David Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 I'm writing as the interested husband of a dedicated quilter. We have swapped an Inspira machine for a Milli and are in the process of practising before my wife puts the first quilt on. I have noticed that the movement seems "sticky" when moving from back to front and from right to left, but relatively easy when going in the opposite direction. There seems no obvious cause for this. Has anyone any ideas? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Welcome, David and dedicated quilter. Things will be a little odd going from the Inspira to the Millie. It will get easier as you PPP (practice, practice, practice). You may need to adjust your wheels, just do a search on this forum and read up on others advice. If you tell us where your located, we have reps and quilters all around who would be more then willing to help. If you bought your machine from a rep or directly from APQS, you're entitled to a "free" basic lesson which would answer a lot of your questions. I'm in Virginia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 And also adding... make sure your table is nice and level. It might take a little bit chasing the bubble around. If you have more than one level, grab it, too...(borrow from a neighbor?) I think having more than 1 level is quickest... you could have a level at one end of the table, another in the center, and the other level on the opposite end of the table, that way you can make slight adjustments and save time, rather than moving one level all over the place and crawling on hands and knees chasing the bubble. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 My first guess is that the trusses underneath are up too high or down too low. I had mine too high when I first did my machine and had similar problems. Can you isolate a section of the table where it happens more? It may just be a matter of loosening the wheels. Welcome to the forum and enjoy the milli! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagecl Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Welcome to this forum. It is definitely filled with ideas, helpful hints and great quilters. Never hesitate to call APQS for help. Amy and her crew are awesome to work with when problems occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witha'K'quilting Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Welcome David and dedicated quilter. You will enjoy your Millennium once it is all setup properly. I had to adjust my truss down as well after I set it up. And Shana is also correct...everything needs to be level front to rear...side to side. Use multiple levels to do this. When you are all set...lots of practice practice practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewlinzi Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Welcome to the forum, fellow Brit! I traded up from the Inspira to the Milli too. It sounds like your your wheels need to be adjusted or maybe even the central truss. There are plenty of past threads on this if you do a Search. There is a FAQ page on the main website page with "How do I adjust my wheels?" Ferret and The Quilting Midwife are pretty good on technical stuff down in Englandshire:P There is a Jayne in Northumberland and I'm in Scotland. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted March 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Thanks for such quick replies. We have had the free basic lesson and it's a 10ft machine so there are no trusses and I have loosened the wheels but there is still a noticable difference when travelling in opposite directions. We have just been doing some practising and the machine started to sound noisy and the needle stopped once or twice in the halfway position and has now jammed at the bottom of its' stroke. We have managed to get the shuttle out but whatever we do we cannot get the machine to start. Help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Are the lights on the machine on? Will the machine turn over using the flywheel? You say you have loosened the wheels. Too loose and the machine will not move correctly. In your manual follow the instructions for adjusting the wheels. You want them up on the radius of the wheel (a sweet spot). If you can not find this information send me an email and I believe I have a file with pictures that should help you. Here are the APQS dealers in the UK: Quilting UK LTD John and Angela Pickering At the rear of 22 Greevegate Hunstanton Norfolk PE36 6 AA United Kingdom 0044 1485 534349 Check under APQS dealers for their web site and email. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted March 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Yes, the lights are on. When I switch the machine on, it sounds as if the motor is trying to raise the needle and one green light on the left bank lights up. I cannot leave it switched on or it will probably fuse. The flywheel is jammed. Our machine was purchased through your UK dealer but I am reluctant to involve them at the moment. My background is mechanical engineering so I feel OK with wheel adjustment. I set it up in the first place while waiting for the dealer David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Stuart - APQS Service Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Welcome to the family! It sounds like you probably have broken part of the needle off and it is jammed in the hook assembly. You can try turning the flywheel counter-clockwise to see if it will 'spit' the needle piece out - sometimes that helps. If you aren't able to get it out that way, you may need to remove the hook assembly from the machine, and possibly disassemble the hook itself to get the needle piece out. The bummer about that part is then you will definitely need to re-time the machine if you take the hook assembly out. If it will 'spit' out the needle piece, we could get lucky and not have to totally retime, maybe only have to check the needle bar depth. I will keep my fingers crossed for the latter option for you! I do have a different set of timing instructions from what is in the manual that I could e-mail you - if you e-mail me, I can reply with the instructions attached for you....just let me know! Good luck, and call us if you need anything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veg-girl Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Welcome from the south of england (woking). Make sure your channel locks are not engaged, and that your cables aren't chafing anywhere. Can you move the flywheel manually, waggling up or down? If not check for threads tangled in the bobbin area. If not then e-mail Mark or Amy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 Amy as usual was right on. If you were using Singer MR needles you have a very good chance of rocking it with the flywheel and dislodging the broken end. They normally break below the eye. With some luck you did not knock your machine out of time. The instructions that Amy mentioned are great and very visual and easy to follow. One of the issues we see with new quilters is the tendency to over drive their machine especially when basting. The move the machine before the needle is up and flex it into the hook, break the needle and jam the machine. Do not hurry basting until you are very familiar with your machine. One thing I might mention is that your dealer expects you to call when you have issues. That is why you selected a personal dealer to help you when you need it. We have many clients that selected us as their dealer because of the technical help and years of experience in service and as an APQS dealer. Many of them are out of state to us but they still selected us as their dealer. Our furthest machine is in Cairo, Egypt. Most issues can be resolved on the telephone and problems do not usually occur when the factory is open. We tell our clients if after 15 minutes you can not solve your problem, call us for help. This is the service that you expect after you machine is delivered and set up. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewlinzi Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 David, I have sent you a U2U - you access these by clicking at the top RHS of the screen near the login command. John, we in the UK recognise that APQS servivce is second to none in the USA and most of the world but the UK Dealership is not always as acessible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted March 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 I've managed to get everything free and things seem to be working OK but so far Iv'e had no thread in the machine and it will be this afternoon before my wife can have a go at some actual quilting. I freed it by using more force on the flywheel. There's still a point on the needle and I can't feel any burrs on the hook, so I assume that because we are learning and have allowed the needle to go up and down too many times in one position, the needle has jammed on excessive thread. Is this possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewlinzi Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 Maybe... Change the needle just to be sure. Why don't you have a practise without thread - you'll still see the biggish holes of where you have been without worrying about thread until you get the feel for it - which will not take you long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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