Top 5 Ender-3 S1 Plus mods for 2023

Want some of the best Ender-3 S1 Plus mods to make it better? Here are my top five suggestions, including hardware upgrades and a 3D print.

The Creality Ender-3 S1 Plus is the plus-sized addition to the S1 range, bringing with it 300mm of printing space in all directions. It follows on from the original S1 and the fancier but more limiting S1 Pro.

These are all capable 3D printers that can keep up with Prusa when it comes to the finished printed product (though not so much in terms of ease of use). However, there are upgrades that can be done to make the S1 Plus even better.

1) Upgrade the heating block

One of the features missing from the S1 Pro is a heating block capable of 300° Celsius. While upping the S1 Plus from its standard 260° Celsius maximum requires changing the firmware and materials such as PLA do not need as much heat, there is another benefit.

Inside the S1 and S1 Plus alternative is a PTFE tube, which can degrade if you continually print higher temperature materials such as ABS and PETG. In the long run this can mean printing issues such as clogging and failed prints.

By upgrading to the cheaper all-metal alternative, rated up to 300° Celsius, or the pricier bi-metal alternative, you no longer have to worry about that potentially pesky PTFE lining inside and can happily print the likes of nylon and PC (polycarbonate).

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2) Bounce the standard springs

Also a popular modification is to upgrade from the standard springs, which are used to level the four corners of the bed. While it is possible to achieve great prints without upgrading, life is made easier if you do. There is less chance of them moving by vibration or if you accidentally knock them.

You have two main options. The first are silicone spacers, which are somewhat squishy and usually 18mm in height. Fit these and bed levelling can be easier. Just remember that the S1 printers require four spacers of the same size, as opposed to three and one different for other Creality models.

Alternatively, purchase springs that take more effort to compress. These have the same benefits and are similarly cheap to buy. It is just a bit of a waste that some packs come with 20 springs when most users will only need four.

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3) Print a drawer insert

Another neat extra of the Ender S1 Plus and variants is that front drawer to the right of the SD card slot, which pulls out for extra storage space. Here you can store any spare extruder nozzles and all supplied tools including the scaper and leftover screws from assembly.

Though using a drawer insert may stop you from fitting in the scraper, it can open the door to a more useful and organised storage area. There are many versions so pick the one that suits your requirements best and away you go. One can even house a Raspberry Pi 4B.

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4) Don’t sleep on a new bed

Also missing from the S1 and S1 Plus is the S1 Pro’s PEI bed. Not only is it one-sided and textured, it can be fussy when it comes to adhesion. Too much or too little, unfortunately.

Luckily there is a 310x310mm official PEI bed from Creality that should improve print reliability. Or you can choose from many third-party offerings for less money. The one I have ordered has a textured PEI side and one the other is smooth PET.

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5) Improve your printing speed

Last in my best Ender-3 S1 Plus mods, we come to the popular Ender-3 mod, Klipper. Not only can it unlock faster print speeds, it has software for improving bed levelling, can account for vibration (resonance compensation) and takes over the computing stuff.

Usually, Klipper is installed on a Raspberry Pi 3B, 4B or similar. However, to make life easier (at the expense of some functionality) Creality has released its Sonic Pad (no relation to Sega).

The Sonic Pad includes the open source Klipper software and has a 64-bit CPU and 2GB of RAM. Expect a 7-inch colour touchscreen as well as four USB ports, an RJ45 ethernet for a wired data connection and WiFi connectivity.

It can even update itself over the air (OTA), allowing for improved functionality and performance as updates are released, be hooked up to a camera for print monitoring and time-lapses and has a live file preview.

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