Sequins accessory not responding

[Alicante]

Hi, I asked tech support here but they said they can't help so here goes. I just got a new Amaya xt with the sequins atachement setup in Sept. 2007. At delivery all tests were made and the sequins sewout went fine. Since that time I had not touched the accessory, having lots of learning to do on the machine and designShop software. About a month ago, I felt ready to do some test designs with sequins.
When I started the machine, it sewed using that long sequins step stitch, but no sequins!

The tech said it was the fault of the compressor. However, the sequins head responds and moves up at startup of the machine normally. The leds are on. It just doesn't feed.

On the compressor side, it is working normally. There is a extra hose on it and I use it frequently during the day.

A friend suggested it could be the feeder. But I can't see any button or release to check.

Any ideas, suggestions, help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Wishes]

Dear Dee,
Try pressing the buttons to feed the sequins. Go back and forth and make sure that sequins didn't get caught underneath. We had the roll and a strip that got caught in the device and once we cleaned it out they moved.
Margaret

[Alicante]

Oh thank you for responding.

I'm not sure where the buttons are. But I'll check it out when I go into the shop tommorow. There is s small strip of sequins caught in the roller feeder. I just couldn't see how to move it out.

[Wishes]

Buttons should have been installed underneath the thread tree probably on the #16 needle side.
forward, backward and raises the device up and down.
Margaret

[Alicante]

Thanks Wishes. I found the buttons and got the sequins out of the feeder.
All the buttons move the accessory correctly in an out of position, forward and backwards. BUT, no sequins sews.
I wish there was a section on using the sequins attachment in the xt manual. There is surely something I missed here.

Should the head go down when you start the machine to do a sequins design?

Mine doesn't do anything. I loaded a test design, the heart, using the 44x30 wooden hoop. I tried lowering the head and then pushing the green go button, all that happens is the machin catches the first sequins and continues sewing. along but the sequins don't move forward.

[Rod or Sharon]

Alicante,

Is the seqin option turned on? Here is a sentence from the installment instructions that I have as one of the last things to do to activate the sequin attachment.

"After machine has initialized, go to the Tools menu and select "Set sequin options",
and set the option to one(1), turn the machine off and restart and test sew the machine out."

Check to see if the Sequin option is set to 1.....

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Wishes]

Dee,
Be sure the thread is in the last thread guide just above the needle. It is hard to see. There is a little tiny bar that the threade must go behind then into the needle. It is hard to get the thread in there so lower the pressure foot as if to check the material thickness. Put thread in guide and then into the needle.
Margaret

[Maritha]

Dee
If you bought this Sequin Unit in September of last year don't you still have your warenty on it? Your Melco technician should be able to fix it.
I know there is nothing in the manual about the sequin unit, not even how to service it or to take care of it. This is probably due to the fact that it has not been on the market all that long and there have been so many changes made over the last 2 years that they first want things to be as they want it to be before they put any help or service information out.
The sequin unit sure is not a unit that is easy when something goes wrong with it.
Mine is now working very nice but I pray I won't hit the unit and it goes out of alignment or so. I sure love using it now.
Good luck with it.

[Alicante]

Hello and thanks to everyone for their help.

1. Rod, I'm going to check and see if the sequins option is set to 1. I remember looking at that, but don't recall if it was a zero or a one. The number didn't mean anything at the time.

2. I'll see of the nº 16 thread is passing through the last thread guide before the needle, Wishes.
3. Maritha, yes, everything is under warranty, but the tech said he couldn't drive over to see the machine. I'm located in Spain and the Spanish have a very non stress appproach to work in general.

[EEAmayaTech]

Don't forget to "Digitize for Sequins".
Try running the Sequin Test File.

[Maritha]

That is correct, make sure you have the design in the correct file format. I am using Wilcom for digitizing sequin and as such can only download it to the machine in a DST format.

[Alicante]

Is "digitize for Sequins" something extra to do? When I digitized my own sequins design, it showed sequins on the screen, so I think that is okay.

When my own design didn't work, I tried running a Melco sequins design, no luck either...but that was before I know about the system settings. Read on.

Rod, I checked the system settings. Sequins Option was set to 0, so I changed it to 1. The OS reloaded but did not suggest running a test. Anyway, it was quite late.

I'll try a Melco test design as soon as I can. Hope that's it.

Maritha, i'll remember file format. BTW I looked for that last thread guide you mention, no luck. Is it on the needle shaft holder?

[Rod or Sharon]

Dee,

That should take care of turning the sequin attachment "on." Make double sure that the thread is threaded through/behind the bar on the needle clamp. If it is not, then the sequin will be deflected and the needle will not find the hole in the sequin and you will have little sequins bouncing loose all over your hoop.

As far as digitizing for sequins.....things to know that are important:

1. Always use a Style #1 for your Tie-in's and Tie-off's or you will have split and punctured sequins.

2. You must always edit your sequin pattern after digitizing to check to see if there are any " off color....kind of a pale yellow" sequins showing up amonst all the "light pink" ones. If so, these must be moved slightly or deleted, in some cases, to prevent clipped, nicked, bruised, punctured or split sequins. This is the "new" vocabulary being applied for digitizing and sewing sequins.

3. Using the "right" color thread, and the "right" look for a tie down stitch, there are many to choose from, will add greater dimension to the pattern look.

4. Sequins should be the "last thing to sew in a particular pattern and the design should be digitized that way.....altho.....as in the butterfly design......one wing sews out, sequins are applied to that side and then the other wing sews out and then the sequins are applied to that side as the last thing to sew in that pattern....etc..

As far as your sequin attachment goes....do not forget to use that mechanical lock out lever, whenever the head is in the up position. Put a note under your pillow and look at it every night before you go to sleep and every morning when you wake up. If you don't, you will , at some time, wind up with your needle case getting knocked off or put into a serious bind with needle bars being dislodged from the tracking groove. This is "very important to remember!!!"

Never trace a design with the head in the down position!! Same result as above. Trace with the mechical lock engaged, just to be safe.

It can be a fun device to work with, but if not properly used and/or adjusted properly, it can be a frustrating experience at best.

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Rod or Sharon]

Dee,

The thread guide we are referring to is located on the "needle bar clamp." This is same place where you insert a needle up into the needle bar and then tighten up the set screw. The #16 needle bar clamp is different than all the rest. It has the addition of this little cross bar and the thread "must" be threaded behind this guide. It is also a slightly different shape so that on the down stroke it will contact the sequin cutter blade, pushing it down, thereby cutting the sequin off.....

Forgot to mention this in the last post.....

Rod

[Alicante]

Hi everybody,
Thanks for all the tips.
I got sidetracked with an order last week. This AM I had time to check everything. I could not do a sequins test sewout because, the sequins options 1 didn't set. When I tried to change it to 1 again the software froze and I had to close the program Ctrl alt del...
I retried to set the option to zero, with the machine had a sequins design to go, with a non sequins design, no design. No luck, just kept freezing up the program.

I tried configuring the system in the hope I would be able to overwrite the configuration and then setup the sequins options. That did not help and seems to have created new errors, "color synchronization has changed etc, please check" blah blah.
Now I'm thinking of reinstalling the OS and see if that will let me set the sequins option and keep the configuration to 1.

I found that tiny extra thread crossbar on the front of needle 16, but haven't succeeded to get the thread behind it.

Also when I tried to set color sequence to needle #16 for the test sewout heart, it didn't change to #16, just remained on the needle #2, which was the last color used on a previous design.
Basically a big mess.