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Fustrated with changing tension


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I'm going crazy!  I quilted on my Millie all day yesterday.  Had some preliminary tension issues but was able to adjust the top tension with no further problems.  After work today I wanted to finish the quilting and the tension is horrible!!  The top tension is very loose!  The only difference is I turned off the machine last night and turned it back on tonight .  

 

No one touched the machine while I was at work unless I have goblins in the house.  

 

I'm using magna bobbins and glide tec thread.   I put in a fresh needle yesterday before starting this quilt and oiled/cleaned Millie.  Should I be cleaning the tension disks?

 

Comments/suggestions

 

Thanks

 

 

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If your top tension is too loose, your thread may not be seated between your tension disks. You CAN clean between the disks. Check your thread path, making sure that your thread is traveling properly through each of the thread guides and is seated between the tension disks.

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And they don't even wait over night - take a lunch break and go upstairs for a quick sandwich - gremlins take over!   Very strange . . . and very frustrating!!  Go figure. 

So, start all over with the threading, quick cleaning, changing the bobbin, etc,. etc. etc.  I even tried to blame the cat and she's still laying under the Christmas Tree oblivious to my issues.

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Imdaniluk:  Did you unthread your machine and warm it up before you began tonight?  I resentlly had a problem with my Gammill Classic.  I was getting all sorts of lint from thread that typically doesn't produce much, and I was having a devil of a time getting the top tension loose enough to get a balanced stitch.  I struggled through the quilt got it finished, and scratched my head in wonder.  The next time I used the machine, I changed thread.  I always tie off my new thread and pull it through the thread path so I don't have to bother re-threading my machine.  I threaded the needle and took a single stitch and pulled the bobbin thread up.  Pulling the two threads i could immediately tell there was way more tension on the top thread than on the bobbin.  I started looking at the thread path, and discovered that the thread had come out of the rotary tensioner on the Gammill.  The thread was rubbing on the inside edge of the tensioner.  When I saw that I knew why all the lint on the previous project.  If I hadn't been using YLI Longarm Professional thread, the top thread would have surely broken.

 

The point of all this is that apparently when I unthreaded back past the take up lever and warmed the machine up, the slack in the thread allowed the loop to come out of the tensioner.  Maybe something like that happened to your machine which would explain the change you noticed.  I've never had the thread come out of the rotary tension mechanism on the Gammill before.  Putting it back in place allowed me to adjust for proper tension again (I had to do a lot of tightening of the top thread to get them balanced)  Good luck looking for the problem.  Jim

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Many thanks for the comments.   I had verified several times that the top thread is between the tension disks and I must have re-threaded my machine at least 4 - 5 times..  I wasn't meant to quilt last night :(

 

I will try again after work.  Sending the gremlins to the north pole so they can annoy Santa :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi guys - I am a new APQS user - just quilted my very first quilt.  Tension problems?    OMG, dont get me started.   I guess it hasnt helped that I have had just a brief tuition on the machine (hoping to remedy that soon).   But I cant understand why just turning the machine off and on can cause a variation in tension.    Or same thread, but new bobbin (with preset tension on bobbin winder) and again, having to adjust the tension. I have watched Jamie Whallen's tutorial (he is so great) and it seemed dead easy.   LOL.  I am wondering whether the lazy spider is too loose for the APQS machines?    I see that Dawn recommends different inches of drop depending on fabric and style of quilting (ie heirloom v baby quilt).   But it is beyond frustrating!  Do other machines have this problem?   I tried a HQ Avante machine and their machine just rocked through the sample with absolutely no tension problems at all.

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Jimmy boy. What I found is that if you get rid of the mid tensioner and the the rotary tensioner you'll be set. This is what i do. Get rid of both and replace the rotary tensioner with a normal tensioner. Keep the thread guide up at the mid tensioner to support the thread path. Then all the thread problems go away. Zeke.....

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