TL-Smoother Case Cover and base, for extruded T-slot rail, or cable tie

thingiverse

ANET A8 printers are prone to 'Salmon Skin'. It's caused by the motor drivers producing a harsh signal rather than a smooth signal. But there is a cheap fix, and that's 'TL-Smoothers'. They won't improve print quality on all 3D printers, just for the printers that use the bad motor drivers. I used these ones = https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32895224056.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.6dbc4c4dWUyW58 The case halves fit perfectly, so won't need glue, etc. It has two lugs that I made so that it can be mounted via the T-Slot of an extruded aluminium rail (the rail was an ANET A8 Y-axis upgrade, but to be honest the upgrade isn't worth the hassle and you might as well stick with original A8 rails, as the tl-smothers make for a much more noticeable quality improvement than the rails ever did!). The lugs can be used to mount the case via small cable ties as well. There are 3 different versions, with 3 different lug heights, 3mm, 8mm, 10.3. Choose which one you need depending on how long your screws are. The 10.3mm version won't require any supports. Step files are included just in case you need to make any modification. Practical Info On TL Smoothers ========================= When is comes to the wiring, there are 2 connections, P1 and P2. With the ones I've used, the motor goes to P1. If you find that when you use the menu to move one of the axis by 10mm at a time, e.g. then moving the bed, that it does a few regular moves and then it jumps much further, then you have your motor connected to the wrong P connector! Just swap them around. Another symptom of having the cables reversed can be that the motor sounds really loud, or / and the steps jump backwards and then forwards instead of going in just one direction. Test each TL-smoother individually, before adding another. As above, having the P1 and P2 connections the wrong way will effect all the motors (on the A8 at least) and not just the motor it is connected to! You won't damage you printer if P1 and P2 are connected the wrong way! . P1and P2 connectors should look like a pass through, as in the wiring goes in a straight line, so the top left of P1 will go to the connection wire that's on P2 directly below it. Hope this helps someone :-)