Thread & Bobbin

[sewfinesince1999]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to AMAYA but old to embroidery. I have recently purchased 4 used AMAYAs and am having a ton of thread breaks when using the King Star Polyester thread I've used fine for 9 years on my Barudan. Have purchased enough of it for the 4 heads. But, now can't sew 2 minutes without thread breaks. My question is what brand of thread & bobbin do you use with your AMAYA's? Also, I see where I can select the thread on the OS; does anyone know what King Star would closest resemble?

Thanks for your help!
I'm Desperate!!!!
Terry

[Jack Greyt Threads]

I use Gunold & have very little breakage. I do not know king star??? have you tried to increase your material thickness? The thread over the AMAYA plate should not be too tight, you should be able to slip your finger behind the thread as it is running.
Good Luck,

[Barbara]

I purchased my first Amaya (new) when they first came out. I had nothing but thread breaks. Finally I had a tech come out and he worked on my machine almost all day making various adjustments. Improved thread break problem big time. I eventually traded in that machine for the new XT and purchased a second one. I personally do not think thread brand has that much bearing on thread breaks unless it is rayon. Thread breaks is usally a sign of a maintance issue. Since you bought them used, I would have a technician come out and check them out. By the way, where did you get the King Star? I also have some but don't know where to buy.
Good luck!
Barbara

[oldkush]

I have not used King Star thread but if that thread worked fine on your Barudan, then that would suggest your thread breaking problems are a machine issue, not thread.

As already suggested, the answer to your problem may be a visit from a good technician.

Just as a side note, I think you can expect to have more thread breaks with the Amaya than you did with your Barudan ... but certainly nothing like you are experiencing now.

Good luck

Bob

[oldkush]

I also should have asked, are you having thread breaks on just one specific design or all designs ?

I ask this because some in this group may suggest that designs should be digitized specifically to run on the Amaya [I never could figure out exactly what that means].

Now I certainly agree that a quality digitized design is very important .... just don't think it has to be digitized specifically for an Amaya. To me, a quality design will stitch well on any machine whether it be an Amaya, Barudan, Tajima, Brother, etc.

Bob

[Fabrications]

I had the problem with thread breaks when I first got the XT; I was using designs created for my previous Brother machine and the XT just didn't like them. I've had to re-create the designs in Design Shop in order to get them stitched successfully. No one could ever explain an exact reason, other than the machine mis-interpreting some coding embedded in the design.

Salesperson told me I would be able to use my old software and wouldn't have to invest in Design Shop. But after 2 months of unsuccessful stitching I broke down and got the Design Shop and have been working successfully ever since.

Good luck!

[GF]

I have had this similar problem with any Brother, Bernina or Babylock designs even though I receive them in EXP or DST. If anyone has some specifics on the changes they have found to be helpful when bringing into Design Shop, I would really like to hear about them. One item I found is decreasing the density to 80% helps a lot. I like to try in-the-hoop projects as well as some other "crafty" ideas, and usually these designs have been programmed for the domestic machines and don't work well with the industrial machines like the XT. Not always though. I have had success with some of the designs but that's not usually the case. Tweaking a design is always considered but I'm still new to digitizing and would appreciate any advice with this.

[Rod or Sharon]

Barbara, I have to kindly disagree---I do think some threads sew better on our Amayas. I cannot explain the differences in processes that create the different brands of threads but know there are differences. As techs out in the field, we have tested sewing the exact same customer's design using Madeira thread with thread breaks (at least 12), then put on 16 cones of ARC thread and stitched the exact same design at the exact same speed--no thread breaks. We've tested this on more than one occassion for our own satisfaction. I also like Isacord thread by Ackermann. Some threads sew at the higher speeds better than others.
Sharon
Sharon

[Rod or Sharon]

Terry,
Even though I do have favorite threads, I would not suspect thread as my "first" culprit for thread breaks on used Amayas. There are many things I would check first. How old are these Amayas? Do they still have the old black rollers or the new yellow ones? Is there any thread caught anywhere in the thread path--behind rollers or down in the bobbin/hook area? What kind of needles are you using? Organ DBXK5 75/11 sharp or ballpoints (most common needle to use). Are there any burrs on the needles? Are the needles inserted correctly--using the groove down the front of the needle and maybe a magnifying glass, make sure the needle is in straight forward or slightly turned 5 - 10 degrees to the right. NEVER to the left. Is there any needle strikes on the needleplate causing freying? Is the tension on the bobbin correct? What type of bobbins are you using? Is the presser foot height adjusted properly--by going through the software MAINTENANCE, HEAD TIMING, BOTTOM CENTER, etc. Lots of things to check before tossing out thread. How old is the thread?
Sharon

[Rod or Sharon]

Bob,
You are right in that a well digitized design should run well on any machine. However, if a design is digitized from software other than a Design Shop version, there is a "conversion" if you will, when it is changed to stitch as an OFM format. There can be some loss of integrity in the design just by the mere fact that it is being changed to a different format. Many of us on the group know that you are not an owner of an Amaya machine - therefore, I would assume, you have no experience in what we are saying about Amayas.

I can say that owners of any of the other machines find the same to be true--Tajima, Baradan, SWF or whatever--it doesn't matter. I have sewn many designs knowing they are digitized from many types of software---some stitch better than others--and this is partly due to the digitizing and partly due to the conversion from one software to another.

As far as designs being "specifally" created "just" for the Amayas.....Would it or does it help if the digitizer has an Amaya machine to verify the design on, sure. What is meant by designing for an Amaya, simply put, is that the design is groomed to run at high speed of 1200 spm and above. Stitch directions, stitch lengths, column widths, densities, etc, are tweaked and adjusted to allow the machine(s) to run smooth and free at the higher speeds. No deep dark secret, no magic, just logic and common sense.
Sharon

[Dianne]

Good evening, everyone. The Kingstar thread can be bought from The Embroidery Store in Winston Salem, NC. Website is www.embstore.com. It seems to run ok on my Amaya. Dianne

[oldkush]

Hi Sharon

I understand what you are saying but think our opinions may differ a bit.

I believe the quality of stitchout produced on the Amaya [or any other machine] will be much more dependent on the digitizer and machine operator than brand of software used.

Is the Amaya and DesignShop a good combination ? Sure it is ... but the Amaya and Wilcom or Pulse or Embird or Wings or Sierra or ?? can be an equally good combination [I think].

I don't believe that the Amaya is limited to working best with one software. If it was, that wouldn't be good for Melco.

There are good digitizers who are proficient in embroidery software other than DesignShop and they are fully capable of making the Amaya stitch beautifully.

As far a designs "digitized for an Amaya", to me it simply sounds like a quality digitized design [proper stitch length, removal of unnecessary short stitches, proper pathing, good stitch type selection, correct underlay stitching, etc.] .... no different than what should be fed to a SWF, Barudan, ZSK, Happy, Tajima, Toyota, etc.

You are right, I do not own an Amaya. Will I someday? Yes, no, maybe .... who knows?

Anyway, all the best to you and Rod in the new year.

Bob

[sewfinesince1999]

First, let me say THANK YOU to all the replies. I am blown away by them! I am a "do-it-yourselfer" and "where there's a will there's a way" kind of girl. This is the first time in 10 years I've posted a question, reluctant question at that, that I've got a response that might help! I had already tried a lot of the things mentioned, but that's ok. Just want to say thanks for such support from strangers. It gives me hope!

I should have mentioned that after I purchased these 4 used that I did hire a qualified tech to come to my shop and go over all the machines and train me on them. He was here for a day and felt that the machines were in good condition, not a lot of hours, and although there were some thread breaks, on the designs that were run, from the Design Shop library they were not bad. I learned quickly on the AMAYA software and he felt I was good to go.

I've been using my Barudan for 9 years with King Star Polyester thead that I buy from theembstore.com , and if you've ever used a traditional machine, you know there is a ton of difference in their thread tension concept. There is a significant improvement when I put a cone of ARC thread vs. King Star on the machine. I still have too many thread breaks though. That is why I wonder about the bobbin, having no problem with the ones I use on the Barudan, Coats America 100% spun polyester style L. When I make tension adjust on the bobbin itself for the AMAYA, it does make some difference.

Here's the main reason for my original post... When I got the 4 machines. Only 1 came with any thread (the starter pkg you get with the machine). So, I purchased over $600.00 of King Star Thread (I did check with the tech first to see if I should use a certain thread for better performance. He had never heard of King Star but preferred Madeira overall, but I've never used Madeira.) Anyway, now I've got a whole lot of thead that won't sew well. I will try to return the unused thread. However, I try not to make the same mistake twice!

I should also mention... the first job I ran was a 65 piece, 25 minute sewout, Tackle Twill order on hooded sweat shirts. LOL. I am such a gluten for punishment! Hey, it was why I needed 4 more heads! What a nightmare!! I only got a small amount of relief when I finally broke down and called the tech the next a.m. and when went thru all the usuals and finally I changed the thread to ARC and it made an improvement. Still having breaks, and false bobbin stops, but was able to finish the job.

Thanks again for your posts, I will give them a try! But, again... What do you use for bobbin?

Terry

[sewfinesince1999]

One more thing... I'll be brief!

Someone asked about rollers. On 3 of the machines the black rollers have been changed out to yellow. I got 1 from one guy and 3 from another. They all sew the same. I think the guys I bought them from didn't really grasp the embroidery idea and got frustrated and gave up on them. I have not given up on them, not by a long shot, I am just trying to get them up and going using products that they like "BEST"!

Have a great day!
Terry

[Debbie Rinehart]

Bob,I must agree with you about other software generated designs running great on Amayas, as I DO have an XT. I use Generations software and have had absolutely no problems stitching out those creations on my XT. There are advanced features in the Gen software that are not in many others such as Embird. I've had 3 different machine makes and models and each one stitched out the Generations digitized logos and designs beautifully, accurately and without any noticeable conversion problems or loss of integrity. I have even drawn my own jacket-back size designs that stitched out perfectly. JMHO Debbie