pumpkinpatchquilter Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 I know this has been covered before but I cannot find it through searching the forums! I have been sewing along quilt after quilt with no problem until today! I am doing a dense E2E and first, my thread kept breaking every couple of inches. Changed the needle, loosened the tension in top and bobbin to match, checked the thread cone (Glide), rethreaded the pigtails in a different direction and the thread breaking seemed to stop. NOW I'm quilting along fine and all of a sudden there are no stitches, then it restitches again. So I have long sections unstitched but it keeps going! I am cringing at the thought of ripping all of this out as it is REALLY dense and I have a full tight schedule right now so I have to get this fixed tonight. UGH! The total breakage seemed to stop when I turned the needle a hair to the left...it just occured to me that maybe I should try turning it a smidge more to the left and see if it is better. However - is this timing or something else? I remember I had these issues when I first brought my machine home but I haven't had the problem since I retimed it...a year ago! LOL Gahh! Why does it do this? Do I need to time it again? I'm going to run and try turning the needle really quick...ack!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleyl Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Try a wd40 bath and good oiling and cleaning first, could be a piece of lint or a stuck piece of thread. If that doesn't work then check your timing. Shirley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathG Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Valerie, the last quilt I have just finished. I had a big problem. It seemed to start of stitching ok and the stitches looked fine.....BTW I was using IQ...anyways I let it get on with it. Go to start second row and realize there is a problem I was getting loose stitches on the top and then it would stitch fine then it seemed to jump a couple of stitches and then more loose stitches. Sometimes the thread would break. I frogged both rows as when I went to check the first row which I thought was ok. It wasn't , the colour of the thread and fabric hid the problems. It was quite a dense pattern so it took two days to frog. Anyways sorry for the long story....I restarted and stood and babysat the IQ, the same thing started to happen again ,this time I heard a little click sound. For some reason the thread was jumping out of the first pigtail after the take up leaver. I have never had that happen before. I was using Superiors lava thread. I had used Sewers Aid, I had the piece of wadding with sewers aid in the first guide after the cone. So I do not know why the thread was doing that. I completely re threaded more than once. I also changed the Pig tail to a new one. So I ended up putting it down to the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted April 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 I tried turning the needle again and no luck - boo! I wanted so much to finish this last night but I had to go to bed and sleep on it. Kath I will try checking the thread path again this morning...I did find an old post by Marci (whitepinesquilter) where Dawn mentioned it could be a burr on the hook assembly and had a downloadable file to look at...I'm a little nervous about buffing that area as I don't want to ruin thej piece but I did feel some catching and wonder if that's the problem. I have had a couple of bad jams and a few needle breaks recently on a very thick seamed quilt...so wondering if I either created a burr or threw it out of time. UGH! Up early and hoping to get it resolved today - I have so much work to do! Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted April 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 For anyone reading and also having issues or just curious a note - I found an old post of my own (go figure!) where Dawn shared the hook assembly maintenece file: http://forum.apqs.com/index.php?/topic/29231-timing-your-apqs-machine/?hl=%2Bburr+%2Bhook+%2Bassembly I also went through Amy's timing video...there are significant burrs on the "thumb" of the hook assembly!!! Ahhh! I think this could be my issue...is this area safe to buff? She goes on to talk about the hook area and where never to buff but doesn't mention the thumb area again. I will attach a photo so you can see what I'm talking about! Dawn are you reading? *fingers crossed* I double checked the needle depth at it's lowest point and it looks ok to me - as Amy says I should see the eye and a little silver above. I will attach a photo of this also to make sure it's not too deep either. So I'm going to say my best bet at this point would be to first find out if it is safe to buff that "thumb" area and if so try that. Any other ideas or thoughts? Anything I'm missing? DSCN4968 by Valerie/Pumpkin Patch Quilter, on Flickr DSCN4969 by Valerie/Pumpkin Patch Quilter, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted April 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 I posted this on another thread but I will share here too...j Just an update for anyone reading and curious - I'm pretty convinced it's a bad cone of thread. I did EVERYTHING I could think of. I went and bought emery cloth, buffed the burrs out of the hook assembly area, rethreaded through the pigtails about twenty different ways, adjusted the batting at the back of the machine, adjusted the tension several times from the bobbin to top, changed the needle, checked the timing, looked for collar play - UGH! I probably should have done it first, but I switched to a slightly bluer shade of Glide and just did an entire pass without issue. All I can think of is maybe I just got a bad cone? In any case, today will be spent frogging this quilt and then starting over with the new thread. Thanks so much for your help!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunningThreads Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Valerie One more thing you can check is needle bar play. Grab the needle bar and see if you can move it back and forth or side to side. There should be no play. If there is call Amy and she will get you fixed up quick. Pretty easy to fix and not too expensive either. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busy Quilting Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Valerie, If you have never changed the hook assembly it may be time to start thinking of doing that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted April 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 Nigel I will take a look at the needle bar, I never even thought of that! I did have a really scary jam a few weeks ago that I was terrified had caused some major damage. Maybe this is residual from that and didn't make itself known until I started using this thread. Thank you!! Lyn - yes I think you are right! For now, all seems to be working well, but a new hook assembly is on my radar. I realize these things do wear out - and I do a lot of quilting on this older previously owned machine. Thank you!! I am thinking it could be the cone but *shrugs* I suppose time will tell!! Thank you all for your wonderful and prompt help - I truly would be LOST without this forum and all of you who jump in with your ideas and experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted April 11, 2014 Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 It must be that time of year as I also was having loopy top stitches and read everything I could find and tried adjusting my hopping foot, it seemed to be too low as I couldn't get a business card under it. I had been quilting a vintage quilt top with lots of big thick seams and I think that forced it to be out of whack. After I adjusted it and made sure it was even, I then was back to good stitches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimerickson Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 Valerie: I'm late on the subject, but if you're still having the problem, it looks to me from your photo like your needle bar height needs to be adjusted. It seems to me that APQS suggests that 1/16" of the needle above the eye should show when the needle bar is at it's lowest position. It doesn't look to me like that much is showing. "Banging" the needle hard on a seam or ruler could force the needle bar up and account for the misadjustment. If changing the thread solved the problem, then you don't need to do anything. If on the other hand you still have the problem, take another look at your needle bar height. BTW, I think you can check if the hook is worn by grasping the spindel (the pin the bobbin case slides on) and trying to wiggle it. If there's movement, the hook is worn. If there's no movement it's still good. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaSteller Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 Give Fil-tec a call about the thread. While it is possible you've gotten a bad one, I've been using Glide almost exclusively since 2008, and I've never had a bad cone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustSewSimple Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 Val, I went through about a month of this. I did everything this side of sending it back (no I didn't time it - you know I can't do that). Mine would stitch for many inches and then skip one or two stitches and then keep stitching. I never did figure out the issue. Then one day it cleared up - like a bad headache. I have no idea what-so-ever what the problem was. I feel sure mine was not thread as I changed many cones during that time; nor was it the needle as that was also changed several times. Whatever gremlin was visiting I hope he stays away in the future! Freedom does seem to prefer when I wind the bobbins myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted April 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 Thank you all for the help and suggestions!! I love this forum!! Jim - hmm...I will double check the needle bar height but I *think* it's correct. You've been doing this much longer than me so I could be wrong. If you click on the photo it should take you to my flickr album where you can see it closer (if you would like to)...there is a bit of metal above the eye of the needle showing and this photo is of my needle bar in its lowest position. Maybe there should be even more showing? Linda - I almost feel guilty because I did have a bad spool of thread not that long ago with Fil-tec! The cone was wound wrong and unusable - they sent me out a replacement. I don't want them to think I'm trying to get free thread!! LOL!! I will play around and see if I can't make it work on my Juki - but I do think it was the thread. I've since finished that quilt and am working on another - no issues at all and I've used five or six different cones of Glide in the mean time with no problem. Thank you all so much!!! Gosh this is THE place to come to cover all your bases!!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnCavanaugh Posted April 22, 2014 Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 Hi Valerie and Jim, Just clarifying on the timing question you have regarding needle depth. On and Ultimate II, the needle depth would be about as low as Jim suggests. However, with all other APQS machines, the needle depth is correct when you see the entire eye of the needle just below the "roof" of the bobbin basket, and maybe just a smidgen of silver above the eye. If one were to measure how much silver should show, it wouldn't even be half the height of the eye itself. Of course it does depend on the angle at which you're viewing the eye--for best results, push the machine all the way back and stick your head up in the quilting space to get a 'dead on' look if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted April 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Thank you so much Dawn! I appreciate that!!! I have an Ultimate 1 so it sounds like what I am looking for is correct...from my view I think it's ok. If it continues to give me issues maybe I'll persue this further...but I am pretty sure it was the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.