false bobbin breaks (Amaya XT)

[Rod or Sharon]

Roland,

Rotating the tube on the thread break sensor works sometimes with some situations but not all.

First, the thread break sensor is a hollow tube basically suspended over the top of 2 very small rubbery compound ball bearings that sit in small sockets to retain them. Spinning the tube aggressivly could cause these balls to be rotated out of their sockets and that would not be a good thing.

Also at both ends and inside of the sensor tube are extremely sensitive crystals that react to pressure. As material thickness increases, the thread will be pulled up tighter against the sensor tube and this will send a signal to feed more thread on the next down stroke. As the material thickness decreases, a signal will be sent to reduce thread feed on the next down stroke of the take up lever.

Now, rotation of the tube....the rubber ball bearing may take on a flat sided shape over time because of constant pressure and always being in one position in it's socket. Gently rotating the tube can reposition the ball to a slightly different position creating a different pressure situation for the crystal to react to....over simplfied but that is how it is suppose to work....

Work environment, heat, long term non-use of the machine, dirt, dust, lint buildup, water, cable problems, connectors/connecions, PC boards....lots of other reasons it sometimes will not function properly.....sometimes replacement is the only solution...

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[signman]

Thanks for the clarification, Rod...and good reading to get me into nap mode...LOL...technical stuff isn't for me...
but I did say 'gently'...it's always worth a shot to try it-'just in case'...and then move on down the list of all the other suggestions.
I won't even go NEAR the 'innards' of the amaya...happily will pick up the phone and call Brian for help. Easier to pay him to fix it than to pay him to fix the problem AND whatever else I screwed up trying to do it.
From what we can tell-we finally got the XT up and running yesterday and today...there is a 'huge' jump in the performance between the original big red and the XT. We're still waiting for the first thread break that isn't caused by thread caught under the spool!
Hopefully the person that asked about bobbin breaks has time to go down through the lists of things to check and finds the problem...

[Rod or Sharon]

Roland,

Yes you did say gently.....but there will always be those that do not know the reason why "gently" is the key will say, Hum, well if a little is good, a whole lot just has to be better!!!!"

So for me to explain I have to normally give the reason why....so it can't be said....But, but, you said turn it, so I did, I really spun that baby and it's worse now than it was....ah well.........

:-}

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Ian]

Originally posted by Rod or Sharon:
....... at both ends and inside of the sensor tube are extremely sensitive crystals that react to pressure. As material thickness increases, the thread will be pulled up tighter against the sensor tube and this will send a signal to feed more thread on the next down stroke. As the material thickness decreases, a signal will be sent to reduce thread feed on the next down stroke of the take up lever.

Rod, Thanks for the info. I appreciate the technical side.... instead of: "It's jess' magic". Knowing how something is supposed to work helps when I'm trying to find the root of a problem.

Ian

[Alicante]

signman,
Someone else suggested that tip earlier in the discussion and I did rotate the silver rod but nothing happened.

Is it possible I caused this when I did the 4 mil maintenance some way?

[Alicante]

Maybe it's simply lack of use since the machine can sit for a week without use...no orders :-((

[signman]

We just got the XT a couple weeks ago-but had our Big Red for over 4 years-and every once in awhile-maybe 2-3 times a year, we would 'gently' turn the rod. But there were many, many times it would sit for over a month with no orders coming in.
So I don't think it's lack of use that does it.
As Rod points out-there are many other causes for the same symptom and the 'rod' was just one. At least you have crossed this off the list of things to check. Sounds like it's time to get a tech on the phone and have them go through things with you, before you have an on-site visit that costs a lot. Chances are good that it is a simple fix-nothing major but it can be very annoying and frustrating until you get it taken care of.

[Alicante]

Well the problem of false thread breaks and the needle sensor disfunctioning seems to have solved itself mysteriously all alone...at least for now.
Since I was planning to move the Amaya XT to new quarters in another town, I decided to wait till I got set up there to have a tech check out the machine on the new site and have him troubleshoot the sensor bar in the same visit.

Well low and behold there was really nothing to troubleshoot because it ran perfectly for him on the very first sew. Not a single beep!
For the past six months I'd been getting beeps after the first and every stitch. All false as the machine was sewing out fine.
I am now convinced the problem was the mega humidity work disasters in my old workshop.

For example, the tech and I were astonished to find the needle rod (the rod that makes the needle go up and down, running center front to back under the machine) stained with rust, (this is a pretty new machine). He greased it and said to do it again soon to get rid of the rust. He put gobs of oil in the needle case rods too.

In my previous location, I had a dehumidifier running all the time when I was there working but lately, with orders decreasing, the place seemed a little musty.
As I unpacked in the new location, I noticed a mildewy odor in anything I unpacked to set up in the new factory.
I even wiped mildew powder off the PC audio cable!
Anyway, Amaya would stop every stitch in the old location and I had deactiviated the sensor to be able to work whereas and here in the new location, it just hums along.
New location...new challenges, but that's another topic.

[signman]

Humidity does wreak havoc with not only Amaya's but any computer driven and mechanical equipment.
Definitely stay ahead of it-dehumidifiers run up your electric bill-but one needle bar assembly replacement will cost you several years of electricity!
Good thing you caught it!