The reality is any $250 3d printer will have challenges.I have  a kit build that cost about the same money then added upgrades. Then i had to invest time in the build I considered it education, cheaper than a course at a county college.   
The question comes up what is the best printer to start with. And there are many answers.
So in an ideal situation we research for the best printer. Then we buy one and the reality sets in. And then its not about choosing a printer but learning how to use the printer that was chosen.
Welcome to the adventure.
Tin

Yeah for a 3d printer that's pretty cheap. I don't think even today (Jut noticed the age of the thread) we have a printer that is in that range and does a good job. For now, just visit your local university or college to use a good quality printer. A lot of them have them now.

Ill be buying a Flash forge Finder the end of the month :-)

But the Brim did work the best for bending at the corners :-)

My tube feeder keeps popping off after so long. this has happened a few times, I've just put the spare nozzle on.

The black grommet keep popping off on the one that was pre-installed, so ill see what happens yet again.

Ill see how it goes for a few days, if not I'm taking my money back and ill buy a better version!.

Well that may be the best choice  . Hate to see you give up too easy but on the other hand why get stuck with a lemon if you have one and can get a refund towards a better printer.

I expect a few quality checks but probably not a long print.

Sounds like the exdtruder motor may be over driven and over heating.

If you look at this from the consumer side  yes the thing should work out of the box and for at least a year.
Now from the business side.
A good quality name brand well engineered 3d printer will retail for around $2500 USD.
And we all know that is a bit high for most of the home hobby market. And even $500 is not pocket money for most people. So how does one put a printer on the market for 10% the cost of a good printer? Profit from  filament sales by nfc tags is part of it. Mass production mass sales helps but the bottom line is quality for the product will suffer. There is no or little money for quality control at any level and they have to source the cheapest parts and keep assembly cost to a minimum.
The old adage you get what you pay for. Unfortunately the customer is lead to believe they are getting plug and play and in many cases you get a pre assembled kit that needs tuning and set up.
And like i mentioned earlier a kit of parts is hard to find cheaper than a davinci Jr.

Good luck we are here to help.
Tin

So after 3 prints of 2 hours each print has failed half way or just over due  to the filament getting stuck in the gears.

Do they actually test these before they are shipped, I shouldn't have spend any more cash on something that is brand new buying new gears ect ect.

They should repair the faults for free, its 2 days old now and I've managed to do 2 small prints.

If you bought a new car and went don't the road on the 2nd day and they gears failed, okay ill just spend £5000 on some gears!.

I can see why it only has a 90 day warranty!.

Ill see how it goes for a few days, if not I'm taking my money back and ill buy a better version!.

englewood82 wrote:

I've managed to get it unblocked, was stuck in the feed gears somehow

Nightmare, lets see what happens next.

Welcome to 3D printing !

Scobo is correct, it's a bit of a challenge until you figure it out.

Ok, I have a JR also. I did a few mods on it and now it works pretty well. The first thing to check would be if the bed is level. I had to print a shim to put under the right hand side of the rod the hot end rides on to make that happen.

Next you need to make sure that you have the Z axis set at the correct height. You can take two pieces of paper, lay them down on the bed, now set your Z setting in the menu. The paper should pull out with just a little friction. Check the complete be to make sure it is level.

I added "PRINTinZ Skin 3D Printer Bed Surface" to my print bed to help in removing my prints. This was only $10.25.

Lastly is changed out my filament stepper motor. This was probably the best mod I did. I no longer have any clunking/grinding noise from it.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me.

I've managed to get it unblocked, was stuck in the feed gears somehow

Nightmare, lets see what happens next.

Welcome to 3D printing !

Nightmare, lets see what happens next.

Seems to be stuck, this printer is a day old.

I can print with the door open.

Yes sorry I was just annoyed with 10 tried prints and the warping.

of course you were ! Not knowing what to fix or how to fix it is frustrating. But there are forums like this one that you can get help!!!! I would be frustrated with 10 bad prints in a row as well.

Also dust can be your enemy you may want to clean the bed with alcohol or acetone.
Another option is use blue painters tape.

I learned to print on window glass coated with aqua net hair spray. Borosilicate glass is better but 10 time s the money vs window glass.  Some folks like Elmers glue stick,
Adding glass may require you to move or adjust the z limit switch.

I do not know ,hopefully a Jr owner can chime in.

the Jr is a pla machine so pla benefits from a layer fan  and ventilation . So air flow is good for prints.
Can you print with the door open?

Tin

I have disabled the back fan and tried a brim and ill try the other options from the link you sent.

Is it possible to set the temp on the bed with JR?

I'm printing directly to the sheet of adhesive that comes with the printer

I'm not happy, if this continues ill be sending the printer back fro a refund.

Even after 2 + years I occasionally have first layer adhesion issues.Time to really clean the bed. 

3D printing is not for the faint of heart or faint of mind. It takes patience ,perseverance and sometimes a bit of Perspiration. Do your homework and learn what it takes to succeed.
The media hype of make things with the push of a button is to be nice just hype.

Your issue is common and I expect almost all  first time operators struggle with first layer issues.
I say most because I am fortunate to have a friend who is a 3d printing expert/professional to help me get started with great advise. That said proper machine tuning is a must.

First of all tram the bed
second of all you may need to use hairspay or glue stick on the bed
you may also need to slow down the first print layer.

This link should help you sort out common problem

https://www.simplify3d.com/support/prin … eshooting/