anniemueller Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 And here I've been thinking lately that "gee, my machine has been running so smoothly. I can't remember the last time I called APQS for help." Always on a Friday evening, right? So, the problem started when I changed thread COLOR, not type. It's Invisifil, which I've been using successfully on this quilt for over a week now. I changed from pink to red thread, and all of a sudden the tension of the top thread was way too tight. I could feel it just trying to pull it through to thread the needle. The tightness seems to be coming from the tension mechanism. I loosened the tension knob two turns and it felt better. But after I stitched and looked at the back, I saw that the top thread is pulling out the back in long segments, and getting stitched over. It's not pretty and not what I've come to expect from Millie. Since I can't get help until Monday (at least I don't think they work weekends, I'll try calling in the morning in case I"m wrong about that).....does anyone have an idea what the problem is likely to be? I rethreaded the top and bobbin, blew air between the tension disks, inspected the disks and found nothing unusual. Cleaned and oiled the bobbin case. Cleaned the needle plate. Changed top thread to a different color, brown. I haven't tried returning to the lighter colors. Could it really be the color? Guess I'll try that next. Thanks for any ideas you share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Hmmm, must be a bad spool? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Did you unthread all the way to the cone? Sometimes the thread gets inadvertently wrapped twice around a pigtail or the tension spindle center. I've even had top thread fling out and seat itself behind the needle screw and cause tension and breakage issues. Even with a color change, the tension should only need to be slightly tweaked to get to a sweet spot. When you pulled on the thread through the needle was it really hard to pull? Go backwards from there to find where the catching spot is. Pull through each pigtail separately and through the tension assembly. Hoping you've found the problem and are happily quilting again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zora Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Make sure the thread isn't tangled around the cone. Sometimes these very thin threads sort of fall from the cone and end up tangled around themselves. It causes just what you describe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busy Quilting Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Also if it is a shorter spool of Invisifil make sure it is not catching on the top of the thread spool. I sit the smaller spools on another cone of thread so that the top of the spool is above the thread post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anniemueller Posted July 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 It's working and I can't say what made the difference. When I pull a new thread through the thread path, it's knotted to the old thread. I think I got too fast and careless pulling that knot through the tension assembly. At the moment, I'm being cautious and checking the back frequently for signs of trouble. It still seems that the darker threads are much tighter than the lighter ones. I'll post again if I really figure it out. Thanks for all the ideas, I explored each of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gail O Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Possibly the extra dye on darker threads is causing problems. Whenever I use black or dark brown in the bobbin I add a bit of sewer's aid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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