Smoother Board mounts for Tevo Little Monster

thingiverse

The 8-diode smoother boards are incredibly effective at eliminating the "salmon skin" printing defect from some delta printers - particularly the Tevo Little Monster. They're extremely easy to install, and usually come with a jumper cable to connect them inline between the control board and the stepper motor. One unfortunate side effect of using these diodes is the amount of heat they dissipate - the board can reach up to 80 degrees C, even when the motors are idle but powered. I didn't want to pack four heat-producing devices inside the already-crowded space occupied by the Tevo's control board. I had also heard that these boards are more effective if connected closer to the motor. Although I have no evidence to support this claim, I decided it would be better to install mine that way and designed these smoother board mounts for the Tevo steppers. They worked very well, but my initial versions, printed in PLA, didn't perform as expected. At such close proximity to 80 degrees C, PLA becomes slightly loose. I switched to PETG and resized them to account for PETG shrinkage and stretch, and these mounts worked perfectly without getting soggy. The mount is installed from the back of each motor, wraps around it, and is secured with an M3x10 screw. Align them so that the board slots face upwards for axis motors and downwards for the extruder motor. Install the mounts before inserting the boards. Unfortunately, the motor bracket screws make this process slightly more difficult. For the axis motors next to the power box, you'll have to remove the power box, move it a little out of the way, install the mounts from the back of each motor, and then replace the power box. Tighten the mounts (the screw blocks may not meet - don't overtighten), slide the boards into the slots, attach the modified cables, and secure them in place. The cover snaps over it easily. Route each connector's cable out an appropriate opening in the cover. The extruder stepper motor is a smaller motor, and there is a separate mount and cover for that stepper as well. These mounts and covers were primarily a vanity project for me (notice I used braided cable sleeve entirely for appearance) - I don't expect them to have broad appeal since relocating the smoother boards to the motors requires cutting cables, exchanging the Tevo stepper motor's 6-pin connectors, and the 4-pin connectors on the included jumper, and soldering wires back together. I didn't include instructions for this process because explaining it would require me to make too many assumptions about the technical skills of strangers. If you know what you're doing, you won't need my guidance. And if you don't, you should just install the boards in the controller's case as originally intended - they work there just fine after all. However, for those who are familiar with electronics and delta printers, here's a brief explanation: the signal path on the smoother board stays on the same side of the board from input to output - not on the same pin number. The way the sockets are keyed means that pin 1 on the input puts the signal on pin 4 on the output (note the wire colors on the connected boards in the photos). Additionally, the board doesn't care which connector you use for input or output.