Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Mark, My top thread is still breaking...these are the things I did last night to try to "fix" my problems: 1. Readjusted my wheels. They have been out of adjustment for a long time, but I think they are right now. 2. Made sure my black encoder wheel is snug, but not touching the post in the back (don\'t know the technical term). I can now hold the brown wheel and the black wheel will not move, it slipped before. 3. Checked my needle bar depth. My needle was a little low compared to the picture in the old manual, so I moved it up just a bit. 3. Checked my hook rotation, that seems just right. 4. Checked needle/hook clearance, that seems right. 5. Checked hook retaining finger setting, that seems right. 6. We checked for damage or roughness to the hook, but we couldn\'t feel anything. Even used a q-tip thinking it would snag if there was a little nick, but nothing. 7. Cleaned and oiled. Made sure my bobbin case was lint free and clean. Eveything seemed to work. I stitched a pretty good area of sample off to the side of my quilt, then the top thread broke and it went on stitching. Since I have checked everything else, I\'m going to go back to the wheels. and make sure everything looks right there, then I am stumped. I\'ll wait to see if you have some other ideas. If I get it going before I hear back I will let you know. Thank you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Mark, My thread has stopped breaking in the line of stitching and then starting again. Now is is breaking somewhere around the needle or the bobbin. Also, if I measure my stitching line with a ruler, I have 11 stitches per inch, but my machine is set at 13 stitches per inch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Okay, I give...I\'m at my breaking point now!!! The stitches are smaller, I readjusted the wheels and the stitches look much better. However, the stitches are still breaing in the middle of my stitching line and they it starts stitching again. And it breaks somewhere around the needle/bobbin area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmquilt Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Could it be a bad spot in the spool of thread?? Just a thought, maybe not a good one. LOL. I\'m so sorry you are having such a horrible time with this. Michele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Thanks Michele. I think it\'s time for a phone call. I was hoping someone could pop in and give me a word of wisdom here that would help. I don\'t think it\'s a bad spool of thread, because it was happening with the monopoly I was using just before this thread. I thought it was just that thread until I switched back to this one (I was using it before and it was working fine). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmquilt Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Maybe you have Junk in your Trunk Michele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Mary Beth, Arey you going through all 3 holes on the pigtail? If so try just 2 or even 1. Also I noticed that if my pigtail moves and is not at the 45 ish degree then my threads break. The only other thing I could think of is a burr on one of your thread guides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Okay, but that\'s a whole different ball game:P I just tried stitching w/o SR and the thread didn\'t break. It has to be something with the SR. But what?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Mary Beth, If you have realigned the black wheel on the SR and that is not rubbing then my guess is the on/off action of the sr adds more pull to the thread. I\'d just try it and see if that could possibly be it. I use my sr on almost everything and it isn\'t uncommon for me to go through only 1 hole on the pigtail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I have readjusted my wheels once again. This time when I tried the SR the thread did not break. I\'m going to try it on the quilt now. If I could get everyone to cross your fingers I would appreciate it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I didn\'t work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Mary Beth, Are you testing with a different fabric and batting that what you\'re using on the quilt? I\'m sure by now you want to blow the machine up but hang in there. It has to be related to the SR or something being impacted by its use. When you said above it worked and then you tried on your quilt it didn\'t work it makes me think there might be an issue with the quilt sandwich. Just guessing here. Keeping fingers and toes crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherryRogers Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 hi MB if you installed the needle bar thread guide,check to see that it is directly inline with the eye of the needle. If not, it could direct your thread off course and cause breakage. High 5 for perservering thru these challenges! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I think you need another six pack of those Reeses chocolate Easter Eggs. Hang in there! What\'s that famous saying? "This too shall pass." You will look back on this event and only remember that you learned some valuable things from it (and hopefully you won\'t remember that you drank a case of diet pepsi and ate several boxes of chocolate Easter eggs)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 OK, I know that I have no business suggesting but it sounds like it stitches for a while and then breaks. Did you check the other encoder? Is there debris, oil etc on the rail that the encode rides on? My thinking, especially since the SPI changed, is that the encoder wheel is not making the correct contact. I just had to replace a wheel (encoder one) because I had run over a pin and put a teensy-weensy gouge in the wheel. When the encoder hit that tiny hole, it felt like I was driving into a pot-hole. I was breaking thread and cussing like a sailor. Well, I always cus like a sailor. But this was worse. Maybe Shana is right, you just need some chocolate. Melt some and slather it on your meachine head. I\'m sure you Millie needs chocolate, too. And it is sooo cool that you are posting as you try things so that newbies can see the process. Hang in there. When does Mark get to work?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I have John Mitchell hard at work trying to figure this out. I can hear the cogs turning from across town. He had me put a practice piece in and stitch several lines horizontally then vertically. The thread only breaks when I go from right to left - or backward - horizontally. So that\'s a start. I finished the only PB Egg I could find in the house. Since I have to stick close to the phone for John to call back, I guess I\'ll go get the jar of PB and sit here and eat that while I wait. Did I say I eat when I get frustrated? Guess I could clean up my studio....naa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Yippee...I think I am back in business. John suggested that I change my thread guides since I have not done that - ever! - in four years. There was a groove in the one on the front of the machine. I think that is my problem. I\'m going back to try it some more before I trust it with my customer\'s quilt. Thank you all for putting up with my crying...you all are the best!! When I called this morning who ever answered the phone said that all the techs are out today!! Wouldn\'t you know - the one day I needed them....and they took the day off!!! All of them!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 okay, never mind...I spoke too soon. It is still beaking in SR mode. Stitching from right to left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Have you buffed out your needle bar guide? I\'ve had to do it TWICE. It only broke finer threads, the thicker ones ran fine. It was my DH who walked by and drug the broken piece back to the front to see how long it was to get an idea of where it broke. Also it was frayed, not cut clean. Just a thought. I\'ve got my fingers crossed. Call me, or give me your number and I\'ll call you ( I have unlimited long distance) and I\'ll hold the phone away from my ear for you to scream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtreusch Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Mary Beth, I had something recently where the thread was breaking only when doing diagonal lines from the lower right to the top left. I checked for burrs, couldn\'t find any. Bob K. and Tony at the APQS showroom thought it was a burr. Bob was at my house a few days ago and sure enough, he found the burr. Your problem sound a lot like what I was experiencing. Debbi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Also, not that it\'s any help, but there was a whole conversation on the thread breaking and starting again and how was that possible on one of my email lists but I can\'t find it for the life of me. I even emailed the gal that started it to see if she kept the answer and she never wrote back, but one of those techie guys had an explanations for it. I just can\'t remember it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Where was your burr?? I have checked almost everything. It is stitching okay right now, no breaking thread, but my stitch length is too big for the setting. I have it set on 13 S/I and I am counting 10 S/I. I really feel like this has something to do with my wheels and the stitch regulator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 My burr was on the left side of the hole. It almost felt like it was an opening or something, like those guides you weave it into? I had to go thru the hole and then the second time back and forth under the hole. Your right it does make you think it\'s something w/the SR/wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I just tried it again. It only breaks when I go from right to left in SR mode. If I could stitch w/o the SR and it looked okay I would finish up this quilt I am working on, but I alway use my SR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtreusch Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 My burr was just inside the point of the hook, and then I couldn\'t feel it unless I rubbed my finger back and forth across the point. There was a very tiny sharp area that caught on my finger as I rubbed it. When I had my problem, I was only using SR mode. So I don\'t know if the problem existed in manual mode or not. Have you tried changing to a different spool of thread? Debbi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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