MakerFarm Prusa i3v Extruder Not Feeding Properly

I've purchased and assembled a MakerFarm 8" Prusa i3v printer. I'm now trying to set up a first print, but when I run it, the printer won't extrude enough material to even lay down. I can't retract the idler and insert the filament because it won't catch on the hobbed bolt when I use pronterface to try and extrude filament. I can only get filament to feed into the hot end and extrude by removing the extruder from the X carriage, removing the spring-tensioned bolts from the idler, and threading the filament through the hole and reassembling the whole extruder. Then, I can finally get it to extrude some material, but it won't extrude fast enough to print. After manual extruding 25mm (which is pulling in more like 15mm or less), it will stop pulling and the filament won't move. I've marked the filament to test this.

I'm using a 0.35mm J Head hotend, which seems to be a mistake being that this is my first printer. It seems like that nozzle is suited for more advanced users being that the nozzle diameter is smaller. The whole filament issue is really annoying and kind of disappointing being that the build guide includes a video where Colin at MakerFarm simply threads it in and starts printing.

Any help would be great! I'd be happy to include images or video of just about anything you need.

The smaller the nozzle, the higher the pressure in the melt chamber and the harder the extruder has to work. That means at least a couple of things need to be just right: the tension on the extruder idler and the reference voltage of the extruder stepper driver. If the first isn't high enough (the idler isn't screwed down enough), the filament won't be gripped strongly enough to pull through (although too tight and you run into other problems). If the stepper motor isn't receiving enough current it won't have enough power to push filament through.

I believe the makerfarm prusa instructions has a section on adjusting the stepper drivers.

It's also vitally important you don't get any dust working its way down to the nozzle. Clean your nozzle and install a dust trap on the filament. You can clean your nozzle by setting the temp to about 230c, letting it settle, then setting it to the glass transition temperature of your filament or just above (I think about 70c for PLA, but a quick google will get the correct numbers). Let it settle there and then pull the filament out. If you see a straw at the end of the filament you pulled out, the cleaning is working. Repeat a couple of times for a thorough cleaning. Thingiverse has a bunch of filament dust cleaners.