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Flatlining on back of quilt intermittently


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Hey scraphappy.

Try checking your thread path. I would put a piece batting in the thread guide above your spool. Wrap it around your thread. It makes the thread twist not so twisty coming off the spool. You also need to check your tension dics for thread lint. Check your two thread guides before your needle. Depending on how long you've been running your machine there maybe small grooves in them. I did notice that the flatlining only happens going right to left and visa versa. Also check your bobbin case for lint as well. Check under the bobbin case tension finger. Don't get frustrated, you can do it. Zeke

Second thought, don't worry about the guide above your spoon, you don't have the kind of guide that can be installed with batting. Make sure your intermittent tensioner thread guide is at about the 5:30 position. Sometimes the thread will slip out of the dics's and create your situation. I'm at 916-689-4992 if you have questions

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Thanks Zeke! I wish you could make house calls! I'm running a 2015 demo Millie I just got from their demo sale. I just got it not even 2 weeks ago. I just tried a So Fine 50, magna glide bob and same thing happened. Checked thread path and all you mentioned. I don't get it. I'm leaving it alone till tomorrow I think. Grrrrrrr!! Why?!

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Maybe someone who has run both Gammill and APQS machines can comment here.  I remember someone else (maybe Tracey Russell) having tension issues going from a G machine to the APQS.  I know they have a different style of tension assembly.  Scrap Happy I would try tightening the top tension another half turn and see if it is any better.  On my machine I quite often have my settings two turns different between thread types.

 

Nigel

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Kim:

 

You might try running your thread through the thread bar like this.  It helped me immensely, allowing me to run pretty much any thread without any major tension issues.  I do have to tweak the top an bottom tension a little, but the is about it.  You also need to have the bar over your tension disk like in the picture per Amy at APQS.  

 

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Best of luck with your tension issues.

 

Cagey

 

 

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Cagey, you might want to check the position of the three-hole guide over the tension assembly - normally, it should be in the 8/2 position. Yours looks a tad low. But I guess if it works for you, it's all good!!

And Kim, another place to check is the thread guide over your cone of thread - it should be directly over the center of your cone. If it has shifted forward or back (like in shipping), it can cause tension issues or even thread breakage.

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Barb:

 

I will try tweaking the thread bar up a little to the 8 o'clock position, though after I finish quilting the quilt I am working on.  I do not want to mess up what is working well for me now.  I just wish APQS would put these small things in the manual, or even upload a video to their site explaining them.  It might make things easier for new and seasoned APQS users.  Things get bumped and you wonder why what was once easy is now difficult.  Never mind your getting older, and cannot remember things.

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Cagey

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You should be able to use that combination successfully in your machine - I do it all the time, as do my newbie owners and renters.

 

I've attached a couple of documents that may help you diagnose what's going on. There's also a section in your manual (either on CD or flashdrive) that addresses Thread and Tension - it's got a lot of good information in it.

 

Do you have any APQS Reps close at hand who could give you some hands-on advice??

Thread Tug-of-War.pdf

13 Thread wisdom.doc

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Thank you so much! I will read all of this. I went in to see my rep today and agrees I just need to loosen top tension...she said to leave the bottom alone since it looks good. She said they'd come out to me if I can't get it. They are so helpful as are all of you! Also, is this the correct placement of the first thread guide? Thought I should double check that.

post-97086-0-31142200-1466293993_thumb.jpeg

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That thread guide may be the source of all your problems!!  It shouldn't be straight forward, but angled down so that the loop where the thread passes through is right over the center of your cone.  If that loop is out of place, the thread will pull easier off the cone on one side than the other, causing all your ills!!  Change that and see if your stitching looks like it should.

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Flatlining on top now. Adjusted guide above thread as seen above. My rep came out this morning and it was working great! The back of the quilt looks wonderful, it's just the top now. Everything was fine until I changed the bobbin which makes no sense because I put another of the same in. So Fine 50 on top, magna glide prewound on the back. I have loosened the top tension so much that the discs are jiggly! I am so frustrated I could scream!! I've checked thread path too. I just want to enjoy my new machine and now I dread even going up there to mess with it. :(post-97086-0-86277500-1466470648_thumb.jpeg

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As you changed the bobbin, I would clean the bobbin holder finger and make sure the tension is correct using a TOWA gauge or the drop test.  Also, if you wound your own bobbin, try winding the same thread onto a different bobbin.  Mark the bobbin, so you do not get them confused.  A bobbin can be bent and out of round.

 

Changing things slightly, can you feel the back bottom thread popping through to the front with your fingernail as Dawn discussed in her video with your fingernail?  If not, then the problem may just be in your eye as the needle hole is rather large compared to the small thread.  

 

If the top tension is that loose you will need to run your top thread through only two holes on the thread bar right above the tension disk.  When you remove the sandwich from the table, does the top thread not normally settle into the sandwich per Jamie Wallen's video?

 

Finally, I believe you will get it soon.  Myself, I would stop changing threads every other minute, and get comfortable with your new baby using one thread combination.  I know you want to be able to use every thread as you did on your Gammill, but changing things so much is only driving our nuts.  Your APQS must operate slightly different from your Gammill, so you need to stop the variables from changing until you figure things out.  Best of luck.

 

Cagey

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Flatlining on top now. Adjusted guide above thread as seen above. My rep came out this morning and it was working great! The back of the quilt looks wonderful, it's just the top now. Everything was fine until I changed the bobbin which makes no sense because I put another of the same in. So Fine 50 on top, magna glide prewound on the back. I have loosened the top tension so much that the discs are jiggly! I am so frustrated I could scream!! I've checked thread path too. I just want to enjoy my new machine and now I dread even going up there to mess with it. :(attachicon.gifimage.jpeg

 

Just curious - was the tension better after you adjusted the guide or was it better after your rep came out?  If better after the rep, what did the rep to to make it better?

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Scraphappy:  Dumb question, but did you put the magna glide bobbin in properly?  The magnet needs to go against the back of the case.

 

You are not the only one who has noted a tension change sometimes when the bobbin is changed.  It happens to me with some regularity.  I've never been able to figure out exactly why.  I just take a hard look at my stitches after a bobbin change, and adjust tension if needed.  The variables associated with bobbin changes is part of why I'm sold on M bobbin systems.  Fewer bobbin changes, fewer problems.  You do know that stitch length affects tension, don't you.  The more stitches per inch, the tighter the top tension will be.  If you change stitch length when quilting a quilt, check you stitches immediately after the change, and adjust accordingly.  Try using some Sewers Aid.  It actually makes the top tension looser, but seems to make the whole thread system smoother.  I'll put some on my finger, and then touch all my thread guides.  It seems to help reduce some of the variations in tension.  Hang in there, you'll show that new machine who's boss yet.  Jim

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