Micro Swiss Direct Drive Extruder for Creality CR-10 / Ender 3 Printers

Just keep in mind that this does say it is for an Ender 3, but that does not mean it will fit your machine. Check your stepper motor and the installation instructions that they are the same. There are two types of extrudes, one that this upgrade requires where you can remove the gear, and one that the gear is press fit to the stepper. If you have the press fit gear you will also need to order a replacement stepper motor. Also, if you have the press fit gear the shaft length is to short for this mod

Had to use my drill press and a thin wrench to press the old gear off my stock E motor, then ground a deep flat for the setscrew on the motor shaft, if you dont the grub screw for the motor gear will bind up the extruder. I had to trim my capricorn tube a mm shorter but otherwise easy upgrade. If you figure the price of great all metal hot end + good direct drive, you come out ahead (unless you use cheap knockoffs). I had to play with my E steps, 130 was too low, calibration put me closer to 145steps/mm, set retract to 1mm, some say 0.5-0.75mm I didnt have luck with that low.

This completely eliminated my stringing problems on my Ender 3 v2. It was easy to follow the instructions and install, it took me less than an hour. However, it was missing 2 or 3 screws from the kit to connect the extruder and the plate for the hotend.

Id already taken my Creality-10s as far as I could. Bearings, timing gears, belt tensioners... A/C heating blanket, BL-Touch, 32-bit board. It printed as well as expected with PLA+, on plain glass. But every few weeks it would clog, and Id have to clean the hot end up again. I tried printing ABS (otherwise good with lots of warping) and TPU (through a bowden tube!) with no success. I knew an all-metal hotend would eliminate the clogging problem and Micro Swiss was popular. I liked their all metal construction and it looked like it should be reliable. And it has been. Print quality has never been better I can reach higher temperatures to reliably print other filaments, and the direct drive lets me run flexible filaments.

Definitely an upgrade from the stock extruder and hot end. The gears seem to have had (have) some messing issues so it took a bit to get the tension set just right, but overall very happy

We have had this item replaced due to clogging. Within the last two prints, the replacement device has clogged multiple times. Checked the hot end temps and compared to the filaments utilized. Temps/temp preferences matched.

Updated review. I initially posted a negative review as it seemed no matter what I did I was getting blobs on large flat areas. after about a month of fettling, I now am 95% of where I was with a stock Ender 3 V2. Most of the problems were me. It is now my belief that due to the additional weight on the gantry, you NEED to go through your printer again and re-check every single nut and bolt and eccentric nuts, as the setup is less forgiving than stock. Make sure the right side of the X-axis isnt sagging. Critically, do NOT overtighten the eccentric nuts. Make sure they are just tight enough to stop wobble, I had mine way too tight causing wheel wear. If you get layer shift, tighten belts more even if you think they are tight enough. CRITICAL: When hot, clean the nozzle of any filament before starting print. I had so many issues with filament gunking up the nozzle, then dropping off. I also HIGHLY recommend getting a CR Touch and using the Jyers UBL 15x15 firmware. Made my life so much easier for levelling. My settings right now: Extruder: 137.5 (for 100mm of filament) (with stock extruder tension). Retraction: 0.5mm and 25m/s speed. (I was originally trying 1.5mm and 2mm, which caused issues) Print speed: 30m/s with PETG. Hotend: 245 (up from 240), Bed 80c, then 70c after few layers I seem to occasionally get unexplained under-extrusion. Im still playing with settings though. The instructions were extremely thorough for this kit. I like the kit overall. Just -as mentioned- make sure you go around your printer and do the general maintenance to make sure everything is OK. I assumed mine was fine and spent a month with issues because parts were loose (wheels, eccentric nuts, belts).

Followed setup instructions to the tee. Heated to 220 literally went to snug a loose nozzle and it sheared off in the hotend. Out 100 bucks. This is garbage!

I own an Ender 3 v2, I thinks its reasonable to say its a VERY popular start point. Having to print your own shroud is one thing, but theres no holes or bracket for mounting my CR touch. Its getting returned

Solid, worth the money.