what is this???

[doodlebug]

i am hoping that someone can help me out. i\'m having a thread issue.

im posting a picture to better help explain it.

this is what\'s happening: im stitching along then all of a sudden i lose tension, but for only like 4 to 5 stitches then it gets better, then i get such tight tension, my thread breaks. this has happened on three different quilts, progressivly getting worse.

this is what i\'ve done to trouble shot to no aveal:

-cleaned both thread paths; top and bobbin/ oiled bobbin

-checked for burrs found none

-changed needles

-rethreaded machine with each needle change

-checked tension on quilt itself

-checked for loose thread in bobbing or fly wheel/ found none

-cleaned in between the tension disks/ found some little lint

after all this, it\'s still doing it...*frustrated beyond belief*

i have a feeling that it can\'t be the thread because of it doing it on three different quilt each with a different color. i use the same brand all the time...*argh!*

i haven\'t checked the timing, that\'s what im going to do after posting this.

so this has me perplexed. has this happened to anyone. and what did you do to fix it?

[doodlebug]

here\'s a drawing i did to better explain it:

thanks for looking, i feel a little better just venting it out in this thread.

[JSpeckert]

Shannon,

I was having a lot of tension problems a while back and ended up discovering that some of my aluminium bobbins had burrs on the inside edges. Of course, I can\'t remember how the stitches looked, but that\'s something else to check.

Hope you get it worked out soon.

Jackie

[quiltmonkey]

Looks like you might want to tighten your bobbin tension a little bit. I see your bottom threads are really popping up there, and your top thread is just laying there, not sinking into the quilt.

After that, try running the top thread through two, not three of the holes. See if that works on solving the top thread from breaking. Also run a little bit of Sewer\'s Aid on the thread cone to slick it up a bit.

When you have little loopies on top, that means your top tension is a too loose. When you see your top thread laying there and bottom thread poking up to the top like that, that means your bottom tension is definitely too loose.

Both top and bottom tensions need to be tightned down.

[Lsilver]

I recently got 25 new aluminum bobbins and 20 of them needed to be smoothes where the holes were punched.

This looks like a tension problem, though, as Shana suggested

[doodlebug]

i feel confident enough to mention that i don\'t think it\'s a tension problem. i have good tension and this is only happening once or twice a pass. i did check all my bobbins (i have aluminum) and found no burrs. (i would not of thought to check there *filing away for future reference*)

i think i have found the problem.

i removed the needle plate cover to check the timing, and discovered that my needle is extremely close to the back of the bobbin basket (needle not entering in the center of the "hole") and think that when i quilt the flex of the needle is causing it to hit the basket resulting in the funky looking stitches. i have a call into amy at apqs and waiting for her to call me back. we\'ll see what happens.

thanks again for the support.

[ramona-quilter]

Since you are confident with your tension, I would check the bobbin area.

When that happens to me, 9 out of 10 times I have debris in my bobbin area; the case,

the hook area or under the needle plate. I give it a good brush and blow out any fuzz and off I go.

I really only have this problem when using a cotton batt or flannel fabric. I have just

gotten used to blowing out the bobbin area with every bobbin change, sometimes

5 or 6 times in one quilt.

There was a Dawn Cavanaugh post a few months ago about debris getting stuck behind the hook

area. You had to use your thumb to turn the flywheel very slowly while looking into the

hook area (bobbin out) and you will see a hole appear (size of a pea) as you crank the flywheel.

When you see a hole, you are looking at the back of the hook area. I put an alcohol swab

back there and dredged up some awful stuff. Debris, thread, fuzz etc just gets

trapped back there and then comes lose when the hook turns and it effected my stitches.

I wish I could find that post.

Good luck and come back and tell us how you fix it, please.

[doodlebug]

i just knew it was the thread getting caught on something!!! i know what that looks like. closer inspection of my bobbin area revealed the smallest of tinyest nicks on my bobbin assembly. it was on the part that\'s green in our manual. so i buffed my little problem away!!!

i did a pass on the quilt and WHA-LA no more bumpy thread!

*doing happy dance around the house*

LSilver, you also helped. i noticed that it did happen more just before my bobbin ran out, so i\'ll be buffing my bobbins also. what did you use to accomplish this??? and where can i get one???

i\'m so happy i could scream!

THANK YOU!!!

i now return to my regularly scheduled quilting log...

[zeke]

I don\'t know about any others out there. I used to have a Gammill Optimum and I had a lot of trouble with it and that was one of the problems. I found out that my needle bar depth was too low. Not by much, but enough to make it do the little doodle-bug and cause small loops on the back every so often. So check and make sure your needle bar depth is correct...........zeke

[Myrna Ficken]

Did you tighten your top tension a bit?

[Lsilver]

I used an emery cloth after I finished punching out the little aluminum tags that were stuck in some of the holes.

So glad you solved your problem!

[Marion]

There is emery cord that is useful for smoothing out small holes in the bobbins and even used it on my husband\'s partial as it had a burr. Sometimes it can be used on the needle plate if that gets rough but that is usually stainless steel and hard to buff.

I have had bobbins (old ones) that actually had rust on them. So check for that too. Most newer bobbins are aluminum which is a softer metal. I am just getting started using prewound especially on the six needle embroidery machine. They seem to last longer than regular bobbins I wind. I have not used them on the quilters yet.

[bobbipatillo]

and found that I was standing on the power cord, it was putting just enough tension on the plug that I think it caused like a "brown out" where the power dips slightly. If you are not standing on the cord maybe it is an electrical system issue...?

[doodlebug]

i had nice stitches after i polished the burr out, but *sigh* it started doing it again. i called amy at APQS (she\'s the bestest!)and we talked and we found it to be a tension problem, but not what you would think. I have a not-so-springy check spring and will be replacing that. hopefully that will fix it. *fingers crossed* so i\'m going to catch up on my charity quilting while i wait on the parts to come...

thanks to all for the suggestions. honestly, tension issues are IMHO the most challenging issues with LAing. But GARSH, it\'s SO worth it!

bobbipatillo-

my power cord was always getting in the way and causing problems, so i used shower curtin rings and attached it to the back rail of my lighing kit. now it\'s never a problem and stays out of the way. but i commend your creative suggestion...

THANKS ALL!

[RitaR]

I think husbands come first in the line of problems.. ..

RitaR

[SylviaJ]

I have experienced that problem before. Tighten the top tension. I learned early on to tighten until the thread breaks, then back off a little. I never found any problem with the machine and its working parts. Ever. :cool:

[hollyc]

I just had this happen and somehow the top thread had wrapped around the tab that you hold to insert the bobbin, check your bobbin before messing with the tension, if it suddently happens.