heierb Posted March 5, 2005 Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 Hi, I have a problem that I hope someone can help with. When I quilt with my Millenium in regulated stitch or manual mode in the right to left direction, my bottom thread is tight and the top thread is so loose, it skips. If I quilt left to right, the top thread is tight, pulling up the bobbin thread. Going up and down it is also tight on the top, but not as bad as when going left to right. How do you set the tension so that it is right no matter what direction you go. Barb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connie hurst Posted March 7, 2005 Report Share Posted March 7, 2005 Hi Barb, As I said on the phone this A.M. be sure your bobbin tension is set right, you need your hopping foot to be only 1 business card off the needle plate in the lowest position! Make sure that the pig-tail guides and the check spring don't have grooves wore in them.. For the stitches, are they long stitches or skipped stitches.. you may need to adjust the encoder boxes! Sometimes the back of the quilt will give you problems.. oh.. and try a new bobbin case.. Let me know how it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heierb Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Connie, I'm still having trouble with the tension. It is still so loose on the top when I sew from right to left that I can pick the threads up with my fingernail. But sewing left to right or up and down, the bobbin thread pulls up to the top. I have tried a new bobbin case, got different thread, changed the bobbin thread to a pre-wound bobbin (and readjusted the tension so that it drops only 1-2 inches). The hopping foot is only one business card above the plate. We changed the tension knob with the new one I ordered. We have checked for play in the hook and tightened it as well, wasn't much play to begin with. Any other ideas? Barb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heierb Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Hi Connie, We had a new thought. I checked the height of the hopping foot an it is different from the left side to the right side. It was 1-2 business cards up from the plate on left and so tight that I couldn't get a card in on the right. Could the hopping foot have gotten bent somehow? I use the Hartley plastic guide on the hopping foot when I use the template guides. Could I have bent it putting it on and taking it off? I noticed the problem was much worse after putting the Hartley adjuster on this last time. So if I need a different hopping foot, how hard is it to install? Or is this something you have to do at your shop? And is there a different option for a hopping foot that I can use with the template guides instead of putting this plastic circle on and off? Barb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connie hurst Posted March 14, 2005 Report Share Posted March 14, 2005 Hi Barb, When your foot is just above the plate, you can put a small screw-driver in the center of the foot and bend it just enough to make it level! That will help alot! We may need to get you a new tension control.. Let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connie hurst Posted March 14, 2005 Report Share Posted March 14, 2005 Barb, We do have a permanant "new ruler foot" You can install it yourself, we do have some good instructions and the hardest part is probably re-timing the machine... But that is no hill for a climber!!!! LOL We can also walk you through it on the phone! The cost is $137.50 Let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue in Australia Posted March 14, 2005 Report Share Posted March 14, 2005 Hi Connie that foot is not available for the Ult 11 is it? Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connie hurst Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 Oh... sorry Barb, no it is not for the Ult.11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdrogers Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 Actually there is a foot that was designed for the Ult2. I believe it was designed and manufactured by Michelle Scordos. You can see this on The Gadget Girls webpage. http://www.thegadgetgirls.com/Quiltmaking_Pages/Quilting_Notions.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heierb Posted March 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Hi Connie, I'm still having trouble with my Millenium. I have done all the maintenance that you suggested and have worked with the hopping foot, but I still cannot get even tension when sewing in all directions. I pulled out my first practice piece when I first got my machine and now see that it has been doing this since the beginning. I haven't quilted much on my machine, always got frustrated with its performance thinking it was me. But now I'm becoming more and more convinced that this machine has had troubles from the get-go and it wasn't just me being a newbie. I cannot get the tension to remain equal when sewing right to left. Please advise. I'm running out of patience. Barb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Stainbrook Posted November 12, 2009 Report Share Posted November 12, 2009 I ladies, I am having the same problem with my thread tension. When I'm stitching their are certain directions that cause lopping tension on the bottom. I have taken two quilts apart because I can't let them go like this. Please help me resolve this problem. Thanks Bonnie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinneaMarie Posted November 12, 2009 Report Share Posted November 12, 2009 Girls! Call Amy at APQS #800-426-7233 EXT 207. She's NOT scary, honest!! hahaha. She got my tension problems fixed asap. I thought it was the stitch regulator, but my hopping foot was too high. Now, I'm high..........on my nice stitches!!! Also, someone (not APQS & not on this forum) kept telling me to loosen my bobbin tension. When in fact, I should have been tightening it!! All is good now! Trying to get some close up pictures of before and after dropping the hopping foot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meg_marsh Posted November 12, 2009 Report Share Posted November 12, 2009 You are right LinneaMarie - you can make the bobbin tension too loose - there is a happy balance!!! I am sure all will be thankful that you mentioned this - including me . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnCavanaugh Posted November 13, 2009 Report Share Posted November 13, 2009 Bonnie, The right-to-left issue is very commonplace. What's happening is the needle is flexing in the opposite direction that you're moving as you quilt. So if you move right to left, the needle bends to the right. That means as the hook comes around from the right, the needle is at the timing spot "too soon" to make a complete and perfect stitch. Here are some things to help: [*] Move at a consistent pace; the faster you move, the more the needle flexes [*] Choose a needle size appropriate to your thread size. The thicker, rougher, or stronger the thread is, the more it will pull on the needle as it passes through the eye. This, in turn, exacerbates the needle flex issue. For cotton thread, such as Signature or King Tut, you may need a 4.5 needle, for example. [*] Select a medium-short stitch length (between 10-12 stitches per inch). The longer the stitches are, the longer the needle lingers in the fabric, creating that flexing motion again. Shorter stitches, or "more per inch" get the needle in and out more quickly. [*] Choose batting with at least some loft. Unlike a sewing machine with feed dogs or a presser foot, your longarm moves much more quickly over the fabric than you could ever hope to move fabric under a domestic sewing machine. Because of this, you need a little "air space" between the quilt's layers to give the machine a fighting chance to lock the top and bottom thread into the layers. While the other factors will also play a role in your success, some battings that are more difficult to balance tension routinely are Quilter's Dream Request, Hobbs Thermore, Warm and Natural, etc. [*] Be sure the quilt sandwich is not too tight. The tighter you make it, the more trouble you'll have. If the fabric is taut, it's like stitching through a drum skin, and the air space the batting created suddenly is smashed down. Think about quilting on a domestic machine...the fabric is never "taut". The quilting machine should look like a "mole" crawling under your quilt's surface. The fabric should drape ever so gently off the throat's edges. If the quilt is too tight, the fabric will appear to "cup" up around the hopping foot, and the foot will "plow" the fabric instead of hopping over it. [*] Fabric composition (batiks are tougher to balance, as are polyesters) and condition (washed fabrics quilt better than non-washed simply because the sizing is gone) makes a difference, too. [*] Notice I haven't mentioned adjusting the tension yet? All those other factors also play an important part in succesfully balanced tension as well. Because longarm machines work the way they do, with a rotary hook meeting a flexing needle, and all those other factors, there are going to be times when nothing you do will make those tension changes completely disappear. That's why longarm quilters have gotten smart over the years and have encouraged their clients to use busy prints as backing fabric! That said, take a look at the following articles and video located on the QuiltTalk Page of the website. You'll get lots of info about adjusting the tension, directional quilting issues, etc., and how to fix them: Tension Headaches Quilt Talk--Needle Flex Video on Tension (ignore the lovely opening shot of my eyes closed:)): Quilt Talk Tension Video In the meantime, DO check your hopping foot height (you should be able to slide a business card underneath the foot when the needle's at its lowest position, no quilt under the foot), and verify the timing on the machine (particularly the hook clearance (there's an appendix in the manual located on the CD you got with the machine that addresses timing). If the hook and needle are too far apart, skipped stitches can result. By all means, call us and we'll help with whatever we can...that's what we're here for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudges Posted November 13, 2009 Report Share Posted November 13, 2009 Hi! I have had tension problems since I got my machine just over 2 years ago, for the first 12 months I figured it was just me being a newbie, for the second 12 months I figured my machine was just tempremental, I could use only "so fine" and the tension was still only average, any other thread and the tension was really bad, bobbin thread poking through for a few inches, then top thread poking through the bottom for a few inches, then back to the bobbin thread poking through the top for a few inches, and so on. I read a post on another list a couple of weeks ago that mentioned if the tension on your bobbin winder when winding bobbins was too tight you could get these types of problems. I had never touched the tension on my bobbin winder, it was still set as it came from the factory, and when I checked it it was done up so tightly that it was a real struggle to get it undone, it was a wonder the thread could get through at all! So I loosened the tension to the same tension as the bobbin winder on my Janome (I used the towa guage and just held it sidewards so the thread goes in the same path as it would if there were a bobbin in it) and I can now use King Tut for the first time ever with good results - yay!!! Also I can wind more than one bobbin without my bobbin winder stinking up my entire studio with a burnt smell, and I can wind more than 3 in a row without it smoking any more either - a double bonus LOL! I couldn't see any information in the manual about the tension on the bobbin winder and have not seen it mentioned on these forums at all either, and it was not suggested I check this when I queried the smell from my bobbin winder, so I hope this helps someone! Susan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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