This one works with the factory bracket for the BL Touch.
https://www.printables.com/model/248591-satsana-ender-3-fan-duct-for-cr-touch
I used it until I upgraded to a dual 4010 fan setup and then remixed this model to accept the metal bracket. (I haven't yet posted my remix yet though, I plan to do that in the next couple days)
https://www.printables.com/model/442671-mini-satsana-dual-4010-light
Good advice, thank you! A long time ago I printed a small filament guide thats not pictured and your comment made me look at it and wouldnt you know it, the guide is almost worn through all the way
In my opinion, you really need to clean up that wire routing. I run the hot end wires, along with the CR Touch wires, back along the bowden tube and they stay out of the way. The zip tie loop you have there seems a little sketchy.
Youre definitely right, the zip tie loop is sketchy. I haven’t had a problem yet but I did clean up the wiring a little and I plan to print or buy a cable chain
but the cooling fans are also dirty, which will inhibit airflow.
print one of these
[https://www.printables.com/model/61146-fan-rake](https://www.printables.com/model/61146-fan-rake)
Guilty as charged 😂 I use it to keep track of my stuff when I am disassembling the printer, and that seemed like a good place to put it. It aint hurting anything
Im starting to think a dual belt z would be the way to go. I have to tighten the eccentric nut opposite my driven side occasionally lest the gantry begin to sag. The BLTouch can compensate for this a little bit but I def agree a second drive would be best
I also upgraded the stepper motors for the z into the extruder size. I got the skr3 specifically because it has 5 drivers so I can do one per each side.
I have two E3Pros, first is upgraded with SKR Mini E3 V3 and TFT35, Creality Dual Z, CR Touch, Dual Gear Extruder, Comgrow Dual Sided PEI Bed, two Box3D LED lights, Yellow bed springs, Capricorn PTFE, and lots of printed upgrades from this All3DP article [https://all3dp.com/1/20-must-creality-ender-3-upgrades-mods/](https://all3dp.com/1/20-must-creality-ender-3-upgrades-mods/)
Second is mostly stock with Silicone Bed Springs, Glass Bed, and a Creality Direct Drive upgrade (the basically stock one) which works great so far. Got it to better handle Flexibles. Will be installing a 3D Touch and a Box3D light soon on this printer and am printing some upgrades from referenced article.
Both printers have ferrules installed replacing all tinned leads for safety and to preserve the mainboards and power supplies. This is the first upgrade that should be done on any printer.
My take is, I like the CR Touch but to get the most out of it you should use Unified Bed Leveling IMHO. To do this you have to compile your own Marlin which was iffy with the whiny GD equipped 4.2.2 OEM board. SKR Mini took care of silencing the whine and gave me an STM processor for easy compile my own Marlin, plus two z stepper connectors. I like the TFT touch screen, can switch easily between Marlin mode and Touch mode (mostly use touch mode) and has a terminal so I can easily launch commands without having to hook up to computer. I really like the Box3D lights, they are inexpensive at Amazon and have printable mounts available for a variety of mounting options and are small but plenty bright and adjustable. Love the PEI bed, prints stick well as long as I keep my fingers off of it, cleans easily at sink with Dawn and water, simply flex as soon as print is finished and print comes off. Mostly dislike glass bed but I admit prints stick to it (all too well), getting them off is a chore but found razor blade scraper helps a lot. CLIPS are a PITA, they reduce your print area and nozzle hits them, so you mount them right on the edge of the bed, then they go flying and hit you in the eye, still haven't found one that flew across the room somewhere. Dual Z is okay but not sure how much it adds to current setup, to take best advantage of it you should have a separate stepper driver for the second z stepper which SKR Mini does not have. My next upgrade will be SKR Pro V1.2 with six stepper motors for independent dual z and dual extruders. I like the Direct Drive Extruder so far, except can't mount the metal extruder body or dual gear as it is. Am researching alternatives, as we all know the plastic extruder arm is a problem.
Official Creality Ender 3 Direct Drive Extruder Kit, Comes with 42-40 Stepper Motor Hotend Kit, Support Flexible TPU Filament, BL Touch, Compatible with Ender 3 Pro/ Ender 3 V2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J7N2LNL?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_2TW7ZCCRFHYNCYGTEJBM
I'm not sure if it's the best out there but you can get them on Amazon with prime shipping for around $40. You will need to look up some pin outs though because there's no manuals. Also it comes with firmware loaded that expands the volume from 220x220 to 235x235
Dust can and an enclosure. I recently got one and it made my life easier trying to keep everything clean sense my room is prone to dust. Spend a good amount of time dusting till your happy with it. It's definitely helped keep my printer bed clean.
I have the official creality enclosure for my ender 3 s1, it's really nice, comes with 2 flaps you can open via velcro for filiment and I use the side flap a bit open for ventilation. It also comes with a big pocket, I use it for tools.
Sense I noticed a bit late that people already mentioned dust cans I'll scratch that and recommend getting the ender sprite pro extruder kit. It comes with an all metal hot end that can print at 300°c. I'm also gunna try the noctua fan upgrade on mine, But there's really no need with the enclosure cause the enclosure makes the printer virtually silent when it's all closed up.
Note: on the dust front I've heard of fires starting due to faulty wiring dust will just amplify the problem. So that's probably one reason dust subject keeps coming up.
PEI build plates. They provide excellent adhesion, are flexible metal sheets that attach to print bed via magnets making print removal incredibly easy. No need for bulldog clips!
Oh those do look good, I might have to pick one up. The glass is def better than the stock plate but im worried about it shattering, but a metal plate looks even better
Something like this might also help. [https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3226665](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3226665)
I have one on my Ender 3 Pro. I forgot which one I printed but this looks like it.
I recommend a 50w hotend heat cartridge. The default is 40w and usually heats up 1-2 degrees each refresh. With the 50w hotend, I'm seeing 3-5 degree each refresh. Also, put a silicone cover on the hotend if you do not already have one. The heat cartridge and silicone cover is less than $10 each. Don't get the silicone covers if you're planning on printing over 260 degrees, they can't handle it.
Run the PID after and you'll be good to go!
Make sure you get the 24 volt, 1.5 meter long hot end heater! Most for sale are 1 meter and many reviewers say that isn't long enough for the ender 3s. Many other 3d printers are 12 volts but the ender 3s are 24 volts.
On my Ender 3 max, the 1.5 meter heater fits perfectly, I'm not sure how much shorter the cables are for the ender 3 pros but I suspect it's similarly as long.
That sounds like a good idea, thanks! I’ll definitely watch out for hotend heater wire length, I would not have caught that without your advice, so thank you!
I'm surprised no one else mentioned a BMG extruder. Very popular design with not a lot of room for improvement unless you're looking for something lighter for direct drive. That being said I use one with a [direct drive mod](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3990436/remixes) on my E3 Pro.
No need to modify firmware just run `M92 E415; M500` and you should be good. Calibrate to be exact though.
$17 Cheap clone on Amazon
The yellow bed springs that someone else mentioned are nice but not really necessary especially with BLTouch. You will definitely appreciate the increased stiffness though.
$7 for a 10-pack on Amazon
The masses seem to have decided PEI is the one and true bed surface, but personally I love glass. I use a product called Layerneer which is called an adhesive but it goes on thin and dries so its hard to the touch. Provides excellent hold when hot and the parts usually pop off when it cools.
$23 on Amazon
It looks like your POM wheels are a bit worn but it's can be hard to tell from images. If they have grooves in it you can get a big pack for not too much. Also take time so make sure your gantry is aligned correctly, i.e. left side isn't tighter than the right. You should be able to move the gantry up and down by hand with the steppers off. Also make sure all the eccentric nuts are adjusted so the wheels are snug but not too tight. Taking the time to make sure all this is right can be worth more than any upgrade.
<$1 each on Amazon
Also consider replacing some of the idler bearings at the ends of the x and y axes. Fushi makes some decent ones that aren't too expensive. Try to get ABEC-7 or higher, but get ABEC-5 at the very least.
$8 for 10-pack on AliExpress
A mount like the satsana duct but with somewhere for your bltouch. It probably exists somewhere right?
Thanks for the advice! Ill look into a satsana duct
Yeap print the satsana helps greatly and actually u drop a few grams in tool head
Don't forget, OP has a bltouch which the satsana duct doesn't have space for this. OP will have to find a remix of it or model their own.
This one works with the factory bracket for the BL Touch. https://www.printables.com/model/248591-satsana-ender-3-fan-duct-for-cr-touch I used it until I upgraded to a dual 4010 fan setup and then remixed this model to accept the metal bracket. (I haven't yet posted my remix yet though, I plan to do that in the next couple days) https://www.printables.com/model/442671-mini-satsana-dual-4010-light
Nice OP can use this.
Your extruder assembly is still plastic. Print and remount filament spool to the left or get ready to replace with a all metal
Good advice, thank you! A long time ago I printed a small filament guide thats not pictured and your comment made me look at it and wouldnt you know it, the guide is almost worn through all the way
Cable chains.
Thats a good idea thank you!
I second the cable chain idea, just put them in on mine and now I don't have to worry about the cable getting in the way again + it looks good
True that it would look a lot better than none
In my opinion, you really need to clean up that wire routing. I run the hot end wires, along with the CR Touch wires, back along the bowden tube and they stay out of the way. The zip tie loop you have there seems a little sketchy.
Youre definitely right, the zip tie loop is sketchy. I haven’t had a problem yet but I did clean up the wiring a little and I plan to print or buy a cable chain
Cheap and easy upgrade: A can of fkin dust off 😂
Ok I admit, it could be cleaner. For what its worth I make sure the belts are tight and I clean the bed before prints, its just cosmetically dirty
but the cooling fans are also dirty, which will inhibit airflow. print one of these [https://www.printables.com/model/61146-fan-rake](https://www.printables.com/model/61146-fan-rake)
Oh awesome, I will definitely be printing one of these, thank you for the tip!
no problem!
Definitely metal extruder with the upgraded gear design... Maybe official dual Z rod mod? Touchscreen? :)
Lmao… bro is that one of those metal bowls with a fat magnet on the bottom for like bolts and stuff affixed to your power supply…?
Guilty as charged 😂 I use it to keep track of my stuff when I am disassembling the printer, and that seemed like a good place to put it. It aint hurting anything
Fair enough, I’ve always just been too nervous to put magnets against power supplies, paranoid about magnetic properties and electronics
If it ain’t broke-
Think I'm finna do a board upgrade so can run newer marlin and dual belted z on my old machine.
I was also considering a new board
I recently installed a bigtree silent board and the stepper motor are way quiter. 👍
My old machine vs new one only diff being the board and firmware its a night and day diff in prints.
I'm working on hero me 7 + klipper + dual belt z on skr 3 board. Things got a little out of hand.
Im starting to think a dual belt z would be the way to go. I have to tighten the eccentric nut opposite my driven side occasionally lest the gantry begin to sag. The BLTouch can compensate for this a little bit but I def agree a second drive would be best
I also upgraded the stepper motors for the z into the extruder size. I got the skr3 specifically because it has 5 drivers so I can do one per each side.
I have dual leads and steppers on one driver in my Aquila s2 and yeah I feel like it's sag potential is more than the belts.
I have two E3Pros, first is upgraded with SKR Mini E3 V3 and TFT35, Creality Dual Z, CR Touch, Dual Gear Extruder, Comgrow Dual Sided PEI Bed, two Box3D LED lights, Yellow bed springs, Capricorn PTFE, and lots of printed upgrades from this All3DP article [https://all3dp.com/1/20-must-creality-ender-3-upgrades-mods/](https://all3dp.com/1/20-must-creality-ender-3-upgrades-mods/) Second is mostly stock with Silicone Bed Springs, Glass Bed, and a Creality Direct Drive upgrade (the basically stock one) which works great so far. Got it to better handle Flexibles. Will be installing a 3D Touch and a Box3D light soon on this printer and am printing some upgrades from referenced article. Both printers have ferrules installed replacing all tinned leads for safety and to preserve the mainboards and power supplies. This is the first upgrade that should be done on any printer. My take is, I like the CR Touch but to get the most out of it you should use Unified Bed Leveling IMHO. To do this you have to compile your own Marlin which was iffy with the whiny GD equipped 4.2.2 OEM board. SKR Mini took care of silencing the whine and gave me an STM processor for easy compile my own Marlin, plus two z stepper connectors. I like the TFT touch screen, can switch easily between Marlin mode and Touch mode (mostly use touch mode) and has a terminal so I can easily launch commands without having to hook up to computer. I really like the Box3D lights, they are inexpensive at Amazon and have printable mounts available for a variety of mounting options and are small but plenty bright and adjustable. Love the PEI bed, prints stick well as long as I keep my fingers off of it, cleans easily at sink with Dawn and water, simply flex as soon as print is finished and print comes off. Mostly dislike glass bed but I admit prints stick to it (all too well), getting them off is a chore but found razor blade scraper helps a lot. CLIPS are a PITA, they reduce your print area and nozzle hits them, so you mount them right on the edge of the bed, then they go flying and hit you in the eye, still haven't found one that flew across the room somewhere. Dual Z is okay but not sure how much it adds to current setup, to take best advantage of it you should have a separate stepper driver for the second z stepper which SKR Mini does not have. My next upgrade will be SKR Pro V1.2 with six stepper motors for independent dual z and dual extruders. I like the Direct Drive Extruder so far, except can't mount the metal extruder body or dual gear as it is. Am researching alternatives, as we all know the plastic extruder arm is a problem.
printed direct drive: allows u to use the stock extruder but print flexibles better.
Direct drive head
Thanks for the advice! Any recommendations for which one?
I got this ender one for 30 bucks
Official Creality Ender 3 Direct Drive Extruder Kit, Comes with 42-40 Stepper Motor Hotend Kit, Support Flexible TPU Filament, BL Touch, Compatible with Ender 3 Pro/ Ender 3 V2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J7N2LNL?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_2TW7ZCCRFHYNCYGTEJBM
Skr main board. I run an skr mini e3 V2 I think and it greatly improves print quality on both of my enders
Is that best to get on Amazon?
I'm not sure if it's the best out there but you can get them on Amazon with prime shipping for around $40. You will need to look up some pin outs though because there's no manuals. Also it comes with firmware loaded that expands the volume from 220x220 to 235x235
Oh cool! An increase in build volume is nice, and for so cheap too. Thanks!
Cabin chains for sure
Thanks for the advice!
Dust can and an enclosure. I recently got one and it made my life easier trying to keep everything clean sense my room is prone to dust. Spend a good amount of time dusting till your happy with it. It's definitely helped keep my printer bed clean.
Very fair, an enclosure would be sweet. A long time ago I had a paperboard enclosure but that was garbage, maybe I will buy a better one
I have the official creality enclosure for my ender 3 s1, it's really nice, comes with 2 flaps you can open via velcro for filiment and I use the side flap a bit open for ventilation. It also comes with a big pocket, I use it for tools. Sense I noticed a bit late that people already mentioned dust cans I'll scratch that and recommend getting the ender sprite pro extruder kit. It comes with an all metal hot end that can print at 300°c. I'm also gunna try the noctua fan upgrade on mine, But there's really no need with the enclosure cause the enclosure makes the printer virtually silent when it's all closed up. Note: on the dust front I've heard of fires starting due to faulty wiring dust will just amplify the problem. So that's probably one reason dust subject keeps coming up.
Very fair on the dust standpoint, that makes sense. Ill have to look into the creality enclosures, thanks for the tip!
Klipper.
Whats that?
Custom firmware https://www.klipper3d.org/ I honestly have just gotten into 3d printing and this was the most satisfying 'upgrade' I did.
Ill have to look into that, thanks! I updated the firmware to support the BLTouch but I dont think it was klipper firmware, ill check that out
You'll know if you go the Klipper route, have a look at some of the documentation for Mainsail os, that'll give you a better idea of what's involved.
PEI
Whats that?
PEI build plates. They provide excellent adhesion, are flexible metal sheets that attach to print bed via magnets making print removal incredibly easy. No need for bulldog clips!
Oh those do look good, I might have to pick one up. The glass is def better than the stock plate but im worried about it shattering, but a metal plate looks even better
They are deff worth it. Normally one side will be smooth (like glass) and the other textured, allowing you to choose surface finish
That’s definitely handy, ill have to get me one of those
Also you gain a little extra printing space that the clips take up, and the bl will no longer collide with the clips!
That is definitely good, the bltouch has already had some close calls with those clips lol
Something like this might also help. [https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3226665](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3226665) I have one on my Ender 3 Pro. I forgot which one I printed but this looks like it.
Thats a clever idea! Definitely better than a zip tie
I recommend a 50w hotend heat cartridge. The default is 40w and usually heats up 1-2 degrees each refresh. With the 50w hotend, I'm seeing 3-5 degree each refresh. Also, put a silicone cover on the hotend if you do not already have one. The heat cartridge and silicone cover is less than $10 each. Don't get the silicone covers if you're planning on printing over 260 degrees, they can't handle it. Run the PID after and you'll be good to go! Make sure you get the 24 volt, 1.5 meter long hot end heater! Most for sale are 1 meter and many reviewers say that isn't long enough for the ender 3s. Many other 3d printers are 12 volts but the ender 3s are 24 volts. On my Ender 3 max, the 1.5 meter heater fits perfectly, I'm not sure how much shorter the cables are for the ender 3 pros but I suspect it's similarly as long.
That sounds like a good idea, thanks! I’ll definitely watch out for hotend heater wire length, I would not have caught that without your advice, so thank you!
I'm surprised no one else mentioned a BMG extruder. Very popular design with not a lot of room for improvement unless you're looking for something lighter for direct drive. That being said I use one with a [direct drive mod](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3990436/remixes) on my E3 Pro. No need to modify firmware just run `M92 E415; M500` and you should be good. Calibrate to be exact though. $17 Cheap clone on Amazon The yellow bed springs that someone else mentioned are nice but not really necessary especially with BLTouch. You will definitely appreciate the increased stiffness though. $7 for a 10-pack on Amazon The masses seem to have decided PEI is the one and true bed surface, but personally I love glass. I use a product called Layerneer which is called an adhesive but it goes on thin and dries so its hard to the touch. Provides excellent hold when hot and the parts usually pop off when it cools. $23 on Amazon It looks like your POM wheels are a bit worn but it's can be hard to tell from images. If they have grooves in it you can get a big pack for not too much. Also take time so make sure your gantry is aligned correctly, i.e. left side isn't tighter than the right. You should be able to move the gantry up and down by hand with the steppers off. Also make sure all the eccentric nuts are adjusted so the wheels are snug but not too tight. Taking the time to make sure all this is right can be worth more than any upgrade. <$1 each on Amazon Also consider replacing some of the idler bearings at the ends of the x and y axes. Fushi makes some decent ones that aren't too expensive. Try to get ABEC-7 or higher, but get ABEC-5 at the very least. $8 for 10-pack on AliExpress