ssissenwein Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 I was quilting along on my Millennium this morning with cotton in the bobbin and Sulky monofilament in the top - everything was really stitching well. I am stitching over a fairly heavy small quilt (my own)- one part had puckering and fullness so I decided to add a couple of layers of batting to fill it out. My Hartley base was on the machine. MR4.0 needle. I was quilting when I heard a loud noise that sounded like the needle hit something. I think I tried stitching some more when I saw that the needle tip had broken and the broken part that was attached to the machine was bent up and seemed like it had been flayed flatter. I put in a new needle and saw that it would not go up and down. Called up my husband and we saw it was hitting the metal plate over the bobbin case. I can see the needle marks on the plate. He timed the machine. I haven't started it up yet (I'm a bit scared) because I was wondering: 1. Is there anything else I should look at before I restart? 2. Should I not be able to stitch over a couple of layers of batt? 3. Would having the base on cause problems? 4. The metal plate has two screws. There was 2 thin washers under 1 and 1 thick washer under the other. DH said that according my manual - each screw should have a thick and thin washer. Is my current configuration going to cause issues? I've had this machine for years and have never had to time it - it never has problems - not sure why it is doing so now. Sara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 If your machine always worked great, you broke a needle, cleaned out all the pieces and re-timed, is there a particular reason why is should not work now? I don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydids Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 If you re-timed it, it should be good to go. first manually turn the flywheel several times to make sure the needle is clearing the hook. If that goes well, then try needle up/down a few times to make sure you clear everything properly. That should help your fears.... then go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssissenwein Posted August 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Thanks. I guess the fear was the shock of it all - the first time this has happened since I've owned the machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnCavanaugh Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 when you get a chance, head to the hardware store and get another thick washer. Your needle plate will not be level, and it can cause the hopping foot to grab the fabric in weird ways and may affect your stitch quality. You can quilt through two layers of batting. However, because the plate isn't quite level and the foot is most likely not meeting it squarely, the foot may have held on to the fabric and batting long enough to tug your needle out of alignment, causing it to strike the hook. After you have everything set (including the same thicknesses if washers under the foot), check the hopping foot height. Lower the needle as far as it will go by hand using the fly wheel. A single business card should slide under it from all sides. If you need info about how to change the height, send me an email and I can attach a file for you! Let me know if you have trouble when you start up again. We can help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Is all well now? Hope it's working just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssissenwein Posted August 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Oh yes. Thanks for the help. Dawn I appreciate your response,it made the whole accident makes more sense. The very thick quilt combined with the larger platform on an uneven needle plate must have been what pushed the needle into the plate. DH added another washer and checked foot height and timing and I was able to finish my quilt - I went very slowly. I'm looking forward to working on something of normal thickness, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeke Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Remember, your retiming is not going to work if you don't check your needle bar depth. Always after you break a needle badly, you need to check your needle bar depth first. When the needle breaks there is a chance that the needle bar was displaced a tab bit upward. If you just retime and don't check the depth, then retiming is a waste of time. Needle bar depth is an important part of the timing. Just below the basket in the hook area, there should be about 3/32" which includes the eye of the needle. Each machine is a little different so you may have adjust a little bit + or - 1/64" or so. Bad needle breaks will always throw off the needle bar. I've done enough service calls to know this. zeke............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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