thread breaking

[cbireley]

I've been working on a job for 3 days...all has gone well, for the most part. Yesterday I started w/tons of thread breaks...the machine goes about 10 stitches and the thread just breaks. It's not shredding. I've done the usual needle change, check, bobbin check, oiling etc...I've changed no settings from when it was sewing out really well for 2 days straight. The only thing I can think of is the humidity in the air these last few days...my office has a 43% humidity level b/c it is in the basement area. What can I do to help this? Or is there anything else it could be?

Thanks!

[Rod or Sharon]

Cindy,

Regardless of whether you have not "changed" your settings....check everything again.....

Presser foot height....all the way down and up one click....a biggie!!!!

Burrs on needle(s)

Orientation of needle(s) needles in backwards...etc.

Lube on ROLLERS....a big one too....do not wait for the timers to tell you to lube the machine, especially when you are doing a big run of garments using the same design and the same needles. The timers are set to assume that all needles get equal wear and takes an average, so to speak, If you are doing a large run, then those rollers, needlebars, rotarty hook, etc.. need extra oil/grease...this is a BIGGIE...

Loose material in the hooping process.

Machine settings...check them again.....look at the "Auto lower limit" setting....the default is 1

Is "Force down load" checked....if not check it and reload your design..

Check bobbin tension...


Many times I have found settings that some gremlin changed without my blessing....why?...don't know, have gotten to where I don't care...I just immediately go through a checking process...doesn't take but a minute or less...

A story....last night I was helping the wife run off 30 shirts with a 10,000 stitch design with some small lettering ....everything was going well and then I started having serious thread break issues in the lettering on one shirt....I went through the check...was OK...Hummmm....took hoop and shirt off of machine and realized shirt had loosened up in the hoop and was about ready to become "unhooped"....wife was doing all the hooping.....I was doing the sewing.....mentioned this loose hoop to her and she said...oh!! gee!!...Well...these shirts are hoop burning really easy so I loosened up the hoops a bit.....aaaaah ha...problem solved...

Check, check and recheck...

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer


Thread hanging up on cone

[edr]

Originally posted by Rod or Sharon:
Check bobbin tension...

I was having some thread breaks with one thread. I checked the bobbin tension and it became unusually tighter than when I last adjusted it. I looked at the bobbin case and found there was all this cardboard gunk in the crevices, especially under the tension plate (don't know the technical name for it) where the thread passes through before going to the pig tail. After cleaning the bobbin case and readjusting the tension, my thread breaks reduced dramatically to where I was just getting error messages to change the bobbin.

Speaking of the cardboard gunk.....Rod, I know Melco recommends Coats bobbins. What are your thoughts on the Magna-Glide bobbins? I read there are mixed opinions of them on this board. Also, I use my Bernina L style metal bobbins wound with Madeira bobbin thread in my Amaya XT with no problem. Any problem with that? There'd be no cardboard gunk issue.

P.S.---still enjoying "beginner's luck" with Madeira Rayon thread as high as 1,500 spm......

Thanks,
Ed

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

Hey Ed, (This is Ed)
For what it's worth, you can embroider with any type of thread or bobbin if you understand the important differences between all the different types. I'm sure if you try, you could embroider with dental floss or shoe strings if you took the time to get the right needles, needle plate and rotary hook.

Opinions will always vary, especially on a list as large as this, but it is true that you won't get cardboard gunk build up if you aren't using cardboard sided bobbins. Part of using them is remembering to clean the bobbin case periodically.
If you are using Rayon thread without any issues, more power to you. Next time you get to go to an embroidery show, get as many samples from as many different vendors as possible. Make your own assessments in your shop using your equipment. And remember to ask as many questions to as many people as you can for you never know where you'll learn something important about a particular product. Rather than simply saying to yourself this product ain't no good, maybe there's something specific you need to do in conjunction when using that product. You know, like cleaning the bobbin case.

Good luck,
Ed Orantes
Melco Tech & Trainer
504-258-6260

[edr]

Thanks Ed!

Great advice. I think I'll try a box of those Magna-Glides as I am near the end of my first box of Coats.

Two things I've learned to avoid bobbin breaks is lubrication, lubrication, lubrication as Rod recommends and bobbin tension. If in doubt when wondering if the bobbin tension is too tight or too loose, I found out that it is much better to err on the loose side just as long as you are not getting good looking stitches on the top and a reasonable amount of bobbin showing on the bottom. I don't know if I am just imagining this or not, but it seems that most of my thread breakages happen down by the bobbin hook which would indicate that the tension is too tight. You techs will probably disagree with me though.

One other reason why I would want to wind my own bobbins is when I do free standing lace, where you'd want the same thread and color in the bobbin as you have on the top. Those projects seem to take forever to complete on my home machines....the Amaya would be awesome at it.

However, I'd have one for each specific type of thread so I can adjust the tension for each bobbin case and leave it there. One extra bobbin case came with the Amaya. If I wanted extra ones, do I need to buy the ones from Melco or will generic L-style bobbin cases work in it?

FYI....I did try Mettler Metrosene and quilting thread for embroidering and they worked great as well. I'm getting good at Acti-Feed and adjusting the other Amaya OS settings and am appreciating it more and more. The Amaya has have to have more flexibility than the other brands (Tajima, Barundan, etc.) when working with a large variety of threads.

Thanks!

The Other Ed

[edr]

Originally posted by edr:
Thanks Ed!

Great advice. I think I'll try a box of those Magna-Glides as I am near the end of my first box of Coats.

Two things I've learned to avoid bobbin breaks is lubrication, lubrication, lubrication as Rod recommends and bobbin tension. If in doubt when wondering if the bobbin tension is too tight or too loose, I found out that it is much better to err on the loose side just as long as you are getting good looking stitches on the top and a reasonable amount of bobbin showing on the bottom. I don't know if I am just imagining this or not, but it seems that most of my thread breakages happen down by the bobbin hook which would indicate that the tension is too tight. You techs will probably disagree with me though.

One other reason why I would want to wind my own bobbins is when I do free standing lace, where you'd want the same thread and color in the bobbin as you have on the top. Those projects seem to take forever to complete on my home machines....the Amaya would be awesome at it.

However, I'd have one for each specific type of thread so I can adjust the tension for each bobbin case and leave it there. One extra bobbin case came with the Amaya. If I wanted extra ones, do I need to buy the ones from Melco or will generic L-style bobbin cases work in it?

FYI....I did try Mettler Metrosene and quilting thread for embroidering and they worked great as well. I'm getting good at Acti-Feed and adjusting the other Amaya OS settings and am appreciating it more and more. The Amaya has have to have more flexibility than the other brands (Tajima, Barundan, etc.) when working with a large variety of threads.

Thanks!

The Other Ed

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

Ed,
Yes, the Amaya and Amaya XT use the size L bobbin case but make sure it has the little pig tail spring. (FYI - The Brother PR620/600 also uses a size L bobbin case but it doesn't need the pig tail spring.)

However, make sure you only pay around $8 - $12 per bobbin case. I had one customer who needed one on a Saturday and she paid $49.95 for ONE BOBBIN CASE at a local sewing machine store. She didn't know how much they were at Melco so she paid it.
Another customer made the mistake of ordering one case and that's exactly what she got.... ONE CASE OF BOBBIN CASES which turned out to be something like 50 in a box (or case). Since she also didn't know how much one bobbin case was, she thought the price she was given for the case of cases was appropriate.
Remember, Buyer Beware.
Since the bobbin case is part of the machine, I would imagine you can still purchase them through Melco. Although I'm not 100% sure with the new relationship with Madeira.
Please let us know what you find.
Ed