Bliss wheels

[Robbijoyeklow]

I have questions about the Bliss system! It sounds fabulous.

1. On the website it's listing the price as $3000. Does that include installation or is that just parts?

2. Is it true that you can buy just the wheels? If no, skip ahead.

3. What is the price of the wheels?

4 Are the wheel complicated to install?

5. If I buy the Bliss wheels now, and decide to upgrade to the full system later, will I have to pay for new wheels again?

6. Will the Bliss wheels work with my Millennium if it has the old style carriage locks?

7. When will the wheels be available?

5.

[Zora]

I saw the Bliss system at Paducah, and I don't know that the wheels are what makes the system so easy to use. What the wheels do, if I am correct, is allow you to replace the bearings instead of replacing the whole wheel if your bearings go bad. I don't think they are the same effect as Edgeriders, if you got just the wheels. But, I would ask Dawn Cavanaugh to be sure because I am hardly an expert after one explanation.

[Guest Linda S]

There's a whole section on the bliss system under APQS Machine Features. Check it out.

Linda

[LynnQuilts]

I was having trouble with the way my machine was moving with the Edgeriders and I had a set of the new wheels put on my machine. They did not move well at all for me. I put the Edgeriders back on and by putting a few extra washers on made the Edgeriders work better. I don't know if the wheels just didn't suit my machine and table and would work well for someone else's machine or what. That was just my experience with them. I ordered the Bliss system first thing, and I can't wait for its arrival!

[quilter46]

What about those of us with the Ultimate 1's? I still have the old style table. Would we have to buy new tables to upgrade to Bliss?

[lizziesgirl]

Robbie,

I will try to answer your questions the best that I know so far.

1. This only includes the parts. Installation can be done by you or if you talk to you sales rep I'm sure they could give you an installation price.

2. You can just buy the wheels but you need everything else for the bliss system to work.

The rest I am going to leave to the experts to answer. I will be asking these questions myself and if they haven't answered yet I will.

When I tried the Bliss in Chicago I was shocked on the effortless movement. It literally felt like I was moving the machine on air and the machine felt weightless. For me there will be a slight learning curve because I am so use to having a bit of drag but it won't be long to adjust. I can see where you would be able to quilt more hours in a day because you won't be tired at all from moving the machine.

[DawnCavanaugh]

Patty,

The only table set up that won't accept a "retrofit" is a table with only three rollers and "spring-loaded" riser bars to lift up the pick up roller. For these older units, a completely new table would be necessary due to the carriage's length. Any "four-bar system" is upgradeable to Bliss.

Robbi Joy,

The Bliss system uses different types of wheels. The Bliss carriage wheels are made of steel and ride on steel rods to create minimal friction and minimal contact.

The head wheels are new wheels created by our engineer, Mike Moore. These are made of a special polymer that is very hard and smooth, reducing the friction created when the wheels ride on the carriage. These wheels also have replaceable bearings, unlike Edgeriders or other types of wheels.

These wheels can be used in all eight wheel positions as replacements. However, you would want to replace current wheels when they wear out with sets of four (the new wheels --called "M&M wheels"--are different thicknesses from the current standard wheels). A person could replace just the sewing head wheels, just the carriage wheels, or all eight wheels.

However, you cannot purchase just "Bliss" wheels as these are integrated in the carriage. To be clear for everyone, if a person just wanted to replace their current wheels with a complete set of new wheels, they would be ordering "M&M wheels", not "Bliss" wheels. The wheels are $30 each, or $240 for a set of eight wheels.

Part of the Bliss Upgrade system does include four M&M head wheels. If you were to purchase the "Bliss Upgrade" at $3000, it will include four new M&M wheels. If you had already purchased M&M wheels prior to that, you could use those as spare wheels for your Bliss upgrade. To be honest, we have not had the opportunity to evaluate all the scenarios with trade-ins and upgrades as there are so many different "generations" of machines and tables out there. As to whether the wheels would continue to work with your channel locks, I think they will work, but before you spent the money I'd want to verify that with Mike, our engineer.

The wheels do come with clear instructions for installation on your machine.

The best thing to do to get your questions answered is to give us a call. We'll do our best to clear everything up!

[smorris]

Hi Dawn

Above you wrote:"The only table set up that won't accept a "retrofit" is a table with only three rollers and "spring-loaded" riser bars to lift up the pick up roller. For these older units, a completely new table would be necessary due to the carriage's length. Any "four-bar system" is upgradeable to Bliss."

I didn't think the Bliss could be retrofitted to Lucey or Lenni tables either.

Would the M&M wheels fit Lenni and Lucey tables?

Thanks

[KathG]

Bringing this back to the top, I would like to know also if the new wheels will fit the Lenni ?

[Tracy G]

Kath, whilst at mqx I asked the question and was told that bliss or the new wheels wouldn't be available for Lenni, but that doesnt mean tsar things can't change.

I spoke to the chap that makes edge riders and he said he would send me some to test, I am still waiting.

[KathG]

Hi Tracy, thanks for the info. Most of my wheels have grease around the centres, and Edgerider seem to be taking forever to bring out the Lenni wheels. I asked them last year if I could be a tester and they told me they had enough. I will just have to be patient:D

Though I am very interested in the carriage that Intelliquilter are bringing out to go with there computer for the Lenni.

How is the Wee Man ?

[Tracy G]

Kath,

Spoke to Amy abouthte grease on the wheels scenario as I have that small problem also Amy said it wasn't a problem on the Lenni. The Lenni show machine has the same problem.

I also saw the carriage that Intelliquilter have for the Lenni, that is why I asked them about the edge riders for Lenni. I got a bit of a run around but I persevered. I am sure though that enough Lenni owners email them about edge riders wheels they might do something about getting them out there.

[DawnCavanaugh]

Sue,

The M&M wheels will not work on Lucey or Lenni, as they are wider and will not fit the distance between the rails on those two machines.

Robbi Joy,

I did ask Mike Moore about the channel locks, and he indicated that the new wheels should work with older machines with magnetic locks, but different spacers may be needed under the magnetic solenoids in order to make them work. If someone has magnetic-style channel locks, you may want to consider upgrading to the new style channel locks to make things simpler.

Kathy,

The Lenni wheels run vertically instead of horizontally, which reduces some of the stress on the wheel bearings. That's why you shouldn't experience a grease problem with Lenni wheels.

Sue is correct...I should have clarified that the Bliss upgrade only fits on the aluminum rail tables, not the Lenni or Lucey.

[Tracy G]

Thanks Dawn for the info. Always better coming from as we say " the organ grinder" and not the " monkey" :D

Great to meet you and learn loads about tension. Not scared anymore!

[cjtinkle]

How do you know what type of channel locks you have? I just bought my Millennium about 6 weeks ago, but I thought for sure it had magnetic channel locks.

[Katydids]

the magnetic locks were on the early milleniums. Did you buy yours new? then it has the electronic locks. If it has a grooved or "toothed" ring that sits under the wheel and a solenoid that makes a pin go into the teeth to lock it, that is the electronic or current style channel lock.