Direct Drive for Ender 3 & Ender 3 Pro – Step by Step

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The Ender 3* and Ender 3 Pro* 3D printers are extremely popular within their price range – and rightly so! They offer high quality at a low price.

At some point, however, you come up against the limits of these two printers. With the Bowden systems used, sharp and precise corners and edges are hardly possible. Also, errors like stringing and other problems creep in through the standard drive.

With a direct drive, the extruder is mounted directly on the print head, which means less power is required for extrusion. The extrusion becomes a “direct extrusion” – hence the name.

You need this to equip your Ender 3 or Ender 3 Pro with a direct drive:

• Stepper motor extension cable (Link*)
• Bracket for motor support (3D-printed, plans for this are available e.g. at thingiverse.com)
• Hex key 
• Double-end wrench

The advantage of having a direct drive for your Ender 3 or Ender 3 Pro is that not only can you minimize the problems mentioned above and print more accurately, but you can also print better with flexible filament. For example, the distance between the nozzle and the extruder is shorter, which helps with the retraction of the filament.

Direct Drive for Ender 3 and Ender 3 Pro

The Ender 3 and Ender 3 Pro owe their popularity to their low prices, high quality and upgradeability. Both printers are using a Bowden extruder. 

In this system, the filament runs through a PTFE tube, that may cause feeding problems. This in turn can cause problems with the filaments. However, with a simple upgrade to a direct drive extruder, you can improve overall extrusion. You will also be able to print with more flexible filaments. 

The extruder on a direct drive is mounted ‘directly’ on the print head. That way you get ‘direct’ extrusion. This means that the motor can push the material out of the nozzle more easily and is not as powerful as with Bowden extrusion. In addition, the retraction is faster. The space between the nozzle and the extruder is also smaller. 

What Do I Need to Install a Direct Drive?

Prior to presenting you with step-by-step instructions for installing a direct drive system for your Ender 3 (Pro), make sure you do have all the materials and tools you will need.

Also, you need to know that this manual only shows one method. There are also other ways to install this system.

You can choose from different kits for converting Ender 3 (Pro) to a direct drive system. One of them is that from PrinterMods*:

Such a kit costs more than the DIY version but is also faster to implement.

However, in this guide, we will think about the possibilities for you to get a cheaper setup. Such a system requires only one cheap part and a 3D printed part and some tools that come with Ender 3. 

Keep in mind that this design will work great for its designed purpose and will cost only a fraction of the money a kit would cost.

While a kit may be a little easier to install for some of the users and offer more stability. But we will guide you through the whole setup for the more cost-effective DIY direct drive setup.

Parts required for DIY installation are:

• Stepper motor extension cable (Link*)
• Bracket for motor support (3D printed)

Very little filament is needed for the 3D printed mount and you can use any type of material, however PETG* is recommended due to its toughness.

On thingiverse.com you can find some plans for the motor support.

You may be tempted to set a high infill density but sometimes the weight can cause an elephant’s foot or other problems. 

After all, you don’t want ring formations. And vibrations you don’t want either. Proven settings are:

• infill density = 40%
• layer height = 0.2 mm 

Using supports while printing is no bad idea. A brim can help with bed adhesion.

Installation Steps

1. Remove the extruder wire. Separate the PTFE tube and PTFE couplers, both from the feeder and the hot connection.
2. Use a small and a medium hex key to unfasten the extruder feeder. Hold the extruder motor in place when unscrewing the last screw. Then simply put these parts aside.
3. Use a small hex key to unscrew the mantle of the fan and the auto bed level sensor (like the BLTouch) if you have one.
4. Unscrew the two nuts on the upper half with a larger hex key and the two-sided wrench. These are the ones that roll the X-axis slide along the extrusion. Be careful not to pull out the belt clips. Put the bearings, nuts and spacers aside.
5. Put the 3D printed bracket on the X-axis belt. Then you have to push the whole thing to put it in place.
6. Screw the two screws and nuts back in, now without spacers.
7. Remove the two screws that hold the hot end of the belt. Then mount the PTFE coupler to this end first. Do not yet put the hot end into its place again.
8. Mount the motor with the bracket you 3D printed. Do this with the cable connection facing upwards. Tighten the feeder on the other side to ensure that all screws are present. Make sure that the threaded part for the PTFE coupler remains facing down.
9. Screw on the PTFE coupler at the motor end (feeder).
10. Cut a 10 cm piece out of the PTFE tube, glue it on the hot end and place the hot end right next to the screw holes. If the tube is too long, cut only a small amount off.
11. Connect the hot end of the X-axis trolley to the PTFE tube and then attach it to the feeder. 
12. Put the fan shroud back on. With a BLTouch sensor or other bed direction sensor, fix it over the cover of the fan (not behind it).

Final Checks

Reduce the print speed

When the print speed is too high at this setting, the print quality could be noticeably reduced due to the total weight on the nozzle. Increasing the speed to maintain a relatively consistent print quality is always possible. First, however, it is advisable to perform a few tests.

Change the feed steps 

In the Slicer settings, change the feed to about 1 mm and the speed to about 27 mm/s. You can also set these settings a bit higher if you see a lot of strings.

The fan of the hot end should be on for this.

As a 3D printed part is used in this setup, the fan must be turned on to avoid the feeder system melting in the middle of the setup.

Tighten or loosen the eccentric nuts 

Move the X-axis belt gently to check if it is to loose/tight. If the roller bearing (look at all three) does not roll, loosen the eccentric nuts. 

Check if all bearings roll and are not too loose. A loose X-slide can lead to the formation of rings and poor print quality. 

Tips for Direct Drive

Better positioning of the filament 

If you move the filament spool of your Ender 3 or Ender 3 Pro vertical to the X-axis of the printer, the tension on the motor can be minimized.

Recalibrate the bed leveling

After making any significant changes to the extruder, if a BLTouch or other auto bed leveler is used, you should perform a full recalibration, as additional weight may change the distance between the nozzle and the bed. 

Recalibrate the E steps 

Ender 3 users often find that they should recalibrate the E-steps on their printer and possibly even the flow rate.

Check the belts 

If the X-axis belt was torn off during assembly, don’t worry about it. All you have to do then is releasing the belt tensioner on the left side and re-mounting the belt on the X-axis belt.

Afterwards you have to tighten the belt on the belt tensioner again. (For this you should pull a little.)

Short Introduction of the Popular Ender 3 Series

Ender 3

Creality launched the Ender 3* 3D printer in March 2018 and since then it has become one of the best and most popular 3D printers in its price range.

Its successor, which we will also briefly introduce here, is also an awesome 3D printer.

Should you choose this model, it offers you the following advantages and disadvantages:

Ender 3 Pro

Also from Creality is the successor model Ender 3 Pro*, which was launched in September 2018.

If you have chosen this printer, it offers you the following advantages and disadvantages:

Applications of 3D Printers 

3D printing is a manufacturing process in which the material to be processed is applied layer by layer to create a three-dimensional product. The whole process is controlled by computers. One or more materials can be used. 

These can be in both liquid and solid form. Desired shapes and dimensions are determined before production. The manufacturing process includes various hardening or melting processes.

Materials that can be used for this purpose are for example ceramics, synthetic resins, plastics and metals. In the meantime, suitable materials based on graphite or carbon have also been developed.

3D printing is a forming method. However, for a particular result, you don’t need special shapes that give the whole thing the geometry it is supposed to have.

This process is now used in a wide variety of areas. 

Some examples are handicrafts, the artistic and design sector, the jewelry and fashion industry, architecture, model making, mechanical engineering, FabLabs, automotive engineering, construction processes, packaging industry, aerospace industry, medical and dental technology and bio-printing. 

Laboratories working for scientific purposes also use this technique. In addition, spare parts can be made for own use with a 3D printer.

Large quantities of small components can be produced with this technology. But also unique pieces can be produced in this way. This is especially the case in the medical technology sector and in the jewelry industry. Especially geometrically very complex objects with function integration are in focus. These can be produced as single pieces or in smaller series.

Over time, the range of applications for 3D printing has expanded dramatically. In the beginning, the main focus was on the production of models or prototypes. Later on, tools were started to be produced. In the meantime, even finished parts, whose required quantities are relatively small, are made in this way.

But what are the concrete benefits of using a 3D printer? Unlike other production processes, there is no need to make or replace moulds, which would require a certain amount of effort. The whole process is also more energy-efficient. 

This is especially true if the manufacturing material is to be applied only once in the desired dimensions. It is also possible to produce several components of different types on one machine. The production of highly complex geometries is also possible.

Many different processes have been developed for 3D printing to date. Different materials can be used. 

Related post: 40 Types of 3D Printer Filaments – List, Uses & Guide

Operating Principle Ender 3 and Ender 3 Pro

The Ender 3 and the Ender 3 Pro from Creality both work according to Fused-Deposition-Modeling (FDM), which can also be called Fused-Filament-Fabrication (FFF). 

As can be derived from the name of the process, the desired object is assembled layer by layer from molten plastic. This is the classical method. However, technical innovations have made it possible to also use molten metal.

For FDM or FFF it is first necessary to apply a grid of dots to a surface. For this purpose, the wire-shaped plastic or wax material is melted by heating and thus liquefying it.

Next, the points are applied by extrusion. A nozzle is used for this. 

Then the points are cooled down in order to harden them in the corresponding position. To build the object, the machine travels several times and line by line down a working plane. Like stacking, the working plane is then moved upwards layer by layer. 

This is how the whole body is ultimately created. Depending on the situation, the thickness of the layers ranges from 0.025 to 1.25 mm. In the course of the build-up the layers are connected to form a uniform complex.

In this way the production of solid and hollow bodies is possible. The wall thickness of a hollow body depends on the 3D printer used. For example, the minimum value for this can be 0.2 mm.

If you want to install protruding parts on the structure, this is usually only possible by using supporting structures. Such a part can be made of styrofoam, cardboard or similar materials. An alternative is that you can add supporting structures to the body using the 3D printer.

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