Creality Sprite Extruder Pro Kit Upgrade Direct Drive All Metal Hotend 300℃ High Temperature Convenient Retrofit for Creality Ender 3/Pro/V2/MAX/NEO(4.2.7) 3D Printer Head Replacement

This has been a journey for me. From having to replace parts and finding parts that work. But none of the parts I needed to get were the fault of the hotend here, which is amazing. Part of me wants to point out though that there are some issues to consider though, as I had issues working with the firmware.First, my issues were with the Ender 3 V2 Neo, which was great until I needed to upgrade anything related to the hotend. First, I tried to update using Spider hotends, which were great for my Ender 3 Pro, but not for the Ender 3 V2 Neo where clearance became a issue on every MK8 hotend I tried. (From the Phaetus Dragonfly BMS, to the Creality Spider MK3 and MK4 Ceramic.) I had issues with the original Neo hotend with some prints, and found it was actually crooked and that is why it kept jamming up so I wanted something better. I later found this, but if you have the Creality Ender 3 V2 Neo you will need to find an adapter to print out for the X switch, I used my resin printer to print out the adapter and it looks great installed. I found out though that the printer did not take up the sprite firmware, and it had issues with leveling the bed, I tried to go back to the original neo firmware, even updating the screen only to find out that the 4.2.2 board became bricked. I had replaced the Ender 3 Pro with a 4.2.7 and I had a spare board that I used to repair the setup, only to find out that my CR touch no longer works. (Both boards were 4.2.2 boards.)Moving on, this kit included everything you need to installing outside of that adapter for the X switch that I needed specifically for the Neo. It even added ferrules already installed for the fan and hotend, I even updated the V2 Neo to have ferrules on the power and heater for the bed. I did have to tighten down the heater block as it was wiggly when I got it, it did not take much to correct that by just tightening it up. The assembly included the gantry assembly which the Sprite attaches too, as well as the wire harness that is easily installed into the Sprite. The wire harness is longer than you would need for the Ender 3 V2 or Pro that I have, so there was a lot of extra cabling. The whole assembly of the Sprite is lighter than my direct drive Ender 3 Pro that I made. That will likely help with the print quality as speeds get higher. Overall, this is supposed to let you get to 300c and move at 300mm/s which is faster than I actually print but I need those temps for some of my parts as I print with ABS and Nylon as examples.Now, I actually haven't finished my journey of fixing the Ender 3 V2 Neo's problem of hotend replacement, however, what I have found in the Sprite is awesome and I am looking forward to actually printing with it.

This is probably the single most effective upgrade I've made to my Ender 3V2 printer. Although it is a bit involved and takes a little patience to install, the end result is fantastic prints and a printer that clogs less often (hasn't clogged since I installed it). Even though the price seems high, it really turns your 3d printer into a whole different machine!I highly recommend this upgrade for anyone looking for higher quality prints out of their budget 3D printer.

X axis stop switch is to low for the sprite so you have to modify it to touch

The media could not be loaded.  This is a nice direct drive, I have it installed on my ender 3 V2 printers. Prints really nicely I also have the Palette 3 pro Attached to my ender 3 v2. It works better as well now with a direct drive unit.Quality is nice the install was pretty straight forward for thos that have been printing awhile. May be a but involved for those just getting into printing and wanted to install this, but still doable.

The Sprite extruder board is TRASH, the flat cable is TRASH, The proprietary connectors are TRASH, the extruder itself is FRIKKING AWESOME. But the flat cable is truly horrible, I have 7 printers with the Sprite setup, 4 have shorted with under 300 hours of use.Rewiring ALL 7 printers SUCKS, having to do it a second time due to the CR@P cable and board is super annoying.Out 40 extra for the PRO, plus another 30 for a new BETTER harness, Times 7 printers.... Not happy.

The jury is still out on this sprite extruder, for me. I installed it on my E3v2. Installation wasn’t terrible - just loosening up some wheel nuts and running wires. Then you need to greatly alter your e-steps though due to the extruders 3:5 gear ratio. I ended up having to do it in pronterface. Real talk - I haven’t really noticed a huge improvement over what I was getting before on my Bowden tube system. Like, at all. I had my machine dialed in really well before this upgrade. My understanding is that this type of direct drive system is a lot better for softer filaments, like TPU, because you won’t be trying to push (essentially) a wet noodle through a long tube. I don’t do a lot of tpu, but even the stuff I had printed with it came out fine with my Bowden setup with Capricorn tubing. At the end of the day, this is a fine extruder and well constructed. It’s complements have been fine for me, unlike other reviews. I just don’t know if it’s worth over $100 for my needs, plus all of the time and effort that has gone in to swapping it out and dialing it in.