kusmaulk Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 My stitch regulator on my Millennium is out of whack Every so often it will race and do 900 stitches per inch, or slow way down and make great big stitches. I called APQS, and we tightened one of the wheels, and it was better for awhile, but is acting up again. My question is - how often do these wheels need to be replaced? I have done around 150 quilts since purchasing the machine new a year and a half ago. Have any of you had experience with this problem? thanks much, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmyhogan Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 I don't think that it has anything to do with the wheels. Have you called APQS to ask the experts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newellyn Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 I've had the same issues. I sent the head back in once and the circuit board was replaced. It worked for awhile then started again. I've called and emailed many times. I've tightened the wheels, switched two wires on the circuit board, sanded paint off some areas as directed. Again it worked for awhile but started acting up again. It is about to go back to factory again. Fortunately it is still under warranty and hopefully the shipping will be refunded. Last time it cost me $170 to ship. I only quilt my own quilts and haven't done any where near 150 quilts. In short, I feel your pain. Hopefully we will both get this issue resolved. The good thing is, I've been forced to learn to quilt unregulated which is fine for edge to edge but not so great for SID and other ruler work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewlinzi Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 Interesting - this happens to me too every so often. I wondered if it was wear and tear because I do a lot of dense fillers but I have not done over 100 quilts yet. The other theory I had was variable power surges which we are not supposed to get in the UK so I'll be interested to see how you solve it in the end. LINZI x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kusmaulk Posted October 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 When I mentioned tightening the wheels, I meant the encoder wheel against the carriage (?) wheel. Today I checked the table with the level and made a tiny adjustment. I measured across in several places and found that my table is indeed 23 and 3/4 inches across all the way. I loosened my wheels slightly. They are clean and thread free. However, the stitch regulator got worse and worse. It seems to go into convulsions, and I have zero control. I will call for help on Monday, but I hoped that someone out there would have some experience or advice for me this weekend. On the bright side, I took some time today to clean up and organize my workshop. I put a lot of things away and found my counter space again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 Karol, did you purchase your longarm through a local dealer? Perhaps you can call him/her for advice. Usually they can be contacted on the weekends. Give it a try and good luck, dear!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lym95 Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 You might try pulling the connectors between the encoder and the machine apart and resetting them. While you have them apart check the pins inside to be sure they're all the same height so they reconnect solidly. If all else fails, give Amy a call and she'll work you through troubleshooting. It might save the shipping bill... mrmargie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyA Posted November 1, 2008 Report Share Posted November 1, 2008 Hi, I had the same problem. Then I read an article in the mag Unlimited Possibilities about blowing out the motor and checking the brushes. Once I had my on-site mechanic take care of it the racing stopped within 2 days and has not happened again in the last 3-4 months. Prior to that is was whenever I was working from the front of the machine. have you blown out the motor at all? My large stitches were because my encoder wheels had begun to wear. Dawn told me how to adjust the wheels to pull them in closer (and then I also ordered some) Both these adjustments were made a couple weeks apart. No racing, no large stiches in MONTHS. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb2bie Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 Karol, Even if you didn't purchase thru a sales Rep., you can call someone near you or not. We don't have territories and most are available to help. That being said, your problem sounds like something that Amy or someone at the factory will need to solve. The encoder wheel does wear and I don't think there is any set number of quilts or hours that will indicate the need for adjustment or replacement. If you've moved it once, you know how to do it again so go ahead and move it closer again. Just a little bit. Even if this helps and you are able to quilt today, I'd still call Amy on Monday and see what she says. Can you tell if it's the front to back encoder or the left-right one? If you adjusted one, the other might need it now also. Let me know if I can help any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 It might help to find the adjustment plug and screw for the needle up/down positioner, and adjust according to your manual. That's what was happening with our Lenni, and solved the problem. it seems every time ours goes nuts while stitching, it also takes more stitches than one when we use the needle up/down feature. We were also told it was power surges, but our touch lights weren't coming on, nor the TV turning off and on.. we did get the power surge protector box, a big pricy one, and haven't found anything different. When it happens now, we just adjust the needle up down and the marathon stitching when quilting stops. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloria Byers Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 My Stichregulater keeps moving from 11 to 0 while I am stitching what needs to be done to fix this? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Gloria it sounds to me like your encoder wheels aren't making good contact. You can email Amy and she can send you directions to make adjustments. I think they are in the manual too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyA Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 the moving of 11 to 0 I would think is more the electronics since the machine is not stopping or skipping stitches when this happens. I've had it happen to me as well. Then at one point I had to replace one of the boards - but it was not because of this. But it may be a symptom I would think. I simply turned off the machine and waited a few minutes and turned it back on. But definetly take Heidi's advice and check in with Amy. I usually email her and get a fairly quick response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 I didn't realize it was stopping completely. Well Kathy would be right something with a connection. Either the board is bad or there is a loose wire. Again call Amy and she has directions to change the wiring and do some trouble shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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