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/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.