Needle Breaks

[TinaK]

Ok, I am doing hats and I loaded my design etc etc and hit start and needle goes down and breaks whats up with that?

I made sure I was aligned needle plate wise and am fine and sewing flats works fine as well just on the hats does my needle break. Any suggestions? Pressure foot all the way up and on auto...

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

Tina,
For hats:
Amaya XT, presser foot all the way down.
Standard Amaya, presser foot all the way up.

My guess is you are sewing too close to the bill. This is causing the presserfoot to get shoved forward and the needle hits the presserfoot causing it to bend forward and then the needle hits the needle plate.

Are you sewing close to the bill of the cap????
If not, do you know what the needle is hitting?

Ed Orantes

[levelbest]

If you are using the raised needle plate on the Standard Amaya - the presser foot is up. If you are using the normal needle plate, adjust as you would for flats.

I have never had much success with the raised needle plate. Thread breaks, needle breaks, heartaches (Sounds like a new country song) - that's about it...

[TinaK]

Ed:

I have a big red with all the upgrades of the XT for the hats.
No where near the bill of the cap unfortunately. I had this problem the other day as well and took my Wacf off and did a needle down and it actually hit the plate so made the adjustment and it went fine. Now I checked it again today and needle is dead on still but still does the needle breaks.

Last year when I had all the trouble with my machine right after I got it, it actually bent the pressure foot and Melco sent a new one but it never got replaced do you think that maybe that could be it and how hard is it to replace it? Also, why would it run fine on flats and just act up on the hats...

Quitting early today so I can get a few hours of hunting in before sunset so will check after the sun goes down...

[signman]

Tina...I've only broken needles on hats-never on anything else.
Our wonderful service tech Brian showed me why...
I have a big red, CCF hat hoops...and without a 'brim' clamp the brim rubs the back of the needle housing...clamp up a hat, put it on the machine-and slowly use your key pad to move it all the way 'forward' and then side to side. Watch the front seam of the hat...as the brim makes contact with the needle housing in back, it is pushed back-and pulls the face of the hat with it. As this moves 'down', if you were sewing-then the needle would get pulled along with the hat-it goes in where it belongs-but as it pierces the hat and moves-it hits the needle plate! Snap!
If this is your problem-there is an 'adaptor' brim hold down setup available from Melco. I bought 4 of them-and haven't broken a needle since.With the pressor foot all the way up-the cap has more tendancy to move!
We also stopped using the raised needle plate and run the pressor foot down to touch.
Makes fine detail so much easier!

[signman]

Forgot to answer why you get the problems on hats and not on flats.
When sewing on flats (anything, hoop, speedframe, etc.) your machine is working on X and Y axis...only going front to back and side to side.
On HATS, now you have X, Y, AND Z axis...your hat is not only going front to back and side to side, it's rotating! Watch a bowling ball roll down the floor towards and try to stick one finger in a hole when it is straight up without stopping the ball...LOL...but that's what your needle is trying to do.
Roland

[TinaK]

I will check on the brim hitting things as I do use the brim clip thingy on the WACF but will double check.

Thanks!

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

Tina,
The reason needles break moreso on hats is simply due to the fact that it is harder for the operator to get the cap to hold still while sewing. The cap is only held on one side (where the bill meets the front panel) and the rest of the cap is allowed to wiggle side to side and even front to back. This is why it is always recommended to slow your machine down, all machines and not only the Amaya.
Also know that when the presserfoot comes down and squishes the cap to the needleplate, if the cap isn't already touching the needleplate, you can experience registration issues due to the cap moving up and down, however slightly on the needleplate.
You should also be using a slightly larger needle such as the 80/12 sharp, it insure the needle is stiffer and less likely to flex or deflect as it's penetrating a stiffer fabric such as the structured cap, especially in the seam of the two front panels.
I would also be concerned if your needlecase has any "play" front to back or side to side. You can check this by holding to two lower most corners of the metal frame of the needlecase (not the plastic cover) and gently (I SAID GENTLY) move forward and back and side to side. You should get no movement whatsoever. If you do, then you either need a tech to correct this or you need to slow your machine down to prevent giggle wiggle of the needle case as much as possible. Maybe say around 700 spm.
Ultimately, look for where the needle is striking. Do you see any marks on the needlplate concentrated in one area?
Best of luck,
Ed Orantes

[TinaK]

Here is an update on the hat needle breaks. I basically went and checked everything everyone was suggesting and didn't see anything different then before so I went and rehooped the hat and put it on to sew and not a single needle break. So it must have been the way I hooped it...Grrr!

Thanks for everyone's help and knowledge as this job is a forever learning job which is great!

[v-embroidery]

Roland,

I use a CCF on my XT and have the brim does touch the needle housing leaving marks on dark color hats. I hate those marks. You mentioned an "adaptor" brim hold down setup available from Melco. What is the part number and are they expensive?

[signman]

#12180 WACC brim holder

I don't have access to the invoice but did a 'search' right here and found my post from last year.

[Juli in Kona]

You know that you can take off the brim holder from your other hoop and put it on the CCF. If I remember correctly, I had to make a trip to the hardware store to get nuts or bolts. One or the other.

Juli in Kona

[signman]

The mounting holes on wide angle hoops are in a different spacing and also different size compared to the CCF...I had thought of doing that.
Instead we kept one wide and traded the others for CCF's and have been happy since!
Haven't had a single call for a hat that needed embroidery on the sides in 3 years.