Edit: I see where you said you tried VREF tuning with no success?  What, exactly, did not work.  Here is solidoodle's instructions:
http://support.solidoodle.com/hc/en-us/ … ip-Voltage

Like in this picture from the documentation, except my tubing goes to my just before my gears. I can't tell from your picture if you have it installed.

I have no idea whats going on but I think I would check out the following things if that happened to me:

1 - vref adjustment to be as smooth as possible
2 - adjust tension arm and check for smooth movement - bearing could be under too much pressure to move freely
3 - make sure your stepper motor connections are secure (some pulses on alternating coils may be weaker than others)
4 - try swapping the extruder motor driver with a different driver to make sure the driver hasn't died
5 - clean the hotend very thoroughly to make sure there is no debris or partial clog
6 - buy a new 3D printer (j/k)

Good luck

Edit - clogs can happen on new stuff too - you really want to check closely just in case - especially for something like a little burr somewhere like Ian mentioned

Does it make a difference if you increase the temp? I've seen filament do something like that with a partial clog.   I wonder if the nozzle had  little bit of a burr left somewhere or some other machining problem.

Nope, I've tried everything from 215 to 300 and nothing seems to work. I dont think it's a clog because everything is pretty new on it.

Does it make a difference if you increase the temp? I've seen filament do something like that with a partial clog.   I wonder if the nozzle had  little bit of a burr left somewhere or some other machining problem.

Nope, I've tried everything from 215 to 300 and nothing seems to work. I dont think it's a clog because everything is pretty new on it.

elmoret wrote:

Can you post a picture of how you assembled the e3d?

It's just a regular set up.

That tension arm seems a bit tight...try backing that off.

Also, if you sharpie a black dot on the extruder gear and then hit extrude 10mm (at heat), take a look and see if the rotation is smooth or sputtered.

Also, you can post a video on Youtube and just put the link here.

IronMan wrote:

Try the vref adjustment as Ian pointed out...

+1 past that we need a video of it in action to really help.
Also might try some different filament or drying that stuff out.

The server won't let me upload a video (too large). I have tried other filaments and are getting the same results. And I tried the Vref thing that Ian was saying with no sucess.

Can you post a picture of how you assembled the e3d?

It's just a regular set up.

Try the vref adjustment as Ian pointed out...

+1 past that we need a video of it in action to really help.
Also might try some different filament or drying that stuff out.

That's a huge diameter...dumb question, but you do have a nozzle installed, correct? :-)

Yes, I have a 0.4 mm brass nozzle on it