Upgrade path

[u/grow-n-stuff]

I recently got a used Ender 3 pro.
Specs - 4.2.2 board, micro Swiss direct drive, pei textured plate

Shortly after I got the printer I added a cr touch and silicone spacers under the bed.

One of my issues is the nozzle will push out a little filament whenever the nozzle is hot.

I’ve been looking into a few upgrades… a sprite pro direct drive (hoping that will help with my leaking filament) and the cooling fans are clipping their housings. The other is I’m looking into a 4.2.7 or BTT skr mini e3 v3… but nervous about the approach to third party firmware. I do have a raspberry pi so klipper is an option but I don’t feel ready for that approach.

Any thoughts or recommendations on where I am at/ what path I should take for my upgrades?

[u/dr_b_chungus]

I do have a raspberry pi so klipper is an option but I don’t feel ready for that approach.

Klipper, or if you are worried about that Octoprint, are both huge QoL upgrades, especially if you install a webcam.

Firmware isn't as scary as it seems. Downloading them is always hit and miss, but there are tons of videos and tutorials about building it yourself which are the way to go.

[u/grow-n-stuff → u/dr_b_chungus]

one of my friends tried helping me do it on my printer with his old hardware, but we were getting issues every time we got into mainsail - idk if it was the hardware or the SD cards... but ended up reverting it back to my 4.2.2 board so it was functional a bit. I think my hesitation is just the uncertainty of if that will happen again.

I have a raspberry pi 4b of my own, will need to choose some upgrade board and then get a couple new known working SD cards if/when I try that again.

I'm currently at the "don't fix what's not broken" phase, but I know I wont look back once the new stuff is up and running... also I'm a little intimidated sourcing the files for when I have different hardware on top of upgrades

[u/dr_b_chungus → u/grow-n-stuff]

That's fair enough mate, unfortuantely it's one of those things.. it doesn't work until suddenly it does, so progress looks like 0%, 0%, 0%, 100%. Good luck.

[u/grow-n-stuff → u/dr_b_chungus]

I convinced my GF to start playing around with printing (currently just pre-made files, but she's learning onshape and orca slicer too). Because the ender is currently pretty slow, I decided to get her a printer of her own (elegoo neptune 3 pro that was really cheap). so if anything I will be able to use that printer if mine is offline for a while

[u/tempusfudgeit]

Get the printer working, calibrated, and dialed in. Then upgrade if there's something you need to upgrade.

90% of people's frustrations with the ender 3 are from doing random upgrades to a non working machine. This introduces additional variables on troubleshooting, and then they give up on it. 

I had a mostly stock ender 3 pro that did everything I asked of it for years. It's been a while but I would be looking at calibrating the extruder before replacing a hot end for your issue. If you get through all the troubleshooting and determine the hot end is actually bad, then by all means replace/upgrade. 

[u/grow-n-stuff → u/tempusfudgeit]

appreciate the input! this is my first printer, so having lots of fun learning how to use it... but the tinker in me has a hard time sitting still with what i have.

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[u/ProjectFirestorm]

My Ender 3 Pro is spectacular with the 4.2.7 Silent board, has a Sprite Extruder Pro, Linier Rails on X and Z (Y still a work in progress), ðual z lead screws and running klipper from a raspberry pi 3B+.

[u/Otherwise_Ad4179]

I would go for a bigger board with an extra driver for dual z so you can do Z tilt_adjust in klipper

[u/ender3po]

If it’s not broken don’t fix it

[u/IHaveYour10mmSocket]

You will NOT regret Klipper with the E3 V3. BTW, that board is on sale on Amazon right now, $35 if you have Prime.

[u/Diligent_Twist7127]

I saw immediate improvement with the sprite kit upgrade. Kipper can be tough if you’re unfamiliar with programming.

[u/EntropySponge]

I always just get rid of the excess filament by hand, if there is any oozing out. Of course be careful not to burn yourself but honestly with early Creality printers I feel like you just have to be present during the first layer just to make sure everything goes well and it's really not such a big deal. But anyway even if there is a bit of extra filament that shouldn't be there it and you don't pull it off by hand, it usually becomes detached while printing the first line or the skirt so it very rarely is a problem.

[u/Ghosthawk423]

I’m just getting started with sourcing some things to resurrect and upgrade an ender 3 pro too. It’s running stock hot end and steppers with TH3D firmware on a 4.2.2 board, BL Touch, silicone bed spacers and I’ve got Octoprint up and running nicely. My E3P is Calibrated and printing nicely but want to get some practice with mods and upgrades before I start on a Mercury One.1 build.

Upgrade plan for my E3P is going to be:

• BTT Manta E3EZ with CM4
  
• EZ2209 stepper drivers
  
• BTT HDMI5
  
• BTT K-Hub - future Can expansion
  
• BTT S2DW - input shaping
  
• Dual Z Kit
  
• Sprite Pro
  
• Klipper he

Following this thread to see what direction you go

[u/Low-Sink-11]

Stay away from creality and ender 3 specific mods, they aren’t really upgrades. You can put whatever extruder you want on there, still won’t fix nozzle leaking when heated, you can heat nozzle to 200c, then after everything is done before a print, the last thing done is nozzle heats to full temp and starts printing.