1. Got a question or need help troubleshooting? Post to the troubleshooting forum or Search the forums!

Stepper Smoother

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by WheresWaldo, Dec 23, 2017.

  1. Warp Norman

    Warp Norman Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2017
    Messages:
    73
    Likes Received:
    30
    Are you guys cutting and soldering inline.
     
  2. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    Nope, I used the connectors, but I have the properly sized crimp tools and most of the main connector types already.
     
    Geof likes this.
  3. seelenamt

    seelenamt New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2016
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Just to clarify- you are testing these on A4988 drivers? I'm not familiar with the R2 (I am using a R1), but I see a decent amount of back and forth on as to whether these would make a difference on A4988 drivers.
     
  4. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    These should work on the A4988 better than the DRV8825 drivers, totally unnecessary on the TMC2100/2130 drivers All it does is clamp down the voltage spikes.
     
    Geof likes this.
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    If I can free the time to do miscellaneous stuff again I will install these on the R1/R1+ and let you know (and they both still have A4988 drivers). Just have been too busy to get to it yet.
     
  6. Brandon Newsome

    Brandon Newsome New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2018
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    I just saw a video on smoothers and now I am wondering if the R1 can benefit from them. I would appreciate some feedback whenever you get the chance to do the upgrade Mark, because if it is good then I will do it too.
     
  7. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    Since the R1 uses a stock RAMPS board it should work fine on those too.
     
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    Probably the weekend at the soonest, but it is on my list :)
     
  9. Brandon Newsome

    Brandon Newsome New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2018
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    No rush, but best of luck and tell me what happens. Please and thank you
     
  10. Larry Garrido

    Larry Garrido Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2018
    Messages:
    64
    Likes Received:
    20
    Do you just match the color pattern of the existing wiring on the printer on the pigtail supplied with the smoothers when changing the connector? What about the color pattern where it plugs into the smoother?
     
  11. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    The short jumper from board to smoother can be set up in any order, unless you are the type of person that requires it to be the same color order as the Smoother to Stepper cable, then just make sure the short jumper is the same color order on both ends.
     
  12. Larry Garrido

    Larry Garrido Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2018
    Messages:
    64
    Likes Received:
    20
    Ok cool, thanks @WheresWaldo, I got the right pins (and the crimp'er tool) I just need to go get some of the connectors the pins go into.
     
  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    And just to follow-up -- this was not forgotten, but we had a new LASER cutter come in that needed installing so this has been delayed (again). Sorry :)
     
  14. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2018
    Messages:
    452
    Likes Received:
    50
    I would be interested in using this on an R1 plus if it will increase the print quality. This seller on EBay was the lowest price from what I could find: https://www.ebay.com/itm/192509820280. This seller cost a little more but he's open to offers: https://www.ebay.com/itm/272975171674. The second link which cost a little more looks like it uses different diodes.
     
    #34 BrooklynBay, Apr 14, 2018
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2018
  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    I still have yet to actually test the ones I got from BangGood ... I can't see that the different diodes will make any real difference here in what it does. I have not been in a hurry to do this since it is not likely to add a lot of value for the effort, but as soon as we get all of the printers sorted/moved/back up I will take a day and test this. IMHO this is really more for fine-tuning than any gross benefit. Better stepper drivers is probably more worth the effort than this and even that won't make a night-and-day difference.
     
    WheresWaldo likes this.
  16. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    These will be better on boards where the stepper drivers are not removeable. In the case of generic RAMPS or their clones/updated clones, where the drivers are on daughterboards, you would be better served with better driver chips (TMC 21xx series). But I can say at normal speeds these did improve the surface quality of the finish, visually.

    Improvement diminishes with better driver chips, until you get to the TMC's mentioned above, where likely there will be no visible improvement.
     
  17. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2018
    Messages:
    452
    Likes Received:
    50
    In the other thread about the RAMPS 1.4.2.3, it had output capacitors for the steppers added which weren't on previous boards. I wonder if the capacitor will make more of an improvement than the diodes on these boards. Diodes usually act as spike clamps when using relays with coils while capacitors will smooth the surges so they aren't as abrupt. Some guys that install car stereos with large amplifiers will use super capacitors on the voltage supply line to act as mini storage batteries to compensate for brief surges of power, and smooth ripple on the supply line.
     
  18. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    If you want more details, this is pretty goodL

    https://ru-clip.com/video/8jvCZequP...othing-your-3d-printer-fact-or-fake-news.html

    In this case the diodes are trying to smooth the waveform generated by the RAMPS and in the case of the TMCs there is not much to be gained. IMHO, there is not much to be gained without the TMCs :) I suspect that when I get these installed that there will be a very slight noticeable change on the Cartesian printers. Whether or not that is worth pursuing? No clue, up to the user. Our motto seems to be "we do stupid mods so you don't have to" :)

    My expectations on this are low -- more so for a printer you have already calibrated and tweaked.
     
  19. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2018
    Messages:
    452
    Likes Received:
    50
    Diodes usually have a 0.7V voltage drop. The double diode set up isn't blocking back EMF since the diodes are facing both directions.
     
  20. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    Start here (1:30 into the video) there is where he looks at the waveforms:

     

Share This Page