Below are the top 3D-printable Ender 3 mods and upgrades you can perform. Tons of other printable mods exist, but this is the core list that will give you the best bang for your print time. Before you print anything else, print this mod. The location of the mainboard fan is directly beneath the build plate, meaning bits of filament can fall in and damage the fan or board. The model is available ender 3 feeder tension free download Thingiverse.
This filament guide holds the filament away from the feeder, allowing for a more consistent feed rate and less skipping.
It snaps directly into the side of the upper support. This cable chain is a must-have for preventing dangerous cable snags when the bed moves along the Y-axis. This simple screen cover protects your Ender 3 display's PCB printed circuit board from damage. If your Bowden tube has popped out of place or if you're having print quality issues, you might want to print these pressure fitting shims that will prevent your Bowden tubes from shifting or popping out during printing.
You've probably noticed how loud the Ender 3 beeps when navigating the menu interface. This beep can level villages and knock ender 3 feeder tension free download out of orbit.
This minute print mutes the beep quite a bit, getting rid of that annoyance and protecting our countrysides and space assets. How many times have you grabbed a piece of paper ender 3 feeder tension free download slid it back and forth between your print bed and the extruder? Is it more than a hundred? What if I was to tell you that one upgrade could make it so you'd never have to manually level the bed again?
Sound good to be true?! With a BLTouch kit specifically for the Ender 3, Ender 3 V2 or Ender 3 Proyou can have a perfectly level print each time without having to manually level the bed.
Because it's supported directly by Creality, installing the BLTouch is a fairly easy process, even for 3D printing novices. The BLTouch by Antclabs is an add-on electrical component for a 3D printer that uses a sensor stem to detect any tilt in the bed surface. It's built to use very little power at idle and use so that it can be installed directly in the Ender 3's mainboard, without any heat issues.
Other sensors like optical or proximity sensors do have some upsides, but we've found them to be expensive to repair and not compatible with certain print bed surfaces. With the BLTouch, you can use any type of bed and need only swap out the plastic nozzle if it's damaged. There's also a ton of support and articles that can help you if you run into trouble using your BLTouch. Check out our complete guide to install and set up the BLTouch on any Ender 3-series printer.
There are ender 3 feeder tension free download main sources of noise on your printer: 1 fans, and 2 the drivers chips that run your stepper motors. The "whirring" noise you associate with printing is caused by the cheap stepper motor drivers used on the stock Ender 3 board. Enter the Creality Silent Mainboard v1.
This board directly replaces your existing Ender 3 mainboardupgrading your printer to the silent TMC stepper motor drivers. This is the biggest "sound" upgrade you can make. It reduces your printer's noise from approximately 48dB to 36dB, with the remaining sound coming from the Ender 3's fans which can also be upgraded to quieter fans. If I had to choose a single upgrade from this guide other than OctoPrintit would be this one. Combined with the MeanWell PSU upgrade also mentioned in this guide, I often forget my printer is running since it now generates so little noise.
Of course, in addition to decreasing noise, this board and its upgraded stepper motor drivers improve the quality of your prints. OctoPrint is the 1 upgrade for making the overall 3D-printing experience easier and more enjoyable. While this upgrade doesn't relate directly to print quality, it will save you a ton ender 3 feeder tension free download time and headaches. With OctoPrint, you won't need to load and start prints from an SD card ever again. In a nutshell, OctoPrint is a library that runs on the small Raspberry Pi computer.
When you want to print something, you'll log into a slick interface from your computer. This interface will allow you to control your printer, start and stop prints, and more.
You can even monitor your printer remotely using a small camera! I wrote a full guide on installing and using OctoPrint on the Ender 3as well as a video :. If you're already using OctoPrint, why not add a nice touchscreen to your Ender 3? Check out my full guide on this, as well as my video :.
For this project, I used the Adafruit 3. There are several reasons to upgrade your Ender 3 to a MeanWell PSU including noise, safety, and even reducing bed-leveling issues. This means a much quieter printer, especially when paired with the silent board upgrade. This reason alone made the upgrade worth it to me.
I work in the same room as my printer, so noise is a huge issue. MeanWell PSUs use higher quality components than the cheap stock unit, providing cleaner power with fewer of the electrical spikes and sags that could ender 3 feeder tension free download a safety hazard. The MeanWell PSU is noticeably thinner than the stock unit, which is handy if you're using an enclosure and need to relocate it. There are tons of different build plate surfaces out there: metal, magnetic, BuildTak, painter's tape, and tons more.
But after printing for many years on several different printers, I've always had the best experience with glass. Glass beds are supremely flat, fixing the all-too-common "warped Ender 3 bed" issue that many of us experience.
Glass beds ender 3 feeder tension free download save on prep time, are easy to clean, and offer effortless print removal with a semi-glossy print finish. I wrote a comprehensive guide to 3D printing on a glass bed if you'd like to dive into the details. This xmm glass bed is the one I recommend for the Ender 3. Proper print illumination allows you to identify issues with your prints early—it's also nice to be able to see what's happening clearly. There are tons of methods for adding an LED strip to your 3D printer.
I prefer one that places the light source as high as possible in order to illuminate the entire print bed, not just the current print area. I wrote a comprehensive guide on adding an LED strip to your 3D printerfeaturing the Ender 3 specifically. Using the method outlined there, you can even power your LED strip directly from your Ender 3 by regulating the voltage using this buck converter in conjunction with this XT60 splitter cable.
Check out that guide for step-by-step instructions on what to print and how to wire everything up! Your bed springs might seem like an insignificant part of your 3D printer, but they're actually quite important to bed leveling and stability. The stock Ender 3 bed springs are terrible and can lead to print issues and frequent bed leveling. These issues ender 3 feeder tension free download largely caused by:. In fact, if you compare the stock and upgraded springs side by side, you can see only the upgraded ones feature a flat surface on the top and bottom.
This leads to less shifting compared to the stock springs. Upgraded Ender 3 springs take minutes to install and mean less frequent bed leveling between prints. The plastic metal feeder assembly on the Ender 3 leaves something to be desired, and improper tension can even cause feeder gear skips, leaving gaps in the layers of your print.
Installing an all-metal feeder assembly such as this one will add durability and stability to your printer. Yet another noise mod—adding these dampers to your X- and Y-axis stepper motors decreases the noise they generate by dB. This is a simple, inexpensive mod with a measurable noise reduction impact. Most Ender 3s ship with an outdated version of the Marlin firmware, which lacks mandatory safety features such as thermal runaway protection. Thermal runaway is a condition where a failure in the thermocouple temperature sensor can cause your extruder to continue heating, forever, until your extruder block melts and a fire occurs.
Thankfully, newer versions of Marlin have thermal runaway protection, a software-level safeguard that polls periodically for an increase in temperature and shuts things down if something isn't right. I wrote an in-depth guide to updating your Ender 3 firmware that you can follow to perform this ender 3 feeder tension free download.
You'll need ender 3 feeder tension free download kind of Arduino to perform the firmware update, such as this inexpensive Arduino clone. This is a safety upgrade that you shouldn't skip. Did I miss a mod or upgrade that you think is a must-have? Let me know in the comments section ender 3 feeder tension free download The process is the same for both the 1.
Also visible in this photo are my Raspberry Pi enclosure and camera for use with OctoPrint. Board fan guard Before you print anything else, print this mod. Filament guide This filament guide holds the filament away from the feeder, allowing for a more consistent feed rate and less skipping.
Cable chain This cable chain is a must-have for preventing dangerous cable snags when the bed moves along the Y-axis. Bowden tube fitting fix If your Bowden tube has popped out of place or if you're having print quality issues, you might want to print these ender 3 feeder tension free download fitting shims that will prevent your Bowden tubes from shifting or popping out during printing.
Beeper silencer You've probably noticed how loud the Ender 3 beeps when navigating the menu interface. Used here. Creality BLTouch V3. Check Price on Amazon. Ender 3 silent main board Check Price. Ender 3 silent main board. Ender 3 feeder tension free download your Ender 3 quieter and improve your prints with this ender 3 feeder tension free download upgrade. Raspberry Pi. Watch the video:. Adafruit 3. Borosilicate glass bed, xmm Check Price.
Choosing a bed I wrote a comprehensive guide to 3D printing on a glass bed if you'd like to dive into the details.
