about heat build up anyway...thick chipboard and sound proofing...so gonna be hard for heat to escape? Anybody done this?
I bought these for my Ender 3 Pro (1.1.4 mobo, it was noisy without thermal protection , activated, which I managed flashing the firmware) at first the Z axis motor grinded very loudly (others were OK), so I swapped the connectors round on the smoother board & that stopped it so perhaps they do need wiring one way.
Just as noisy as normal, but does seem to give slightly better quality prints (not massively). Though now the fan on the hot end (the front one) doesn't seem to have enough power to spin up full speed (if I push it, itll work for a min or so) not sure if this is anything linked.
Should i install them or can i do without them on my ender 3 pro?
Awesome video and thanks for the upload. I am a total noob and love your videos. I currently use your bed leveling gcode and always get an awesome print. ~Ivanskis
Hi i fitted my tl smoothers on my ender 3 pro and started test print,my z axis didn't get of the heat bed,can you help.
The Z axis shouldn’t have a TL smoother so it should be affected. Make sure the connectors are still in place.
Another excellent clear and concise review Chuck, thank you. I do have a question. What effect, if any, do you believe the TL Smoothers have on a large surface top layer? Or how about a Filament Friday on the best way to achieve a smooth clean large surface top layer. Maybe a TL smoother on the Z-axis would help a little here?
Level bed has more effect along with slicer settings.
What about when you print in VASE MODE? do you think smoothers help? or not so much> Maybe Z smoother in VASE MODE? thanks... i have 2 or these smoothers not sure i want to install or not...thanks
They don’t help vase mode.
@@FilamentFriday Okay... i am a newbee ..one other question ..i have printed the same model 6 times each time changing cura settings...size layer height speed,line width etc... i still get same weird lines like little circles in some areas they are showing up in same spots on model...is this the model file? when it was remixed etc?? PS..They show up in vase mode and regular mode this model can be printed in both... because i thought i needed smoothers to fix... thanks
Can these be mounted outside the control box and between it and the stepper motors? Can they be used on the cheap CR-10 for improvement?
I’m sure they could
Chep no ventilation crazy! :(
There’s ventilation. I didn’t seal it.
Makes me nervous too. I'd be drilling the crap out of that end plate to ensure airflow.
@@FilamentFriday From what I know of computers, your modification could actually force an relatively big increase of temperatures on the electronics. Fans are distinguished into pressure and high flow optimized ones. The Ender-3 mainboard fan, with lots of space betwen it's fins is a standard high flow fan, optimized to move as much air as possible, but without the ability for building up pressure, to actually force the air through the tiny holes left in the case. You can easily imagine this, as the air that was sucked in by the fan, can move back out between the fan's fins again, without even going past the electronics, if there's no easier way to go.
Good straight forward stuff, thanks !!!
I got those exact same diagonal lines on my Benchy print, I wondered what that was! Good to know there's an easy solution to fix it. Another upgrade for the shopping list... ^_^
there is difference in those MH test prints, look at light reflections, it really shows the improvement
That’s the angle of the camera. They are identical.
Another great video, thank you!
2 quick questions:
1. Does this dampen the noise during printing at all?
2. Theoretically, could I put the smoothers at the other end of the motor connection? (By connecting the smoother to the motor itself?) The connection looked the same. I know it would be ugly hanging there, and I would see about making a little case/mount for them, but before I go into the hassle of making a design for it, I would like to know if that would even work.
Thanks again for the videos! They're so helpful!
The connector is different on the motor than what is on the board.
I think smoothers made my Anet A8 a little quieter. Seems like the steppers weren't as loud.
@@JohnSmith-mk8hz Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it! I'm still fairly new to all of this, and I appreciate how helpful the 3D printing community is! I'll keep that in mind. I don't know if I'm at the level yet where I need to use smoothers, but this will be helpful info for the future if I get more serious about the quality of my prints.
Nice video and great info, mate! Keep up the good work. :)