CaliMom Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 I NEED TO VENT, please excuse me... I have a girlfriend from China who speaks poor English and has been having problems communicating with her Gammill dealer to fix a problem with her machine. I posted here to get suggestions as I have never owned a Gammill and am unfamiliar with their system. Yesterday, I went to her home and we tried to fix the machine... We could not quite get it right on our own so we called the Gammill Tech Support and I spoke to a gentleman repeatedly trying to fix the problem. The person I spoke to was unsympathetic, belittling me, sighing, annoyed, and after the 3rd call told me he could not think of anything else to do (he had only offered slight tension knob adjustments as cures). I became frustrated and thought to myself I had experienced this same problem last year with my Millennium (occasional loops on the back of fabric) and I told the man that APQS had walked me through bobbin hook assembly check up, and a myriad of other things before I finally got it right and asked him to make another suggestion. He declined to do so and told me to tell her to take it to a dealer. At the beginning of the telephone call, I told him that the problem had been unresolved after repeated contact with the dealer, they even had it in their shop (a cool 6 hour drive one way) a few months ago and could not fix it. My point here I guess is this. My girlfriend is a widow and is dependent on the income she makes from this machine and I CANNOT ACCEPT the manufacturer's agents inability to resolve this problem. I am so angry right now I just don't know what to do. NEVER have I got this kind of response from anyone at APQS and I just don't believe it. We have not fixed the machine, Gammill and her dealer cannot tell what's wrong, she is sitting not making her income in limbo awaiting another appointment to take it back yet again. DOES ANYONE HERE HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR ME PLEASE??? I have so far checked for burrs on bobbin assembly, changed thread, chcecked thread path, hook, checked bobbin, check spring, tension knobs, changed needles, checked for obstructions, the only thing I can think of that we have not yet tried is to time the machine, which I don't think is it because the threads only loop occasionally about 1 loop every 16 inches, I am guessing there must somewhere be an abrasion that is catching the thread somehow. Also, the stitch quality looks great except for these little loops... I am sorry about posting such mean language, I am certain Gammills are good machines, my friend loves hers, I just think we have not received a fair shot at a solution yet, and I do not know where else to ask for help. Any Gammill people here that have ANY ideas would be greatly appreciated Again, please forgive me for being so angry. I am frustrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaCollins Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 I used to have a Gammill Classic Plus about 5 years ago (I think it has been that long??) HOWEVER- I am not familiar with the newer gammill models, so I am not sure if this will help or not?.... Besides re-routing my thread path a zillion alternate ways for the different threads I wanted to use, I also remember pulling the "rocking finger" out to get rid of the occassional loops I was also struggling with. SHERRY, are you out there????? Maybe Sherry can remember more places to check and/or adjust than I do.... I believe I have repressed those tension battle memories in a feeble attempt to bury the psychological trauma of being a "newbie longarmer" -LOL!!! By the way.... I bet I can guess who the tech was that you spoke with.. ;)MEOW!:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliMom Posted June 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Her machine is a Gammill Classic Plus 2 yrs old. if that helps... Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliMom Posted June 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Is the rocking finger the arm looking thingy behind the bobbin assembly? That looks foreign to me... LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdrogers Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Hi Heidi I swear I replied to this topic already but I do not see the answers I posted! Perhaps it was a figment of my imajination! First of all it is a crying shame that this person is getting this type of customer service. I hope that she sticks with it and perservers through these challanges. Tina is right, I removed the rocking finger to alleviate the loopies. She will have to refer to her manual though for a referance as my Gammill has been gone now for several years. I am sure the new on-line manual will show this detail. Have her also check the height of her hopping foot, it could be too high or too low. Seams to me it sits a dimes width off the throat plate when the needle is in the lowest position. She may also want to tighten the check spring on her tension unit. Perhaps it has *checked* out and could stand a little tightening up. Remove the assy and tighten the black screw that is towards the back end of the unit OR purchase and replace the entire unit as it is an in-expensive part. Also, make sure she does not have ANY lint caught in her bobbin case as that too can cause loopies. I do hope this helps Heidi, please let us know the outcome and thank you for coming to her rescue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaCollins Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Oooohhh Sherry, that is right!!.... I also had to adjust (lower) my hopping foot height when I had my gammill... and it was a dime that I used to "set" it. The dime should tightly fit under the foot in it's lowest position, so that you can NOT pull it out. You probably should consult the gammill manual for the correct adjustments needed for her year model though, as I am not sure if things have changed since I had mine. The online manual is available at http://www.gammill.net/servicemanual.pdf. I tried to open it myself to double check, but wasn't able to.... Heidi, please let us know if you are able to get her fixed!!! I am hoping that she will be up and quilting again very soon!!!! I hate to hear of anyone struggling with their longarm, especially when the quilting income is an absolute necessity!! Also, it is very kind of you to go through so much effort to help her!! Good Luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connie hurst Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Hi Heidi, I'm not to smart when it comes to those machines! LOL I know I have seen some of ours, where the loop just every-so often, was in the timing. The needle was flexing and it was actually trying to skip a stitch, also make sure the needle depth is set right.. It could be causing it to try to miss a stitch, but it is just catching and not able to pull it up tight.. Good Luck, Let us know if we can help further.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Heidi I have a Gammill and have had a problem like this a few times. It was caused by my thread coming off the spool and draging against the power cord to the laser light. It only happened when the thread was coming off the lower part of the spool. You might check the cord to the light and possibly this could help. I know that the first time this happened it took me a while to finally catch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliMom Posted June 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Thank you to everybody here that has given me suggestions. Tomorrow I am driving back to Molly's and we are going to remove the rocking finger and I expect this problem will disappear. We have tried just about everything else. again THANKS ALL!!!! I'll let ya know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliMom Posted June 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 Hi All: Last evening we were set to remove the rocking finger and there was none... So, we went through everything in the tech manual one at a time. We got it!!!! Turns out, the black tension knob needed to be dialed back a bit and we adjusted her cone holder (it was allowing cones to jump a bit) When we were done, it was sewing beautifully as before... YIPPEE!!!!! Molly is back in business. Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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