Presser foot stuck between needles

[bailadorlumbroso]

Hi All,
My XT was sewing nicely until the presser foot became stuck between needles 9 & 10 while stitching my design. It had sewn out the same design just previous to this happening. I cannot move the needle case to the right past needle 9 towards needle 1. Right now I'm dead in the water until I can get this behemoth going again. Sal, a Melco tech at the Denver office, offered to send a color change motor, but if I install it the warranty will become invalid.
Any suggestions, ideas, comments?
Thanks!
Mike Luna
Cruiser's Custom Embroidery
505-672-4087
[email protected]

[Rod or Sharon]

Mike,

Sal must have gone over some things with you...what all did you/he try? Might save a lot of typing and guessing if we knew what you had already tried to this point??

If the needlebar ( active needle ) is not at the true headup position, the needlecase cannot or should not be moved left or right manually. It simply means that a needlebar stud is not lined up with the tracking groove when not at the headup position. The needlecase cannot be moved manually unless the machine E-Stop is depressed or the machine is turned off.

XT or XTS machines do not have optical sensors that control the position of the home or color index positions of the needlecase. This is now done with the aid of encoders with the individual motors.

Are all the takeup levers exactly in line with each other? Are all of the needlebars(needles) in their upper most position and lined up with each other? The active needle will be slighly lower, a 1/16 in or so but not much....

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[bailadorlumbroso]

Rod,
Thank you for the quick reply! Sal made a number of suggestions, one was to install a new RSA file which he sent. Machine is at headup position, but when either manually or using the keypad the needle case will not go past needle 9 towards needle 1. All takeup levers are in line with each other and all needles are in their uppermost position, save for #9, which was the active needle. It is just a tad lower. I can get the shaft to spin and the presser foot to move up and down, but no action on the needles. Gotta admit, Sal was scratching his head over this one! Will install the new motor when it arrives and hope that is the solution.
This is a remanufactured 2006 XT that has never really run very well, musta been rebuilt on a Monday!
I appreciate your willingness to help and hope that the new motor does the trick.

Mike Luna

[Rod or Sharon]

Mike,

Quote..."I can get the shaft to spin and the presser foot to move up and down, but no action on the needles"

When you say "spin", is that a "full" 360 degree revolution of the Z axis shaft? It is important for you to be able to.

If the needlebars are not moving up and down but the presserfoot is, then the reciprocator jaw may be broken. I will "stretch" a guess based on this assumption and say the broken piece may be lodged so that te needlecase cannot move past the # 9 position. I said it was a "stretch", but if none of the needlebars will move up or down when lined up with the presserfoot and the Z axis is turned manually then there is nothing to capture the needlebar stud on the active needle.

Can you go into Maintenance, Steppers and in the color Change column, get the needlecase to go to it's home position which is # 1? If not, when a needlebar is lined up with the presserfoot and needle is centered over the needleplate hole, can you go into Maintenance, Head Timing and get the machine to go to "Headup"?

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Rod or Sharon]

Mike,

By the way, in case you need one, you have an excellent certified Melco tech located in Farmington, New Mexico by the name of Rob Wood.

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[bailadorlumbroso]

Rod,
Yes, the Z axis shaft will rotate a full 360, and I have looked for a broken piece that will impede movement of the needlecase and have found nothing amiss. Went into Maintenance, Steppers, etc and cannot get the case to move to needle #1 using the keypad, but have had luck moving the case manually with the emergency stop, but only to needle #9. I will try to get the needlebar lined up with the presser foot and center a needle over the needleplate hole and get the machine to go to "Headup" and will keep working on this problem through the day. I know the solution is in sight if I keep at it.
Thanks for your help!
Mike

[Rod or Sharon]

Mike,

Assuming that you can manually move the needlecase to needle #16. Have you taken off the left black upper arm cover and visually checked the condition of the reciprocator? Even if one of the jaws of the reciprocator is broken, the needlebar should still be able to be pushed or pulled in one direction. If both jaws are broken off then the needlebar would have nothing to move it in either direction.

If the connecting rod is broken, which is connected to the reciprocator and to the presserfoot cam follower, the presserfoot would not go up and down....I am still dwelling on the statement you made about the needlebar not going up and down. I could understand this IF the needlecase was positioned with the presserfoot between needles, but NOT with the needlebar and presserfoot lined up with each other?

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[bailadorlumbroso]

Rod,
I have checked the reciprocator and find nothing wrong, but I do have good news! After getting into maintenance and following your instructions I was able to line up the presser foot with a needle, crossed my fingers, pressed "go" and away she went! There was a huge ball of shredded thread on top of needle bar #9, so I removed it, oiled 'er up and she seems to be doing well. Just finished a 40K sewout and although there were threadbreaks there was nothing that I can't repair. One question though, I have been using polyester thread that I purchased on ebay since I got a deal I couldn't pass up. Is it possible that it is a subpar thread and is responsible for my numerous threadbreaks and shredding? I have heard that Isacord is one of the best, any opinions on that?
Many thanks!
Mike

[Rod or Sharon]

Mike,

The answer to those two questions is yes and yes. Since Melco quit supplying ARC thread, we have switched to Isacord.

Mederia Poly Neon is ok but I do not like messing with their tall cones on the Amayas.

To put in in short form, you could not go wrong in selecting Isacord for your thread, but bargain priced threads are usually a problem for high speed embroidery machines.

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[bailadorlumbroso]

Thanks a lot for all your help, Rod!
Mike

[Rod or Sharon]

Mike,

Don't know what version of software you are using, but there are multiple reasons you are having threadbreaks.

Thread quality.

Presserfoot height.

Auto acti-feed settings.

Burrs on Needles.

Burr on retaining support finger face.

Needle orientation.

Hook Timing.

Loose hooping.

Improper use of backings.

Adhesive sprays.

Bobbin tension.

Machine speed.

Poor quality of digitizing in the design.

The list goes on and on......

Glad to hear that you found your problem...it had to be a blockage of some sort and starting with the reciprocator was a good starting point...

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer