Sprite pro not extruding consistently - NEED HELP

Filament 3D Printer Technical Help Creality Ender 3 / 3 Pro / V2
1

Hi All,

I have an ender 3 v2 purchased in 2020. Worked well - dozens of prints.
Upgrades included: Capricorn PTFE tube / Marlin firmware / inverted bed (printing on glass side) / New bed springs.
In 2024 upgraded to Sprite pro direct drive. This has worked for a couple of dozen prints, BUT now I have an issue with getting consistent extrusion.
The filament extrudes in dashed lines (see image), which makes me think there is an issue with the gears in the extruder.

IMG_6118.HEIC
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I tried:

Error! Filename not specified.

There was filament stuck in the nozzle, which I removed

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The gears on the direct drive did not look clean, but I’m not sure how to fix this :

IMG_6109.HEIC
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Is there a way to fix this?
Or does Creality sell sprite pro gears as a spare part?

I checked the PTFE tube and re-installed the sprite pro.

Thinking maybe this was a filament issue I grabbed a roll of PLA that had been in a filament dryer (Sunlu S1) AND also printed correctly on my Prusa Mini+ but the result is the SAME.

With stock Ender 3V2 i’ve printed : ~140 designs

With the Sprite Pro direct drive i’ve printed : ~20 designs

I.e. the Sprite pro hasn’t seen a lots of printing.

Please advise the steps to resolve this Sprite pro extruding issue with my Ender 3.

Printer : Ender 3 v 2
Extruder : Sprite Pro
Firmware : Marlin 2.0.7.2
Slicer : PrusaSlicer 2.9.4
Filament : PLA Polyalchemy Elixir purple (last tried).
Nozzle : brass 0.4mm

Image of printer prior to sprite pro upgrade here:
Ender 3 Halo LED light XL by aussieinkguy | Download free STL model | Printables.com

2

The gears shouldn’t be worn out after that many prints. Is there a way to adjust the gear gap and pressure?

3

Hi Loosenut,

Thanks for the thought, a quick google brings up:

Yes

Is there any adjustment for the gears on the creality sprite pro?

Yes, there are adjustments for the gears on the Creality Sprite Pro. The side adjusting screw on the Sprite Extruder Pro allows you to adjust the clamping degree between the extrusion gear and the filament. Turning the screw clockwise tightens the grip, while turning it anticlockwise loosens it. This adjustment can help resolve extrusion issues related to filament grip. Additionally, the E-steps value can be adjusted to optimize the extrusion process for different filaments. It is recommended to measure the E-steps to ensure consistent extrusion results and to adjust them accordingly.

I’ll give this go and update.