Thread Tree vibrating

[TN Thom]

My thread tree is vibrating so bad at times at 1500 stitches that the idle tread is unrolling and getting tangled up and then causing thread breaks. Is there something that I can do to stop this besides slowing down my machine?

[Juli in Kona]

First thing I'd do is check the screws the hold the assemble to the machine and make sure they are tight.

Juli in Kona

[TN Thom]

Thanks Juli, did that and screws are snug tight as they can be. I'm thinking of getting some heavy duty clamps to clamp to it to try and weight it down some. Hopefully that will work.

[Juli in Kona]

There has got to be a reason it is vibrating. This is the first time I have heard of that complaint. Maybe some rubber washers would help. I'd look further.

Juli in Kona

[Rod or Sharon]

We never advise sewing on the Amaya or Amaya XT at more than 1200 stitches per minute. Yes, they advertise they can sew at 1500 (and they certainly can) but all testing is done at 1200 with good thread, properly hooped garment and a well digitized design. I guess the best comparison is your speedometer reads up to 120 mph in your car but you drive at anywhere from 65 to 80 right? There is a speed that your machine performs best and sounds best at.
Sharon

[TN Thom]

Thanks Sharon. I typed my question late last nightand did not realize I had put 1500, I never sew that fast either. 1200 or less for flats and 900 or less for hats, but I get vibration if I'm sewing at the lowest speed possible. Most of my thread breaks are being caused by the thread unwinding off the cone/spool and geting caught underneath the cones/spools before it even gets to the needles. My Amaya is a big red. It is perfectly level, I checked that at least one a week. Not sure why this is happening but will let you know if the heavy clamps do the trick.

[Debbie Rinehart]

You didn't mention whether it's the big spools or small (or both) that are vibrating so badly, but if it's the small 1000 mm spools, I greatly reduced their tendancy to spin and unravel by cutting a round piece of felt (the same size as the coaster that the small spool sits on). After cutting a hole in the middle of the felt disk, I placed it between the spool and the cardboard coaster. This put an end to the small spools spinning action and thus the thread from falling off the spool. I have always run my machine at top speed and have had no problem. Debbie

[Rod or Sharon]

TN

Heavy duty clamps? No....The Amaya's, do "rock and roll" a bit, and are suppose to, sitting on their stands. This helps to absorb hard viration being transfered to other more sensitive areas of the machine, like the mother board, for example.

If the thread tree is vibrating, are the thread spindles loose? What type of thread are you using? Some cones have larger holes and are not held as tightly on the spindles and will bounce around more. Is the machine sitting on a hard floor or on carpet? This can also cause either more or less "rock and roll."

A qquick fix is to put a soft foam donut up inside the thread cone and then slip this down over the spindle to keep the cones from rattling around and unwinding the thread. Some brands of thread are more prone to unwinding than others too.......

But , heavy duty clamps, weight it down, naw...I would not advise this as a solution to this particular problem....

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Clark]

Rod,
How do you tighten the spindles on Big Red?

Clark

[Rod or Sharon]

The Big Reds--not all of them, did or do have a tendency to have the nylon insert become loose in the thread tree base. I am not entirely sure why this is, whether it is in the actual drilling of the holes, shrinkage, or whatever...the inserts become loose. The inserts will hold the the metal spindle tube ok, as long as they are not broken,, but the whole spindle/insert assembly will move around in the base hole.

If you want to go to the trouble, the nylon insert base plate holes can be tightened up by the use of something like Clear silicone clalking/sealer that stays soft and pliable. This will trap the nylon insert and keep the spindle/insert assembly from rattling around. Just don't get this sealer all over the actual metal spindle tube itself. You can get this silicone sealer at any Home Depot or Lowes, etc, etc...

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[TN Thom]

Rod

The spendles are all tight, I cannot turn them with my hand. I'm using large cones, CTS poly 40 wt. but also have Sulky, Gunold large cones that do this as well. It is mostly the top row of spindles that cause this problem, but it does occur on the middle and lower rows as well at times. Big Red is sitting on a hardwood floor. I'm not talking about weightening the whole machine down, just something to stop the vibration so bad on the thread tree. One 4" clamp that weighs less than 1.5 pounds did the trick, but now you have me scared that I'm going to damage some vital part such as the mother board by doing this. I only want the thread tree to stop vibrating to the point that the thread unwinds so bad.

Guess I will try some foam donuts or make some spindle covers that will hold the cones secure to where there is no movement of them at all.

Thanks for the advise. I'm rather new to the Amayas, had mine about a year.

Thom

[Dianne]

I have trouble w/the thread unwinding on some of my thread--mostly the ones that don't have the flared cone at the bottom, like the ARC thread. I got a thread sock--the white net that goes over a spool of thread. I cut it in widths of about 3/4"-1" wide & put this on the bottom of the cones. It's not wide enough to make the thread too tight to pull off the cone; just enough to keep it from falling down & getting tangled. You should be able to find the thread sock at any fabric store near you. Comes in a blister pack, $2-$3. Dianne

[Carolyn M]

I have the Amaya XT and my Thread Tree vibrates as well. I even took a video of it unwinding the thread as it wound the thread into a cocoon at the top of the thread stalk on needle #1. This is using the tall Madiera cones!! The others vibrate as well, but not as much as #1. The other stalks vibrate such that the thread unwinds and then gets trapped UNDER the thread cone and then I get thread breaks. This happens no matter what brand or what size spool/cone I use. When I set up this machine, I questioned Melco about leveling the machine, as there was a spot on the cart that seemed made for leveling, but they said there was no need to level the machine. I always found that on my other commercial machines, they run better when levelled. I can't figure out how to level this one though. I wonder if the type of foam that is designed to minimize vibration might help with this problem, and if so, where could we find it?