Ready to smash my printer... (Page 1 of 2)

The Kapton tape  doesn't go bad.  The outline shows the bed is level. The bed worked before so warpage is not the problem and it won't get warped as time goes on.
Try upping the extruder temp 10 degrees if your not at 210 already.
If that don't work you might have a partial clog in the tip. You will probably need to remove and clean the tip. Remove it hot so you don't break the barrel.

Not "bad" but it does get nicked and torn, which then leaves imperfections in the print, and areas where it won't stick as well.

You can't tell if a bed is level or not just by looking at it.  It has to be calibrated.  Which I have done many times.  I say it's warped because doing the level calibration using paper (I'm going to buy an indicator to have actual #'s), there is a larger, very noticible gap between the bed and extruder in the CENTER of the platform.

I'm at 200 already and that has been fine for the first couple of weeks. 

It also turns out that it seems to be fine for small parts, but when going to bigger parts that's when it really starts to have issues.  Thus the subject of this post

Ok, just did the Flow Rate Calibration (http://wiki.solidoodle.com/flow-rate)

I get a thickness of ~ .79 which if my calculations are correct, is too much material.

So I should be setting my multiplier to .53?  Will have to try it and see what I get.

Go to a music store and get guitar string.
what was your model wall thickness?

I tried the Glass option, and had really bad results.  I would also like to be able to use the printer as intended (without Hair Spray) if possible.  Since this is AZ and it's in my garage, keeping the temp up in the summer shouldn't be an issue.

If it was the same result as the picture, then it wasn't the glass.  What is happening in the photo is inconsistent extrusion, possibly from a partial clog.  If the poking around with a wire doesn't help, sometimes there is something going on in the PEEK insulator.  I used to have trouble with extrusion unless I ran a fan on the PEEK for the first minute or so of the print.  I think too much heat would get too high up while waiting for the print to start.  The filament would expand and cause too much friction in the PEEK.  Once the fan cooled it down enough, the steady supply of cool filament coming in would keep it from jamming again.  So if nothing you do with the nozzle helps, give that a try.

I am curious about your result with the glass since that has worked for everybody.  Make sure you clip at 2-3 corners, but not four.  As for using the printer as intended, it was intended that it would have a flat aluminum bed.  If the bed is concave, nothing you do is as intended.

I'm going to try the Glass Bed again and see if I get better results. 

I'll post a follow up after I do the testing.  Might not be today.

"Usually" is the operative word here.  Understand, if you are leaking plastic from the PEEK and barrel connection, then you more than likely have some trapped up there as well.  This is why Ian is recommending pulling the barrel from the PEEK and inspecting both ends in barrel and PEEK.

I'm doing mine tonight and I'll probably have to drill out the barrel, but at least that should clear up my clogging issues.

I know what you mean, the first 2 weeks went well, I had some really good prints. Then after running a 12 hr print that turned out  well, the hotend failed.I got a new one from SD , but its been downhill ever since. I had  few decent prints but I know I wasted 3/4 of roll of filament trying to get  it to print correctly. SD says the leaking between the peek and the barrel is "normal".  Also  the ptfe rose out of the peek about eighth of an inch which they say is "ok"umm what are  the Pins for?LIke you I need to go back to square one.It seems like  the bad prints started when I got the New hotend.

I'd go as far as to say it's safer in that it won't be as easily stressed and crack as ordinary glass, but for the purposes of printing it's exactly the same.

the solidoodle support people advise against doing this, suggesting that the peek tends to (or at least should) mate quite firmly with the barrel the first time it's heated.

They say that taking the brass out of the peek can ruin the threads in the peek making the part useless.

makes me wish that there was a flat spot on the barrel that we could put a 5mm crescent wrench on to undo the nozzle, rather than trying to hold either the peek or barrel to get the nozzle off.

glass + hair spray isn't a simple solution, I tried this (in the UK) with two different brands of hair spray in varying concentrations of spray and couldn't get the 1st layer to stick properly.

in the end I went back to kapton, I've now got a kapton sheet over the toip of the glass, so I keep the flatness of the glass, an keep the "easy-stick" of the kapton.

Nothing that a Dremel tool, flex shaft attachment and a steady hand can't hack..... erm, fix.

Ok, unclogged.  Luckily I was able to unclog it be cranking the heat up and using a paperclip.

I think the clog was due to the gear slipping again.  Tightened it down, and I am trying the full size print again.

I can see that's it still slips a little (but no where near what it did before).  I think the gear shaft is a bit worn due to the earlier slippage so it's not gripping very well.   Will have to find something to keep it in place better.

As for the Glass.  I'm a convert now.  I'm getting a lot better results now that it's dialed in.  Once I get the gear issue resolved, I should be good to go.