Rollers won't stay tight on Lenni

[frogteacher 0]

Help! Have a Lenni and the rubber grippy parts on the bottom of the knobs that hold the rollers tight have worn out. They never gripped really well, but now having to stick velcro on the roller under the knob. Really should take pictures so you can see what this is all about. Has anyone else had this trouble? MIne is one of the first Lenni's. Can't quilt unless the fabric stays tight between the rollers. All suggestions welcome!

[Guest Linda S]

Eventually, your brakes wear out a bit. I recommend you get the Rubbermaid shelf grips and glue them to your brake where the velcro is. Let it dry thoroughly before using the brake again.

[witha'K'quilting 333]

I stapled the velcro in place to the wood holders...and use a piece of batting laid in between the wood blocks to tighten the grip.

[CiCi 2]

On my Lenni - I had a red rubber cap on the end of a screw that tightened the cap on the pole and prevented the poles from moving. After time the knobs and the red end caps striped and would not hold the poles tight. After trying several different fixes with no success - I called APQS and purchased two new and different brakes. They work like a charm and keep the poles tight! The cost of the change was very reasonable!

I called and placed my order on a Monday afternoon and the postman delivered my new brakes on Wednesday. This is just another example of that wonderful service from APQS!

Good luck with whatever your do. Cici

[DawnCavanaugh 549]

Frogteacher,

Give us a call on Monday and we will help you with the brake issue:) We can either send you a replacement part for the brake or you may want to upgrade the brakes to the newer pressure brakes CiCi is talking about. They work similar to the brake on the Millie table by using a single lever and pressure to hold the rollers.

[Corey 386]

I am very pleased with the new brakes of my Millenium, worth every dollar spent.

[Liz W. 1]

I'm having a similar issue with the brakes on my Lenni, and it's a very new Lenni (just a month old). It uses the single-lever pressure brake, but I can never get it very tight. As soon as the quilt starts to look kind of tight (which is how I like it) the other roller (that's fully braked) starts moving a bit. Is this normal, or is there something wrong with my brakes?

[Cagey 754]

Liz;

I have no idea how the brakes work, but I hazard to guess if you call 800-426-7233 they can get you up and running in no time.  It probably is a very easy fix to get the brake to hold tight.  

Cagey

[InesR 134]

With the lever that locks the brake in the upright position, you can turn it to the right or left.  I think you want to go right (righty tighty). That should help some. I think as we lift and lower that lever we also might un wind it some. Making it be loose.  I am interested in other responses or what apqs tells you, because I have the same issue.  I have seen some quilts on you tube and they look like you could bounce a quarter on them.  I have never gotten mine that tight. ")

[dbams 395]

I was told that it is not good for a quilt to be extremely taut on the frame, and I have tension issues when I make the quilt too tight.  My dealer said it should look almost like a small animal is moving under the quilt when I move my machine around.

That being said, your brake should hold your quilt in place however tight you want it to be.

[Liz W. 1]

So I wanted to give an update ... I contacted APQS, and they told me to use a 3/16" allen wrench to tighten the screw behind the pressure brake. It worked! Now I can have it pretty much as tight as I want. I think the screw loosens over time, so I just have to re-tighten periodically.

[RunningThreads 241]

Liz

Now that you know how to adjust the brake get some blue loctite loosen the bolt apply one or two drops of loctite on the threads and tighten back up.  You brake will not come loose again.

 

Nigel

[Liz W. 1]

Thank you RunningThreads! I've never even heard of it, but after reading some reviews it sounds like exactly what I need!