Extrusion Pack Ender 3, Ender 3 PRO, Ender 5, CR-10, CR-10S

Creality’s Ender 3 and Ender 3 Pro are two very popular FDM 3D printers thanks to their low cost and high quality. If you have either of the stock machines, then you’re running on a Bowden drive printer. Guiding the filament in this system is a long PTFE tube, which can lead to retraction issues, causing stringing, among other problems.

As such, simply upgrading to a direct drive extruder will allow you to not only print with more flexible materials but also have better overall extrusion.

Direct drive means the extruder is mounted on the print head, allowing for “direct” extrusion. This means the motor can more easily push filament through the nozzle, and it doesn’t have to be as powerful a motor as in Bowden extrusion. Additionally, there’s faster retraction with less space between the extruder and the nozzle.