skipping stitches

[Anne Que]

Hello,

I have a Millennium with Intelliquilter. I usually sew with LAVA, So Fine, Omni and rarely with King Tut. 

I use King Tut now and the machine skips stitches, 2, 3 or even 4.

I checked everything I could think of. Can it be that I have the upper tension too loose?

Anne Que

[Quilting Heidi]

Anne it all has to do where the hook and needle meet.  I'm not sure why you'd get that problem with King Tut and not the other threads.  I think Dawn is going to have to explain why that would happen.  Sorry I'm of no help.

[LisaC]

Anne, also change needles or check to see if your needle is in correctly.

[mark]

Yep Anne, change your needle first and see what that does.  If that doesn't work then try a different thread to see what happens.  If all else fails, you can take a look at the timing from the maintenance manual that you got from me at Claudia's.    

[Anne Que]

Thank you all for your advice. So I changed my needle and it seems alright but I have learned not to speak to soon. In the first row it skipped to times two stitches, and than it was fine. Which is strange I think because why would it do that? At this moment I cannot change threads because there is a customers quilt on my machine and she requested the King Tut.  I will wait and see and indeed, if all fails will have a look at the timing. That is however something I do not look forward to. To doctor at the machine I mean. Especially because I live so far away from the real mechanics. 

regards Anne

[Bekah]

I hope you are having better luck Anne.  I would try turning my needle just a tad so your eye is at 6:35 and not 6:30, does that make sense? Sometimes when that happens to me I just have to adjust a little bit.

[DawnCavanaugh]

Anne,

 

King Tut pulls really hard on the needle, which can make it flex away from the hook and cause the skipped stitches. You can try a LARGER needle (go up to a 4.5 if you have it, which is often better with King Tut). Also, if you can try slowing the IQ down a bit, that reduces needle flex.

 

If your top tension is too loose, that would not cause it. But if your top tension (and bobbin tension) are very TIGHT, then that increases how much that needle bends with every stitch. The more the needle bends, then it has a greater chance of pulling away from the hook. The hook then misses the thread loop behind the needle, causing the skipped stitches. If the skipping happens when you move the machine to your left or away from you, that's what is most likely happening.

 

You may want to move off your project for a moment, and then loosen the top and bobbin tension quite a bit. Allow the bobbin case to drop to the floor with loose tension, and make the top really, really loose too. Then start over with setting the tension, first adjusting the top tension until your stitches begin to look nice again. When they look better, check the bobbin tension. You may be surprised that less tension on both will still give a good stitch.

 

Be sure your fabric is not too tight, which also makes the needle bend more. Let us know how it's going!

[Anne Que]

Thank you Dawn,

so I took a 4,5 needle, took your advise as well Bekah, and put it on 6.35. I slowed down my IQ which is already at a slow pace. I didn't have to take of my project because there was a little space left where I could practice. Eventually I had a very loose toptension and a bobbintension of 140 (Towa).

 

You are right, it only skips when it goes from right to left and from bottom to top. Alas, after all these changes it still did not work. 

 

Than I changed threads. I took Rainbows because that was the only color that came very close to the King Tuts. I do not like to work with Rainbows very much because I always have a lot of threadbreaking. But...lovely stitches! I turned up the bobbin tension up to 170. Took a needle 4. From previous experience I noticed that the thread breaks less with Rainbows and a needle 4.  Didn't skip a thing. Probably because the top tension was so low, the thread did not break once! In the border is a different leaf pattern and here the King Tut did not skip stitches. I will continue to use KT there because it will show to much difference when I use Rainbows there. 

 

My conclusion is that King Tut is the guilty one here. Wouldn't you think? Which is a pitty because I like the thread and the feel of it. Although I find the feel of the Omni thread very much alike and that ìs wonderful thread. For top and bottom. Lovely colours. Very strong, never breaks, beautiful stitches. And in comparison, quite inexpensive. (no, I do nòt have Omni stocks). 

 

Though I did not really solve the problem with the King Tut thread, I am out of the wood for now. I do not have a lot of KT but I am always reluctant to use it because of the trouble it always seems to ensue. I finally am comfortable with the tension on my machine and all that, so I thought I could have a go with the KT. 

I will send a picture when the quilt is done so that you can see which pattern caused the trouble and which didn't. Thank you again.

Anne

[Oma]

I've been following this thread (no pun intended). Not wanting to take away from Anne's original question, but along the same lines I am having a problem with skipped stitches. I asked the question on here then decided to start a new thread.

[DawnCavanaugh]

Oma,

 

I posted an answer to your problem in your other thread. Take a look. I think your issue is related to timing.

[clover_enge]

All of a sudden my machine is skipping stitches from 7 to 1. It was also shredding the thread. The thread is So Fine 50. I use So Fine most of the time. This particular color did shred previously. Bought a new spool of the same color and same problem. My husband watched as I sewed to see if he could see where the issue was coming from. He discovered the thread has filaments that come out from the main strand. These look to be getting pushed together and then finally will not go through the needle. I put Sewer's Aid on the batting I keep in the first thread guide and ran the thread through that and put in a 4.5 needle. It is going better with the shredding.

 

The skipping stitches continue. If I remember when I get to 7, I slow way down and it is OK.

 

Nothing has happened to get my machine out of time that I have noticed. I checked the needle assembly for movement. It is perfect.

 

Any ideas.

 

Nancy Engebretson

[zeke]

Hey Nancy. Try running your fingernail over the hook to check for burrs. Also check the guide above your needle for a groove. Zeke.

[Cagey]

Nancy:

 

First off I suggest you grab a spool of thread that is the same brand, but just a different color.  See how that works.  Then check to see if your new spool you are having issues with is from the same lot number.  We tend to buy our thread from the same store.  The "Thread Doctor" has a video on how to troubleshoot this type of thread issue.  Start at 1 minute and 12 seconds into the video;  https://www.superiorthreads.com/videos/thread-selection-and-troubleshooting-guide/

 

If you scroll down below the video on the link, it has a transcript of the video.  This is what he said near the end;

 

If you have2 spools of the same type of thread and neither work on your machine, chances are it's the machine setting. If you've gone through all of the

steps, that's where you take it into the tech and have them check it out.

There might be a burr on the thread path. Here is a common problem: I put cotton on my machine and it works great, I put poly on the machine and it
snags and it tears. Why? Lint built up or somewhere along the thread path there might be a little rough spot. If you have cotton thread going along
the thread path and it hits a rough spot or a burr guess what happens? It snags a piece of cotton, pulls out some lint and it keeps going. You have
poly where it's very smooth and it gets snagged, there's nothing to pull out. It'll tear the thread. That's why sometimes people say cotton
works, poly doesn't. It's probably the lint built up or a burr along the thread path.

In the end, rethread your machine, checking all the thread guides for burrs or lint build up.  Then clean you tension disk assembly, and do the same for your bobbin case.  Inspect the needle plate hole for burrs.  You will probably find you issue somewhere along the thread line.  Best of luck.

 

Cagey