PLZ HELP! Cross Bars too high for CL??

[njquiltergirl]

Hi.

I can not finish a quilt and do not know how to fix the problem, let alone know the cause.

My 12' table has the clear plexi surface. The carriage has cleared the CL unit with templates with no resistance. Last time I used this exact set up was in late July.

Today, the cross bars (silver tubes that connect the front and back rails the wheels ride along) seem too high to allow the machine carriage to pass over. It gets stuck and I can not sew. The clear plastic table top seems to hang down between the tubes slightly.

Does that make any sense??

I have had the MM wheels since last winter and had no problems in July using the very same CL template/set up. No changes other than thread and a good cleaning have been made.

The machine can not pass over the template, so I can not make the designs. My 2007 Liberty gets stuck. I cleaned the underside of the carriage - found some lint but that is it.

Do I lower the cross bars? If so, how??

Hubby wants to raise the carriage but that effects the frame height and more possibly.

What made them move - swell - rise??

I work in an attic room with air conditioning. It does get hot when I am not working there. My husband wonders if our recent humidity may be to blame. Plastic, metal humidity...makes no sense to me. We did get tons of rain from the recent storms.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated! Thanks.

[Katydids]

Lisa, the cross tubes don't move or swell. The lexan table top is flexible and when you have the cl unit or template in between where the cross tubes are it will actually get lower allowing the carriage to ride over.

You can't change the position of the cross tubes. you have to raise the carriage to ride over the cl unit. This is why in the directions, Michael has instructions on raising the carriage.

Yes, you will have to raise the rollers some if you raise the carriage.

Try positioning the unit in different areas along the table and you will probably see areas that you can make the design and then other areas (over the cross tubes) that you can't get the carriage over the unit.

Hope that makes sense.

[njquiltergirl]

Wow, what a night, as the song goes.

Here I was feeling a bit lost and wrote our forum. Within minutes Dawn Cavanaugh wrote directly. And Patty posted with very specific info.

Then the phone rang...it was our very own Michael from Circle Lord ridingon his white horse to rescue me!!

Between the two of them the mystery was solved. When I installed the MM wheels, the carriage needed to be raised with 3 or 4 washers to accommodate the CL designs. The long boards need a 1/2" clearance from the clear Lexan plastic table surface up to the bottom of the carriage. The smaller templates (which sit atop the stepping plate) need 5/8" clearance for the machine to pass over them. You take that measurement at the center of the cross bar with your carriage rail right on top of it. Like most tables, mine has high spots at the cross bars...then the Lexan dips slightly.

My machine was set up for only a half inch clearance. I must have been very lucky since installing the new wheels months ago - I used the CL set up many times and some how missed all my table's high spots! I recall it being snug with one quilt but was able to push down on the CL base plate and the machine went over it and made a nice design, as usual. Yesterday it was like cutting through cement. That baby did not budge!

Michael was able to quickly diagnose the situation. At first he thought it may have been our recent earthquake that shifted the table a bit and put things out...since I used the set up many times since getting the wheels on. Then we realized there were only two washers in place and not the required clearance.

So Kudos to Michael for coming to my rescue!

Huge thanks to Dawn for explaining the effects of raising the carriage and how to fix those possible issues (leveler bar, etc.). She calmed me instantly....way after normal working hours.

Great thanks to Patty - the facts were just what I needed to put some fears aside. My husband thought all the rains may have swelled parts...even certain plastic he said in his work can be affected by too much moisture. That set my mind spinning!

So, up I go to get that quilt done with thanks to all of you.