Quilting Heidi Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 I'm having problems with my SR and I don't know what else to check. I will be stitching along fine and then all of a suddent a get a longer stitch, maybe twice as long as the previous, then back to little. I'm stitcing at 14 - 15 and the longer stitches really are annoying me. It doesn't seem to be consistent with direction, repetition or anything. I've checked the encoder wheels and everything seems right. They are in contact and there is no thread or depree that I can see. Can anybody suggest anything else. It isn't happening all the time. I did have a problem twice now when I start the machine and it doesn't want to kick into SR mode. Not sure what that is all about or if it is related to the problem. I'm working on my son's wedding quilt and I have to have my SR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smorris Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi Heidi Just to be sure, have you run over scissors, ruler, really thick seam lately, check the height of the hopping foot. Does it miss stitches in manual mode? If no, we'll keep looking at the stitch regulator. You'll have to work out in which direction its missing those stitches, ie. going side to side or back to front and that will tell us which encoder wheel to look at - side to side is most commonly the one. Get down really close to the encoder wheel and make sure it is making contact in the top inside curve of the carriage wheel as you move the machine along the table. Check that the encoder wheel is not worn, ie that it is nice and round all the way around. Check that the plugs are in nice and tight. Do a search of this forum under sr problems there are lots of suggestions that might help. Good luck Sue in Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunningThreads Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Heidi Take a good look (magnifying glass) at those long stitches and make sure there isn't a needle hole where the stitch is long indicating a skipped stitch. Also check the shrink tubing on the wire to the side to side encoder. Ours had slipped down and the wires flexed so much that one broke at the connector and would intermitantly cause long stitches. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Checking for the needle hole is the first thing to do. Then you know if it is a skipped stitch or a long stitch. You did not say which machine you have. On the earlier Millenniums with the front axle towards the middle of the machine this was a common problem. When the quilter was getting tired they would lean on the front handle causing the wheel on the encoder on the machine to lift off the carriage causing a long stitch. We used to tighten the back wheels a little tighter to compensate for this issue. On all machines made in the last 4 years the axles have the soft mounts and the front axle located under the thread cutter toward the front of the machine. You could stand on the front handle and not cause the wheel to disengage. If you do not have the blue soft mounts you probably have the old axle locations. I have made this modification (installing soft mounts and moving the front axle forward) on quite a few machines. It is a great upgrade for it improves the machine handling. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydids Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Heidi, check everything mentioned above (which I am sure you have done already). One thing I want to throw in on this is to unplug the wires to the encoders and replug them. They could have loosened over time. This happened to me with the wire at the back encoder and I would intermittently get the long stitch you are talking about. Amy had me look for loose wires or broken wires at the plug. Luckily it was just that the plug was loose. I kept thinking one of the encoder wheels was the culprit, never thought to check the plug! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njquiltergirl Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi John. You are a wonderful source of information! Do your comments apply to the Liberty also? Mine is great so far (it's a 2007) but I like to print these things out for future reference. Thanks so much. Lisa APQS Liberty NW NJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted January 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 You guys are terrific. Sue - I'm working on a wholecloth so no bulky seams, hopping foot seems just fine and dare I say this out loud or in type I have not hit a ruler. This has a ton of ruler work in it though! The SR gets the longer stitch either going front to back or back to front. It is not skipping stitches and works fine in manual mode. Side to side seems to be fine. So I should pay attention to the encoder wheel on the carriage correct? I've looked at both encoder wheels, both seem to be engaged and not worn. I've also check and it doesn't appear that any of the wires are loose. John - I have a milli with soft mounts, just over a year old now. Thanks so much for your help. Go figure this happens on a weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Your problem is more than likely with the encoder on the machine. This is the x-axis encoder. Something is causing the wheel to slip. Clean the axle wheel with a q-tip and alcohol. Take you finger and turn the encoder wheel on the carriage then turn the one on the machine they both should be tight. If one slips easily use a 7/16 wrench and move the encoder wheel tighter against the axle wheel. The Liberty did not have the same issue as the Millennium and the axles have not been relocated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Dear John, You are a generous wealth of knowledge for us all. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustSewSimple Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Wow, how did you all ever get so smart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebsQuiltArt Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Believe it or not...I had the same problem and it was the needle. Once I changed that, no more long stitches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliagraves Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 I had a similar problem, and and we did a number of things to fix it, and while it is now fixed, I'm not sure which really did it, or if it was a combination. I have an older Millenium - 2004. Things that others haven't mentioned: - Amy has instructions on swapping electrical connections on the mother board - between R and S, or T and U - depending on if you seem to be skipping in a certain direction (one is for the horizontal encode and the other is for the vertical). Talk with Amy or the tech people and she'll email you the directions. - My husband rigged up something to keep the connecting cords from dragging along the back of the carriage - I think they were straining on the little gray wires and loosening them up. Someone else mentioned about that being a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Thank you all for all the suggestions. I think John Mitchell has solved my problem. John was right that my axle wheel was slipping. The encoder wheel seemed just fine. I cleaned the wheels and also tightened the wheel hold the axle on the carriage. I think the rear axle wheel was too loose and that was causing the other wheel to slip. I think the problem is resolved. I couldn't figure out a way to tighten the wheel that the encoder rides in so I am assuming that tighening the wheel closer to the carriage was the problem. John please correct me if I'm wrong. The part that I could clearly feel slipping as I rolled the machine forward and back was the silver gear wheel under the wheel. Most of the stitching I did today was side to side so I was ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smorris Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Hi Heidi Don't forget to also check that your machine head axles are still nice and tight. If the axles twist a bit it could affect how the encoder reads movement on the front to back stitching. Sue in Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Sue, Oh I haven't checked that in a while, I'll be sure to check it! thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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