Thread Breaking Issues...Please Help

[Peggy (SewAsylum)]

You really dip the whole cone of thread in mineral oil? How long does it take to drip and dry?

[RitaR]

Hey, on the bobbin,  the little flat tongue of metal that has 2 screws near it's attaching end..

Very Carefully, raise the tongue and blow out under it. Sometimes a fluff of lint will catch

in there and cause problems. 

 

Where do you stand now?

 

Rita

[RitaR]

Peggy,  Yes I do dip the whole cone.

 

I use an old peanut butter jar,   OLD towels or absorbant rags.

The oil, the cone or spool. 

 

One towel or large piece to put under the tools, especially the mineral

oil, and the other can be about the size of the cones to blot or squeeze

the excess oil off the thread.

 

Clue:   Be sure to dry out the inside of the cone, or you will get a mess.

 

I have never found any evidence, spots spattering off the thread, or running

down the thread onto the quilt..   It will help the spool for the dept the

mineral oil seeped in.

 

We bought the mineral oil down at Walmart, Food Lion *the least costly*

drug stores, groceries  of your area.  Not hard to find.

 

We put most of the oil in the jar and had to be quite careful dipping the

first several cones.  I won't over fill again.

 

I have a specific place to put the oil and equipment, it's on the floor, but also

on a piece of corigaated cardboard, to protect the floor, and keep it about in

the middle of the board to proted any furniture, thread, equipment you may have

right beside it.

you can pm me if you have any further questions.  (anyone can! )

Good luck.

Rita

[Allison S.]

Hi Tracie,

What did it end up being? I'm having the same issue.  I haven't investigated as fully as you have because I'm a newbie and I don't want to thoroughly mess things up.  It's taken me three days to do a simple e2e panto because the darn thread on top keeps breaking. The first two rows sewed beautifully.  Now I can't get past  9 inches. I think I've spent as much time taking stitches out as I have putting them in at this point.

 

Would love to know how you solved your issue. 

 

Allison

 

Edited:  I loosened my bobbin and thread A LOT. I was using a new thread (Sigma) and apparently it needed to run a lot looser.  It was a good lesson for me in problem solving tension, both mine and the machines. LOL

[cmkeindl1]

Yes Tracie - let us know how it's going and what you did?  All the advice here is GREAT!  you're right about starting fresh on a new day!  This is probably totally unrelated, but when I had trouble with thread breaking once, it turned out that my quilt sandwich was too tight?  Good luck to you, Allison, too!

[Merryjo2003]

I haven't had any trouble with King Tut.  I used the drop method for setting my bobbin tension for 8 years with my first millie without a problem.  My new one was a little more sensitive and really likes running loose.  I have since started using the method of loading the bobbin in the case, laying it face down in my palm, pulling the thread to where the case will stand upright in my palm but not lift out of it.  It's loser than my first machine ran, but runs perfect in the new one.  Of course, I can now run the top thread much more loosely.  Tension is always a balancing act.  Running lighter tensions usually solves any shredding issues, especially with more fragile threads.  King Tut is a strong thread and I use a fair amount of tension with it.  Sounds like you've tried everything else.  I'm sure you'll get this resolved.  That's one of the things I like about my machines.  I can run any thread I want.  Definately not thread picky!

 

Oh yeah!  I took a class from Sharon Schamber once and I was convinced that dunking the whole cone of thread in mineral oil would leave oil leeching out of the stitch line.  I would have bet my life on it.  Boy, she made a believer out of me.  I never saw a bit of oil anywhere on the fabric.

[dbz98236]

I have had a problem with my thread breaking for a long time. I have checked for burrs and threading and finally with a magnifying glass I found a little groove in my needle plate and the bottom of the plate was rough where there was a little lip that looked like it was there from when it was moulded or punched. My husband filed the hole and when I tried it out last night my thread only broke once on the 2nd row of a panto. That was a big improvement.

I also thought about the pigtails because the thread keeps popping out. I know on the old forum there was a topic on using fish hooks but I don't remember what kind they were. I think Linda Stellar posted pictures, but I think they are gone now. I would like to do that.

I was thinking of moving the needle screw to the left side of the needle to get it out of the path of the thread also because it is pretty sharp where the groove is. 

 

Has anyone tried these? Did they help?

 

Does anyone know if you can get sewers aid in a gallon jug? These little bottles don't go far.

Debbie

[Busy Quilting]

Debbie,  Thee needle bar screw is usually on the left hand side from new.  Some of us righties change it to the right hand side as it is easier to tighten it.

 

Quilttech have a hex screw that replaces the needle bar screw,  that you tighten with an allen key.  Its head doesn't stick out at all.

 

The fish eyes previously spoken about are the ceramic insert - fishing rod thread eyes, not the correct name,  sometimes it can be a pain threading thread through a closed hole compared to slipping it through the pigtail.

[jimerickson]

I use the allen head needle bar screw sold by Quilt Tech.  Much easier to use than the "slot" screw. and the socket does not wear like the slot on the original screw.  You can leave the allen wrench in the socket while you change the needle which reduces the fumbling around usually associated with the change.

 

I've rotated the needle bar so the screw faces forward.  It seems easier to fit the wrench in the socket from the front rather than either side.  I highly recommend the change.  I wouldn't go back to the slot screw.  I keep the allen wrench on top of the light bar so I never need to hunt for it when I want to change needles.  Jim

[dbz98236]

Sorry I was out of town and no computer. Thanks Lyn and Jim. I'm going to look into getting an allen head screw. Is it difficult to turn the needle bar so the screw is in the front?

 

I'm sure I moved the screw to the right side because it was easier to unscrew it, but until I get the allen screw, I think I will put it back.

 

Between the thread breaking and the tension, I'm so frustrated now that I'm on the verge of wanting to sell the thing and then I could afford to have someone else quilt all my quilts. I would just miss out on the fun of doing it myself and loosing what customers I have.

[whitepinesquilter]

'I've rotated the needle bar so the screw faces forward.  It seems easier to fit the wrench in the socket from the front rather than either side.  I highly recommend the change.  I wouldn't go back to the slot screw.  I keep the allen wrench on top of the light bar so I never need to hunt for it when I want to change needles.  Jim'

 

Jim,  does rotating the needle bar screw to the opposite side then include re-timing the machine to correct stitch problems? I would think so?  I believe you also have the Intellistitch, so with having the I/S on my machine, does this then cause a ripple effect where I then would need to run the I/S through a new sync cycle? (Pretty sure not the right word but essentially what it is). Or just timing? Thanks, in advance, Jim!

[RunningThreads]

Marci

If you rotate the needlebar you shouldn't have to retime.  Just check the needlebar height.  When I did it I just checked the hook passes by the lower half of the scarf.  

 

Nigel

[whitepinesquilter]

Thanks, Nigel!