Printing troubles with FilaFlex

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting on this forum and I was hoping I could get some help in regards to properly printing FilaFlex. I'm using the FlashForge Creator Pro, and I have just not been able to get any good results using FilaFlex. I use Simplify3D, and I've tried messing around with settings that I've seen other people recommend to others, but to no avail. What I've noticed during my printing process, with like a cube for instance, the extruded filament does not cool quick enough that if the nozzle were to pass by and touch it, the filament would shift accordingly. I've looked into active cooling, and I'm going to try that out really soon (hopefully that works). Also, I've noticed that the speed that the filament is being extruded does not move at a rate where it can catch up with how fast the printing movement speed is. The nozzle moves way too fast, regardless of how low I put the default printing settings, and the filament extruding speed just does not match up so I end up having layers where there are big gaps because there was no filament to cover it. Could it be that it's a settings error or something is going on with the actual extrusion process, like something is buckling or what not? Side note: I'm using a custom extruder that I found on thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:857200) and I switched the default extruder that came pre-installed, with FlashForge's aluminum extruder (https://www.bilby3d.com.au/ImgProd/ptFildriveFFD.jpg). Any help would be appreciated! :D

Also, I wanted to add (this may be a dumb question) but for the Auto-Configure Material settings, which option should I choose for using Filaflex?

Its difficult to know what the issue could be. You may have tried this but I would recommend:

Slowing your print speed down (perhaps significantly from your description) and increase print flow (AKA extrusion rate)

Also flexible filament usually benefits from a high layer height (0.2-0.3mm)

Just some ideas. I hope they help

Thanks! I'll definitely try that out, do you also know what settings to use for flexible filament for Auto-Configure Material in Simplify3D? Like is it considered ABS, PLA, etc? I'm not too sure what kind of type it is exactly.

Hi Jesse,
Flex materials are known to be slightly more finicky.

Basically what you need to do is :
- decrease your print speed. Try at 20mm/s and see how it goes.
- decrease tremendously your retraction rate. Try less than you have now. probably something like 0,5mm.
- Increase cooling, put a fan on. if you have a desktop fan, try to put it next to the printer, aimed at the print.
- I wouldn't mess with extrusion rate as it would throw off other factors. but, you can check that the diameter is consistent at 1,75mm
- printing thicker layers is probably a good point.
- check the temps recommended by the supplier.

with flexible filaments ALWAYS print at or slightly beyond the upper temperature limits the manufacturer recommends.
Polyflex is the significant outsider - but that's flexible pla which is a whole different animal and much more compliant than any of the tpu's
For any polymaker flament you'll find that the recommended settings are always absolutely bang on.
I haven't found this with any other manufacturer.

With the rubber based filaments - of which filaflex is one - you need to print pretty hot, 5-10c hotter than the manufacturer claims, as a minimum

The other thing that makes a huge difference is the colour of the filament. Green is hands down the best colour to use for any of the tpe/tpu filaments.
Red seems to be the worst.

I can print just about anything in green filaflex while currently failing totally in printing with red filaflex - and i bought big roll of the red after the green had worked so well.
We live and learn :-)

White is usually pretty good as the white colourant always makes any filament stiffer. Black usually also works quite well as it heats up quicker and flows better - but make sure you have active cooling in place for black tpu's

A cooling fan for your print area is also essential for small(ish) prints.

Print speed - go for 20-40 mm/s - 30mms seems to be the sweet spot. And like I said up the print temp.

Because the extruders in the flashforge printers have gaps alongside the extruder gear and guide wheel, ANY backward pressure from the extruder causes the filament to deform into the gaps, causing loss of extrusion and often clogging.
I've got the fan and heatsink removal, unclogging and replacement operation down to under 5 minutes recently :-)

So the trick is to balance the feed/print speed with how easily the material flows from the extruder.

as lambda said 0.2 or 0.3 layer heights work well. I never use 0.1 for anything anyway.
But for me the main breakthrough was in printing hotter than the manufacturers claim.

Currently looking at different extruder setups that eliminate the gaps the filament gets stuffed into.

You don't need masses of infill. But a minimum of 3 outer shells is a good idea.

Printed a little cowboy hat recently, 3 shells and layers and 20% infill worked extremely well.

So:
Active cooling
Print temp hotter than manufacturers recommend
Only ever use green tpu ;-)

Nah, just print other colours more carefully.

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Also, I wanted to add (this may be a dumb question) but for the Auto-Configure Material settings, which option should I choose for using Filaflex?

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Did not know such a thing existed - basically it's a total waste of space. Don't use it.
How a filament behaves is dependant on your particular printer and the environment it runs in. Always Start with the manufacturers recommended settings and work on from there.

Thank you all for your advice! I will test the settings you all recommended, and post any updates that I find :)