The Culprit

After much consternation the last few days, I have finally solved the riddle of my extrusion problems.  The culprit...

The K-Extruder that I am using, is slipping AND chewing, which is causing barely any filament to be extruded.

While I have been raising the temperature higher and higher, the lower viscosity of the PLA was not helping it extrude any more than above.

Again, I found the solution to the problem when the "rocker arm" actually broke.  While I had to fix the arm to print, I used a small clamp to keep the bearing pressed against the filament.  That's when I realized my problem.  The extrusion problem immediately went away and I was printing at 205 C instead of 230 C.  Eureka!

I of course, immediately printed a replacement arm, and here it is, working better than the original...

I have printed an extra, just in case (or when) this one breaks.  So far, it has been strong enough to keep adequate pressure on the filament for the printer to work.   I am not sure how long this will last, but at least I know the source of my issue.

I have been considering another extruder option, and that is a "bowden extruder".  It's a simple and inexpensive change that may give me better extrustion AND better printing quality.  For now, I will see how well I can keep the K-Extruder working.