1: I dismantled my extruder and put the hot end in an acetone bath for a couple of days.

2: I put the filament in the oven at 95 degrees C for an hour and then stored it in a sealed container with some desiccant.

As I say, not sure which one fixed it, but I suspect it was drying the filament out. Either way, the continual extruder jams stopped once I did these things.

1. Pinching Issue with Cable.  I was using a rubber band.. but it kept on slipping off.  It wasn't thick enough to securely sit in the slot for the wire.  All it did was put a knot in the rubberband and jammed it in the slit.  Now it is not coming loose.

2.  Extruder Jamming - Well.. I was looking through the forum and I guess my extruder isn't jamming in the sense of being clogged.  I think my issue is referred to as the "Thumping" issue.  I took the advice of other forum members and tweaked the pot.  I only needed an 1/8 of a turn, and now no more thumping sound.

I was actually able to successfully print an object to completion!!  I am pretty stoked.  My press was part of the second batch that arrived.  I have been so busy that I havne't had time to really tackle these problems.  Thank you everyone for your help!!  Just to let you know.. in this time span.. I only received 2 responses from Solidoodle support

- Ton

I have had moisture in filament cause an extruder jam in a BulldogXL which is near impossible to jam.

Wow, that sounds like pretty soggy ABS - I take it you're not near TiTON?  If your filament is *that* moist, it'll also probably come out bubbly and bumpy from steam pockets, like moist nylon. (nylon picks up a lot of moisture easily.)

I haven't had that problem with ABS, but it's pretty dry here and I keep my filament boxed up.  It's interesting - on reprap.org, I've seen people post on both extremes - some swear that they print flawlessy in sweaty seaside summers leaving their filament hanging on their printer, while others store their filament under vaccuum and heat their bowden tube to pre-dry filament. Makes me wonder if different plastic recipes behave differently within a plastic family such as ABS.

I will note that professional injection molders carefully pre-dry their pellets before molding, (especially for PLA), where the heat and dwell time, combined with moisture, can partially decompose the plastic, making it brittle and weak.  Reprap opinions are all over the map as to how much that applies to FDM, due to the differences in temp and dwell time. (Nice topic for a college paper, someone out there?) I have yet to see a post on measured moisture level for filament stored over dessicant. (Nice science fair project?) I use dessicant anyhow because it's easy.

I'm not aware of moisture causing extuder jamming during printing. (I should have labelled my addition as a side comment to Goshdarnit.)

Moisture impacts warping a bit in ABS. Drying the filament did let me finish one print that was getting enough shell warping that the nozzle knocked the part loose from the platform. (The filament in my Press was shipped unsealed across the ocean, so in those weeks it picked up some moisture.)

Moisture can cause other problems, but if you live in a dry area and aren't making structurally demanding parts, then it's not too much of an issue for ABS.

In the name of clarity for others reading this...
Moisture in ABS filament can and does cause extruder jamming issues.  As the moisture boils off it creates back pressure in the nozzle making it harder for the filament to extrude.  That isn't smoke coming out of the nozzle it is steam.  If you don't see it, look closer. 
I have had moisture in filament cause an extruder jam in a BulldogXL which is near impossible to jam.

Moisture impacts warping a bit in ABS. Drying the filament did let me finish one print that was getting enough shell warping that the nozzle knocked the part loose from the platform. (The filament in my Press was shipped unsealed across the ocean, so in those weeks it picked up some moisture.)

Moisture can cause other problems, but if you live in a dry area and aren't making structurally demanding parts, then it's not too much of an issue for ABS.

Thanks for the response.  I have been seeing reference to the rubberband trick for the cable being pinched, but I have not see a picture of it being used.  Do you have a picture of your cable tie trick?

Goshdarnit & Trayracing,

Is moist ABS really an issue?  I am in SoCal, so its not to humid down here.

- Ton

1: That's a common issue. A lot of people use a rubber band, but I solved it just by putting a cable tie around the cable and looping it through the gap between the hinge in the back left corner of the Press. That forces the cable to lie sideways from left to right and stops it getting in between the extruder and the left hand side of the Press, which is what causes the problem.

2: I am going through this too. I suspect it is down to the ABS absorbing moisture, as I have been running the printer so much that I just left the filament in it. It's been in there since I got it, so not stored in a closed box with desiccant. The last couple of days I am getting really bad extruder jams, which wasn't happening before. I'll try with some new filament once my desiccant arrives. Don't want to open my new filament until I've got a means to store it properly. Desiccant is due for delivery within the next couple of days.

Trayracing - thanks for the tip on the brim in slicer.  I haven't even been able to jump into slicer, but will take a look.  Thanks again.

Now I have two other annoying issues.  Going to hunt through the forum.  Have any of you guys encountered / fix these issues:

1.  Cable from Extruder head gets pinched during autoleveling.
2.  Extruder jams during printing. 

- Ton