victoriasews Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 I guess it's just not my day. Now, when I am ready to tie off, I take the stitch to bring up my bobbin thread and the needle sticks down and won't come up. The machine groans and when I try to turn the flywheel, it won't turn. Sometimes I can get it to come up without turning off the machine,but not always. When I can get it to come up, the thread breaks. The tension is fine, the machine stitches beautifully, no problem when starting to stitch. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 Hi Victoria, When I have that problem, I turn my machine off. crank the flywheel enough to raise the needle bar and get the bobbin out safely. Then I do in intensive cleaning. Dawn C talked about gunk getting stuck in places that we do not normally see when we oil and clean the bobbin area. After normal cleaning, slowly crank the wheel to see other parts of the bobbin race, there may be debris stuck there, too. I wish I could find her post on that procedure, it was, like all her posts, informative and worth remembering. I should also mention that a couple times that my needle got stuck in the down position, it turned out that my needle had a burr. I figure that I ran over a pin. I have to change the needle. But just recently, in one of the 'stuck-downs', when I got it unstuck, it started skipping stitches so I ended up re-timing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhend Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 Mine does that a lot also just when I'm bringing up the bottom thread. I think I'm catching the thread itself going down in the same hole and it wraps around the bobbin holding thingy because that is where I find the little stuck piece after pulling it all out. Like my technical terms. Trust me, it's not because my bobbin area needs a cleaning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 I had this happen and it ended up I had a piece of thread in my bobbin area I could not see until I did a really thorough cleaning and got my magnifying glass out. have no idea how long it had been there. it only happened when I did the tie off and it was really frustrating. I am sure someone else will have suggestions too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 Everytime my machine does this there is a thread or lintball in the bobbin. I pull out the bobbin/case and bend over and look while I turn the flywheel w/my hand and usually see a little tail I can grab w/the tweezers. If this has gone on for very long you might not see anything and just have to "feel" w/the tweezers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBQLTN2 Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 didnt you just adjust your #8 screw because the machine wouldnt stop. perhaps you went a smidge too much and need to back it off a tad. just an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoriasews Posted June 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 You were right. I WD40'd, dried it all out, re-oiled, and Whooptido, I haven't had any more trouble with the needle sticking in the down position. I never did see any thread or gunk, but something must have been there. Thanks a bunch. Now if I can just get the needle to stop when I stop stitching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 Viki, I am glad you resolved the problem. I love using WD40 and I use it often to clean my machine after blowing it out with the air compressor. I probably give my bobbin assembly a nice soaky bath in WD40 once a week or so...depending on how often I use the machine. It doesn't hurt it one bit to give it a regular WD40 soaking, followed up with several healthy drops of machine oil in the bobbin assembly's moving parts. Once a month or so, I take off the needle plate and squirt it down into the hole while the machine is moving. This helps get more gunk and fuzz cleaned out of there. After doing this, I add a few hefty drops of machine oil from the top, too, while the machine is running slowly. I am acutally surprised when i hear people are afraid to use WD 40 on their machine. I consider WD 40 to be an important part of my machine's maintenance routine. I've never had a problem with my machine's bobbin area and my tension and my stitches are always the prettiest! I don't know how many cans of WD40 I've gone through since I got the machine, probably 3 cans so far... I lay an old rag or towel on the floor directly underneath to catch any drips. then I spin it dry by turning up the speed for about 30 seconds. then I stop the machine and wipe around the inside walls to get any excess or goo that got removed from the cleaning process. I don't really touch the bobbin assembly with my rag, just wipe down the walls. Then I follow up with drops of machine oil in the hook race. So people. don't be afraid to use this stuff. It is your friend. Just remember to always oil afterward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meg_marsh Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 I also use the WD40 - but once the bath is over, I use the air compressor to get any remaining WD 40 out of the bobbin area and then one final wipe, including the bobbin case before oiling. I was told somewhere that WD40 is for cleaning - not lubricating so I would be best to clean that up as good as possible prior to oiling - has worked so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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