Play in the wheels

[Mary Beth]

Mark - Amy - Whoever - Help!!

I promise on a stack of Bibles never to touch my wheels again if you will just help me this time.

With all the talk of adjusting the wheels and making them loose, yada - yada, I though what the heck I'll try it....now I have this play in my machine and I can't seem to get it adjusted right. Granted I don't have the updated manual, so the only instructions I have is the old manual, and a maintinence class taught by Connie a long time ago oh and messages posted here.

I just need to know how to get that "wobble" out. I have my off set nut set in the 5 o'clock position, the bottom bolt head is tight, I don't know if my wheels are in the right place, but they must not be or I wouldn't be having this problem.

The wobble seems to be when I go side to side.

[Amy Stuart - APQS Service]

It does sound like the wheels are a bit too loose, if the carriage is \'wobbly\'....the 5 o\'clock setting on the carriage wheels is almost as loose as those wheels can be - I\'d either try it at 4 or 8 o\'clock and see if that is a little better. Without a quilt on the table, you should be able to give your machine a shove at one end, and have it travel almost to the other end of the table......

Hope that helps...let me know if you have any other questions!!

[Mary Beth]

Thanks Amy, I am in the middle of a wall hanging so should be done shortly and will give it a try....keep your fingers crossed.

[jeri]

I\'m bad. I switch mine around all the time to fit what I\'m quilting. Tighter for SID losser for freehand, really loose for ity bity background fillers. It\'s just whatever "feels" good to me.

but then I "play" with the bobbin tension on my DSM so I\'m not good at following "the rules" jeri

[annlittle1]

Oh, Jeri, you naughty, naughty girl!

(I wish I was as brave as you. I\'m sure if I tried something like that the whole machine would fly apart. I\'d have bits and pieces, thingys and whatchamacallits all over the floor. DH would come home and find me on my hands and knees picking up all the little bits and crying, "I knew I shouldn\'t do that. Why, oh, why did I do that?"

[geri]

This is not a reply-my own problem-wheels too tight!!!!!!!

I have an ult1, yes I know almost a dinosaur. Anyway, not too long ago I went to Iowa and had her overhauled and new wheels put on. They were fine for all this time, now all of a sudden I feel like I am dragging a dead body with me when I quilt!!!!!I did the usual check list stuff, took out my little level-all is level, cleaned the wheels, cleaned the tracks with the wax recommended, and even had DH come down here and he tried adjusting-loosening/tightening the nuts on the wheels--It seems to be ok on the vertical, but on the horizontal and it seems from center to up near the edge of the freemotion side I get this horrible drag that makes me stop and take an Advil!!!! It started with the last quilt that was on; I finished it---we checked what we could--when he loosened the wheels a bit, it seemed ok so I loaded another double size quilt, half way through it here I am again. So I have shut down and am here looking for a "magic bullet" or a sledge hammer!!!!!!!

thanks all,

Geri B

IL

ps--this is when I wish there were techs near by that I can call...for a house call--it would be worth it!!!!

[Mary Beth]

Geri,

By now I am sure you have found the sledge hammer It seems no one responded to you....hope your machine is well and you still have all of your hair. I have not tried to adjust mine just yet....after I posted my message, I finished my quilt, unloaded, cleaned and reloaded and then remembered that I needed to try ot readjust the wheels I am almost finished so will try the adjustment Amy suggested.

I\'m sure with all of the adjusting you have done you know there is no thread wrapped around anything. Hope you have it all worked out and everything is running smooth!!

Mary Beth

[smorris]

Hi Geri

Nothing wrong with an Ult 1, Dawn does such fantastic work on hers.

You might have contacted APQS by now, but I wonder if you have checked the screws that hold the axles in place, they could have come loose, or have you moved the table a little? If you drag it rather than lifting it you can put a twist on the table and so the carriage and head wont run straight. Another thing to check is that the bolts on the front and back tension bar have loosened off so that the table is higher in the centre on one side.

Good luck

sue in Australia

[Mindy Skinner]

I\'m having the same problem Geri posted. I\'m popping the Advil like candy. I have the Millennium and it has never glided smoothly like everyone says it should. I\'ve had my local rep out about 4 years ago and someone from the company came about 3 years ago because they were in the area delivering another machine. at that time they determined that my carriage was not truely flat and sent me a new one.

Anyway, it is so bad now I also describe it as trying to push and pull a dead man around. I\'ve worked with Amy on the phone and gone through all the standard checks, balances and adjustments. I don\'t know what to do now. It seems to roll ok, and just ok, from F to B and L to R but when I actually try to run a panto, it seems to torque and catch and I just grip tighter and tense up and end up with square feathers. When I give it a push it moves about 8 inches, definitely not down the entire table. Right now the offset nuts are set at 10 o\'clock.

As for the rails, I tried waxing with Meguiars and cleaning the wheels with alcohol and Q-tips. That is how I was originally trained. Then someone on this site said DON\'T wax and my dealer said "yeah, that is the new thing and you will need to get that wax build up off the rails" so yesterday I cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned. I didn\'t really see any wax build up and my wheels had just been cleaned so all that didn\'t really do anything. I did a soft mount upgrade about 2 years ago so I have the new wheels. I don\'t have a new manual, mine is about 6 years old.

Please, any ideas are welcome. I keep my wrenches handy and try adjusting to different settings with every pass of this huge quilt but nothing is helping. I\'m just so fed up I want to scream.

Mindy

[Mindy Skinner]

One more question. I have read every post I could find on adjusting the wheels. I\'m not sure about whether they should "lay" on the rails of whether the rails should go in to the curve of the wheels. Mine actually do both. Maybe this is my problem. If I adjust them to lay on the rails, when I move the machine down the rails the wheels move from riding on the rails to pulled in and then back. They don\'t stay in the same location.

Also, someone said I should be able to "spin" all of my wheels. Nope, can\'t do it. I lift the machine and try to spin them and occationally one will actually spin but most of the time they are very tight or won\'t budge at all. And I definitely can\'t spin the wheels that have the channel locks and stitch regulators on them.

[Quilting Heidi]

It sounds to me like your wheels aren\'t adjust right. I would guess they are way too tight. You should have a air gap and the wheels don\'t right ride right on the rails. If you loosen them you should be able to spin them.

Heidi

[Mindy Skinner]

I played with the adjustments all weekend. I tried them at every "time" setting. I got to the point where I could spin them, but the machine still rides very hard, like a dead weight. At no time have I been able to give it a shove and have it go more than 8". I\'m amazed at people who can quilt tiny little meanders and stuff like that because I would just get a tiny little square and very soar shoulders.

I\'ve been cleaning the rails and wheels repeatedly just in case the humidity level or dry air or something like that is doing it. I\'m not getting anything off the rails and the wheels are very clean, just a little gray, not black, coming off. Using alcohol on both.

I thought maybe it was the stitch regulator wheels pushing too hard on the wheels. I loosend them to the point of not working and then tightened them back just to the point of working. Didn\'t make any difference.

I have a huge honking quilt to do today and really dreading it because it is not only big but the panto has lots of curvy feathers.

Mindy

[mrmquilt]

Mindy, On my machine, which i assume is set up a little different because

of the intellistitch, and I get dead weight it is usually because the power

cord is hung up somewhere. Usually it is caught on the carriage which makes a major hang up.

Something simple you could look at while moving the machine from

the back.

Good luck and I hope you find the answer soon!!!

Michele

[Quilting Heidi]

Mindy,

Does your table have the trusses under it? My guess is that they are either too loose or too tight and causing your machine to not roll. It could also be that your table is not level or the carriage isn\'t level. All of those things can give your the problems you are describing.

Michele also made a good point with the cord. I had that happen a time or two!

Heidi

[ffq-lar]

Because the head travels on wheels, the only way you can have the extreme drag that you describe is if the wheels are tightening somehow. I know--that\'s a "Duh!" statement , but here are your options---

The wheels are too tight. You adjusted and readjusted and checked the gap. Yes, you should be able to spin the wheels when the carriage is stationary. Is the drag consistent down the length of the table?

If there is drag in certain spots and not others, your table is out of level or torqued (twisted). Get a level and check back-to-front along the whole length of the table. Then check along both the front and back of the frame that holds the lexan. Is that all level? Adjust the legs and check that the truss bolts are evenly tightened. The width of the table should be consistent down the length as well. I can\'t remember the exact measurement--someone may chime in here with that for you.

I assume that your wheels spin freely--no problem with the bearings? You may need to replace the wheels. I cringe thinking of you having to man-handle your machine when we know it should glide. (Mine has never glided 8 inches, so don\'t get your hopes up! Mine will easily roll with a push about 4-5 inches and slowly stop.)

When all else fails, call the experts--Amy is an angel and will jump in right away. Good luck and I hope your problems are solved soon!

[JenMcManus]

I don\'t understand why some people\'s machines won\'t glide and some will. Mine will glide all the way to the other end. (Thru no great feat of my own - it was set up that way for me. Yay Cheryl Uribe!)

Mindy, I hope your problem gets solved. Hang in there, someone here will be able to help you. People on this chat know EVERYTHING!

Jen

[Mindy Skinner]

I have worked with Amy on the phone to make sure every thing is level. I took the lexan off and used a very long level placing it all over the place and adjusting the height. It was lower on one side and i can\'t understand how that happend because I have never moved it and I\'ve had it over 5 years. Anyway, it was also a little bit unlevel front to back so I adjusted the bolt in the middle to raise the back a bit. I checked and rechecked the level all over the place and then put the lexan back on.

I measured the rails and they were exactly the same distance all the way down, I think it was 23 7/8. It was just what Amy said it should be.

As for the cord, mine plugs in overhead and glides on a pully system. It is pretty slick and usually never gets caught on the machine. I have a stick that I can pick up and smack at it if it gets caught on something because I can\'t reach it but that is very rare. The pully glides on a tight cable and the machine is plugged in to an extension cord that coils up so it doesn\'t even hang down in my way.

Well, the carriage is definitely the problem and it is generally in the center of the frame and not so much on the edges. I cleaned the rails and wheels again, and again. If I loosen the wheels all the way they will spin. I have to pick the machine up a little to spin them but I\'m assuming you all have to do that because the machine sits on the wheels so without picking it up I don\'t see how they could spin. But, I can\'t leave them that loose because the machine wobbles.

Linda, if you machine only rolls 4 inches I think you have a much worse problem than I do. I spoke with the local dealer over the weekend and she said her\'s glides about 40 inches. I\'m wondering if it makes a difference if the head is sitting in the middle of the carriage when you make all the adjustments or at the front or back? My local rep also said her wheels ride on the rails and there is just the tinest bit of air showing in the gap.

For those of you whose machines glide like marbles on glass, what do you use to clean your rails? Another thing, I\'m wondering if the weight of the quilt is too much, maybe my rollers aren\'t set correctly and the quilts are weighing down on the head. Are there any standards here that I can check on?

thanks for all the replies.

Mindy

[JenMcManus]

Mindy,

I use rubbing alcohol to clean the rails.

My wheels sit at 5 o\'clock, and there is a small air gap between them and the rails.

Jen