? checking bobbons for tension

[Quiltsinmotion]

Must we check each and every bobbon for tension ?

How can the tension be different when you are using the same thread or prewound bobbon ?

Please is there an anwser ?

Or am I doing something wrong ?

[Calicoquilter]

Carol,

I don\'t check the tension when I am using the same thread on several bobbins. I only check it when I am changing threads or if I am having tension issues with my quilt.

Colleen

[smorris]

Hi Carol

I check each bobbin. The tensioner on the bobbin winder could have been accidentally changed between bobbins, there could be fluff under the tension lever or under the backlash spring in the bobbin case after the first bobbin, etc. Better to give it a quick test than find things have changed and have to unpick.

Sue in Australia

[ffq-lar]

Hi Carol,

The bobbin tension can easily change from one bobbin to the next and sometimes can change in one bobbin! Take the time to check each one, even pre-wounds ,but especially bobbins you have wound yourself--to save time and trouble later.

[BethDurand]

I\'m with everyone on this. I don\'t usually check tension on different bobbins, but I understand the reasons that people give. As always, Linda is full of useful info!

Beth

[ramona-quilter]

I put every single bobbin in my Towa before I put it in my machine. It takes less than 30 seconds and is now a habit. I wind my own bobbins but even with prewounds, who knows if youwill have a problem.

I can spend 30 seconds checking the bobbin tension before I start to quilt

or

3 - 30 minutes ripping out a mess when the tension turns out to be bad.

[Hollyrw]

Originally posted by ffq-lar

Hi Carol,

The bobbin tension can easily change from one bobbin to the next and sometimes can change in one bobbin! Take the time to check each one, even pre-wounds ,but especially bobbins you have wound yourself--to save time and trouble later.

Boy ain\'t that the truth! About halfway through a bobbin last night I had to make an adjustment to the tension. I check each bobbin when I load it. This one was fine when I started but it got looser. It\'s much faster to check them than to un-quilt even a small area.

[Carin]

Linda, is your Towa a bobbin case tension gauge? Please can you explain me how it works? Mechanically or electrically?

thank you!

[Bonnie]

Karin, I\'m not Linda, but I was able to find a article that explains the devise and a picture of what one looks like. Here is the following link for that.

http://www.cigarcityarts.com/towa.html

There are several sources for that and the others can tell you where they got thiers...I don\'t use one, but understand that they take all the guess work out of it, and are a great tool to add to your supplies.

I have used the drop test for the correct bobbin tension for SO many years that I just haven\'t found the need to buy one....but maybe someday I will, with new threads coming out each week, I do sometimes find that certain threads take a bit more fiddling with than others do, so that would work better.

[ramona-quilter]

Karin,

The Towa gauge is a mechanical gauge.

You put a bobbin in your bobbin case with the thread tail out like you were going to put it in your machine.

Insert the bobbin case into the Towa with the bump inside the slot-thingy.

Pull the thread around the two buttons to cause the gauge on the left to measure the thread tension. Machines vary but mine likes to run poly thread at 18-20 and cotton thread at 15-17.

If tension is not what you want, leave the bobbin case in the Towa and adjust the bobbin screw and pull the thread thru again to test the tension. Repeat as necessary.

Towas are available in lots of longarm supply places and go for about $70. They are worth every nickel.

Here\'s an old photo from a previous post. I tried to draw the thread path.

[Carin]

thank you all so much for your detailed explanations, it light up my mind

think, with this tool, I can safe each kind of thread each different measurement results for the next time. yip.. that´s my tool...great!

again...thank you!

going shoping now

[DoryJM]

Please bear with me here...I\'m very new to longarming...

I\'m using Signature thread top/bottom and am having issues getting my tension correct. I thought I had it, then practiced some meandering loops and ended up with a huge nest on the back, plus loops coming through from the top in the top of my loop motion with the bottom thread not being pulled up at all. The nest stopped me in my tracks though!

I don\'t understand the bobbin dropping test for tension setting. When I let go to "drop" my bobbin, it just drops. I know that sounds really stupid, but I don\'t know how else to explain it.

I\'m thinking very seriously of purchasing the Towa gauge as it sounds like a very useful tool--however, how do you know what tension your bobbin should be at? Is there a secret number?

For now...it seems that the top thread is not tight enough--however, I\'ve been tightening and tightening. Is it possible to be too tight? Or should I just keep tightening.

Thanks for any help -- I\'m really getting frustrated.

[Quiltsinmotion]

Thank you for all your comments . I just would like to understand all this tension stuff

I do check each bobbin in my TOWA gauge , yesterday for some reason I had to adjust the bobbin screw with every new bobbin I put in then you need to run a stitch test etc etc etc

some days only have to adjust the bobbin screw once or not all go figure ..........

[ffq-lar]

Hi Dory,

Give this a try--

Thread the machine. Take the thread and pull it with your left hand directly through the needle towards the back of the machine. Pull an inch or two. Then tighten the bobbin tensioner a half turn. Pull again. Tighten again. When you reach the point where the thread is so tight it won\'t pull out, stop. Now, loosen the tension knob by half turns and pull the thread again. Keep your eye on the U-shaped spring that is in front of the bobbin tensioner. That spring deflects more with tight tension and less as you loosen the tension knob. At rest, my tension spring sits at about "10 o\'clock"--that is, when you look straight at it, it points up and to the left. Adjust the tension knob until the tension spring deflects to "8 o\'clock" as you pull the thread through. That is a great place to start for good top tension.

I use a Towa gauge and am the president of the fan club--I think Linda Card is vice-president/secretary!!! LOL--- With the top set as described above, I set King Tut and Signature at about 18-20 and thin polys like BL at about 17. Your machine may need a different tension to be happy, so experiment and write down what works with what.

I was never able to master the drop test, so I can\'t help you there. Sorry.

If you are tightening the top tension and nothing is happening, check to make sure the thread is actually seated between the tension disks.

Hope some of this helps. Good luck. Six months from now you will be helping others to master their problems!

[Katydids]

Dorothy,

I\'m not sure if I am understanding your problem correctly. Are you getting the looping on the back side of the quilt and the birdsnests? If so and you say you keep tightening the top tension and nothing is fixing it you need to check your thread path. Are you sure the thread is snapped in between the tension disks? Also, how much are you tightening? With these machines, they are not as sensitive to adjustments as our DSM\'s. You need to crank it a half a turn before you are really making any adjustment on the upper tension. Also check to make sure the thread is going through the hole in the take up lever. I know this can cause birdsnests on my domestic machine if it is out of the take up lever.

As far as the bobbin and drop test. It depends on which kind of bobbin you are using as they all have different weights to them and they will drop differently based on the weight. You want it to crawl down a few inches and then stop on its own. The amount it crawls or drops will depend on the bobbin, whether it is a prewound, steel or aluminum.

You can email me if you like and Iwill try to help.

Patty

[quiltermidwife]

I am also a fully paid up member of the Towa Tension Gauge machine fan club and always test every bobbin because it is so quick and easy to do. Never could master the drop test. Like others, I spent more time chasing after runaway bobbins.

Thanks Ffq-Lar for the tip on the top tension, I shall give that a try.

Chris

[DoryJM]

Linda and Patty...thank you so much for your ideas and help. I\'m printing your responses and keeping them in a file I have to refer to when I have problems.

Bonnie in NY actually sent me an e-mail and her phone #. She walked me through the bobbin drop test. Not only did I pass, but I didn\'t have to chase my bobbin around the floor!! We also discovered that I\'ve been inserting my bobbin completely wrong. Boy, do I need my free day of training or what???? My bobbin tension spring was so tight that the thread would not even go under it. I could tell from the pictures in the manual that it was supposed to, but I just couldn\'t figure out how. Bonnie sent me a picture of her hand holding the bobbin and once I got over the purple fingernail (sorry Bonnie--had to tell ), she was able to walk me through what I needed to do. I haven\'t been able to try it out yet, but I will tomorrow!

This list is amazing and the help here is priceless. I\'m so glad I chose a Millennium!

[Bonnie]

Okay, lady if you are going to tell God and everyone else about my purple thumb ya should at least explain it all.....

I was spray painting a piece of metal and have paint splashs on my nail.....Its so prurrty....I just haven\'t soaked it off yet, beside with time it will wear off.:cool:

Your bad DoryM.....And I was glad that I could help you walk though it...good luck and if ya need me ya know where to find me.

[ffq-lar]

And I thought you were going all rock-star on us Bonnie!

[cocodemer]

Thread tension issues used to be a frustrating issue for me. One bobbin would be fine, the next created problems. I heard (on this website) reference to a Towa Tension gague but couldn \'t even guess what it could be doing to be effective. Then I purchased one on an extreme bad tension day. Wow...I love it! Because I experienced how bad tension problems can get - either by the product thread or my winding method - I ck every bobbin, make any suttle adjustments if necessary - and then forget tension problems even exist. It is the best product!

Carol Bailey

Coco de Mer Quilt Studio

[ramona-quilter]

Towa Tension Rocks - we have a club and will be getting jackets made later.

Tension problems were my worst problem when I started. I boiled it down to a couple of things.

If the tension is bad on the back, adjust your top tension AFTER you make sure that

the thread is in between those 2 tension disks (not riding along the outside).

Linda R\'s 8 o\'clock rule is golden. I use it everyday for my top tension.

If the tension is bad on top, adjust your bobbin tension.

If top stitches are not snug,tighten the bobbin screw.

If top stitches are intermittently popping up, clean your bobbin case.

Top tension allows big adjustments. Loosening top tension going from 3 o\'clock

to noon is OK

Bobbin tension require teensy-weensy adjustments (of little screw) like from 6:30 to 6:35.

[moonwoman]

just got my Towa tension guide and was a bit confused with the 17 and the 18-20 numbers until Linda posted the picture of her Towa guide. Mine came with numbers 100 through 400 I think not 10 through 40 so now I have translated the test thanks Ms Linda Card for your picture.

dale