bad stitches

[lorilongarm]

I am having trouble keeping good stitches on Lenni. New needle, stitch regulator. Starts out fine then all of a sudden starts lurching and making long loose stitches. any ideas/ New at this.

[meg]

if it's the SR and it's not consistent, the first thing is to check your connections.

make sure they are plugged in tight and not being pulled loose by anything as you move the machine.

on my freedom, they are in the back of the machine, near where the laser light goes.

not sure on lenni.

sometimes the power cord can cause lurching.

[WestieMom]

Hi Lori! I have a Lenni too. If your stitch length is inconsistent and your stitch regulator is on then your encoder wheels may not be making good contact or the connections may be loose. Like Meg suggested check that the connections are tight on the encoder wheels (one sits on the carriage in front of the rear wheel and the other sits on the frame rail under the carriage). Also check that there are no threads wrapped around any of the wheels. You mention that your machine was lurching...that could be the power cord catching on something, causing resistance. Hope this helps! If you're still having problems give APQS a call in the morning...they are always willing to help!

[DawnCavanaugh]

Lori,

If your Lenni has horizontal wheels both on the sewing head and the carriage, then you can adjust the encoder wheels closer to the larger wheels. I have sent you an email about how to adjust them. However, if your machine has a steel table where the wheels run vertically along the upper lip on the table, and then forward and backward on a silver tray, check the wires as Meg suggests.

If the stalling happens in only one direction, it's a clue as to which wires (or encoders) to check. If the machine stalls only going left to right, then check the wires traveling down to the carriage encoder. (If your machine has that silver tray, carefully examine the wires where they meet the little black box and rubber wheel hiding under the tray at the rear.) Sometimes those wires can flex so much that they become kinked and bent or a wire pops out of the connector. If the problem exists front to back, then examine the encoder you'll find in front of the thread stand on the left of the sewing head (when viewed from the table side of the machine.) Let us know how we can help!