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Thread snapping


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I quilted a t-shirt quilt yesterday with glide thread. This quilt has one of those fuzzy blankets for backing. Kind of like minke but heavier. I had a few problems to start but was able to work out the tension and only had a couple of thread breaks after that. This morning I loaded the second t-shirt quilt which is basically identical to the first with different color blanket back. I did a thorough cleaning on the machine before I started. Changed thread color and tested it on a like thickness quilt sandwich. All looked good. Loaded the quilt and went about three inches, stitching looked terrible and thread broke. I had forgotten to change the needle. Changed the needle and got a little farther and you can hear the thread make a weird noise and snap. Worked on adjusting tension. Started second row about 2 inches in thread snapped. Adjusted tension some more and finally got through row. Thought I finally had it set. Started 3rd row and it started all over again. I have changed bobbins, changed bobbin cases, checked for burrs, changed needle again, readjusted needle, recreated. Basically the only thing I have not done is take the machine a part. It seems to me that thread is catching under the needle plate and pulling the top thread down causing it to snap. I have checked every place for burrs. The bobbin case finger appears to be correct. At wits end. This is a customer quilt that was supposed to be done today. It is queen size and I am still on the 3rd row with a six inch panto. Help

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Don't have a clear idea about what could be causing the problem, but here are my suggestions:  Have you actually taken off the needle plate to see if it is junky under there?  Did you do a WD-40 bath after the last quilt?  Have you tried Sewer's Aid (or mineral oil) on your thread?  Have you checked your tension disks to make sure nothing is caught in there?  Have you tried a different spool of thread, in case you have a bad spool?  Do you use a Towa gauge for your bobbin tension?  Maybe your bobbin tension is so tight that it is what's catching the top thread under the needle plate.

 

Wish I had a magic wand for you.  Good luck, and please let us know how it works out.

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It is so frustrating when things like this happen out of the blue.  Sounds like you've changed your needle again, make sure you have bump to the front, can't tell you how many times I've accidentally turned it around.  I had this happen one and it turned out the cone of thread had a burr on the bottom of the spool and the thread was catching and causing my problems so I would check that, re-thread just to be sure.  If you still have the problem I'd take out the can of WD40 and really saturate the hook area.  You might have a rogue thread in that area causing the problems.  Wish I could be of more help.

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Update. I used wd40 2 more times, rethread it seems like a million times, readjusted 3 hole guides, found a cup that thread spool fit in snugly so thread could not flop off and get caught, readjusted the finger for the bobbin case, readjusted the needle bar and raised the hopping foot to 2 business cards. Success for 4 rows last night. Quit for the night and started again this morning only to break 6 times in about 12 inches. Both ends it breaks but in the middle works. Fiddled with both side tensions of quilt. Finally made it through with less breaks. I think I should have raised the hopping foot another business card as some of the t-shirts were thicker. Also, I think the blanket on the back may have had some flaws or something in some places on each side. I noticed that when I was manually putting the needle down and pulling up thread and manually back tacking., it seemed to pull on the thread weird. I have never been so glad to be done with anything. Thanks for all the advise. Now I get to try to get the machine adjusted to work on a regular quilt.

My machine has only been used 6 months so it shouldn't be the tension spring, but I did pay some attention to it and I am not sure it is returning properly so that is on my list to check out.

I put the needle in backwards once last year and learned my lesson and now double check it every time I change a needle. Lessons learned the hard way.

One other thing I changed was the little coot on in the top of the first thread guide above the spool. I made it smaller as I did notice a couple of times that the thread had snapped and wrapped around that. Still happened one more time. Wish they would design some sort of rubber or plastic washer to fit in there that you could slip your thread through that would keep an even pressure on the thread. That cotton wad is so easy to bump and it changes your tension so easily. No gauges to control that.

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Shuttle:  I'm not entirely sure I know what the "coot" you refer to is, I think it is the wad of material that is stuck in the first wire guide to "close" it off.  I guess APQS uses batting, on my Gammill it was a small piece of synthetic sponge, anyway, it's there to keep the thread from jumping out of the easy to load open guide.  My APQS Ult 2 had that kind of guide, which I recently switched out with a new style Gammill guide that is closed, and has a ceramic eye.  If you decide that you need a closed guide, you might consider the Gammill piece.  It fit right on my machine.

 

All that being said, I think your problem might have been with the cone.  Most thread breakage occurs near the needle, not near the cone.  The first guide is a long way from the needle. I might not understand what you mean, if so, I apologize.  Before I changed out my guide, I did notice that it had a groove cut into it from the thread.  You might check yours to make sure it's not damaged.  If it's grooved and rough, I could see how it might interfere with stitching, especially with an embroidery thread like Glide.  Neither of my machines like Glide very much, so I only use it when I feel it's necessary.  Good luck in your search.  Jim

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