PLA material

I just got my printer. everything is appears to be setup, however I'm having what seems to be a mechanical problem. The filament does not flow through the extruder. When I remove the filament from the extruder I notice grinding marks on the filament. I've tried loosening the screws, I've tried tighten the screws. I'm using the sample filament and there's nothing obstructing it's path.
I've attached an image of a piece of filament

Any ideas of what to try?

Oops looks like I posted this in the wrong location. Sorry

 

doesn't look like the end of the filament is getting into the melt zone of the hot end. What temperature is the hot end at when you try to extrude? When you heat up the hot end and insert the filament do you feel it hard stop or can you push it through and watch the filament come out the hot end? If you feel a hard stop there is something clogging the hot end.

 

It might be stuck on the edge of the PTFE tube or the screw that holds it in. Make sure you trim the filament diagonally or to a point before inserting it. Usually the filament gets stuck on that ridge a bit. Try straightening the filament out by hand to get rid of the curl from the reel. Also give it a twist. That can help it get past the ridge.

 

Is the right hand side of the photo the side that was inserted? There should be about 6.5 cm from the hobbed bolt (the last grooves toward the reel) to the melt zone. I think the photo does not show that side.

 

Hi, sorry got dragged away for Valentines day. The photo side was the side facing the hobbed bolt. If I manually insert the filament I can get it come out of the extruded. A one point the printer printed about four layers, but never consistently consistently flowed through.

Michael, the hot end is about 195 degrees, I've also had it happen at 210 degrees. Yes, hard to insert.

I have to apply considerable pressure to get the filament through the extruder

 

Okay I think I have this resolved. Thanks. I got about 12 good layers of the Z-axis top stabalizer printed before the print started coming apart. Progress