AnnHenry Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Terrible noise! Broken needle. Machine won't move. Thread jam that took forever to resolve. Cause: loose needle. When I went to remove the needle, the screw practically fell into my hand! I was so shocked. I had done a couple of small quilts so hadn't felt that I needed a new needle, but now I know that I need to check the needle screw every day when I don't change the needle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBQLTN2 Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 I hope it is okay. Hope the timing didn't get messed up or something broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliagraves Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Anytime you break a needle, always check your timing and for burrs in the needle plate or on your bobbin hook assembly. Take the needle plate off and use very fine emory cord to buff out any nicks. Be very careful not to work on the tip on the hook assembly where it's very sharp (this is the metal pieces that hold your bobbin case)- you'll have to replace the whole assembly if you dull this because it won't be able to catch the thread when it spins around. Use a lot of WD-40 and really clean out everything well - you don't want any metal shavings in your hook assembly. One clue that you have nicks is that the thread will shred below the needle. Good luck! Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhend Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Be careful not to strip your needle bar screw hole either. I had to replace mine as the needles would not stay in anymore because I could not get the screw tight. I did try to re-tread (right word?) the old hole, per Amy's instructions, but without success. Replacing the whole bar is a PITA and try to avoid it if at all possible. Lesson learned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 On this "wonderful" star quilt that I am attempting to cross hatch, I have broken five needles and retimed my machine 4 going out for the 5th timing sequence now. It is scary the first time and after that, just another day in the studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnHenry Posted December 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Thank you for your comments. Jhend, how does one go about stripping the tread, so I can avoid doing it? I finished that quilt without problems once I resolved the needle issue. Now I have another quilt loaded (3/4" triangles, so a bunch of seams) and new spool of thread, and this thread has broken three times just trying to SID the top border. So I put it to bed and hoped the gremlins would be gone by morning, but I haven't tried yet today. If it were going to cause a broken thread problem, wouldn't it have done it on the other quilt? Although that was poly thread, come to think about it, and now I am back to King Tut. Maybe I need to check further. I haven't had many problems with my machine, so I don't know much about maintenance yet. I haven't done the timing yet, but imagine I'll have to learn one of these days. If only I didn't have to learn maintenance! If only I could just quilt on a machine that never needed maintenance! We all have our fantasies. (Mine used to involve men. Now they involve my quilting machine. What does that say?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roberta Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Thanks for the heads up! it is greatly appreciated. I have never checked to see if my needle screw is secure and frankly, the whole re-timing thing sounds a little scary for me. I am not ready for it yet ... I hate to admit that my fantasy life resembles your a little too much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Great advice to also check on the needle each day! I learned the hard way when I first got my milli on how to set the tension. It came to me with some of the screws missing in the bobbin area and the first time I turned it on it went wham and the needle broke and the timing was toast! APQS sends out very good detailed instructions on how to reset the timing. Anyone can do it, just have a good magnifying lense and alot of patience and you can do it! I was upset at the time but now am glad that I know how to retime the machine. Vicki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhend Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I really don't know how I stripped the threads, my guess by over tightening it or just wear and tear. There are just some threads that I can not use and KT is one of them. I stick to ARC thread or Isacord. I use Superior SoFine for detail work and Bottom Line for bobbin. I think it's all a crap shoot sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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