False Thread Breaks

[royalblondee]

While sewing out my designs my machine has started to do one of two things every inch or so...it will either stop, saying Bobbin Break, but it hasn't broken or it will come unthreaded while sewing, but continue on with no thread. I'm thinking its my Thread Sensor Bar. I've tried turning it a bit and it seems to work better, but then goes back to stopping alot. Any thoughts?

[Mama Kass]

A bit more info about the circumstances would help... fabric, backing, settings, presser foot height etc. My first thought is that the machine should not keep going without thread if you have thread detection turned on, so look at the thread path after a break and see if you can determine why the thread is still tight enough around the sensor for the break not to be detected.

[royalblondee]

I just realized the foam washers on my thread sensor bars are broken. Would that make a difference? If I turn the bar while its stitching, it will continue and not show thread break. If I stop, the machine will also stop. Would I just buy the washers to replace or do I need to replace the whole Thread sensor assembly?

[John]

I just realized the foam washers on my thread sensor bars are broken. Would that make a difference? If I turn the bar while its stitching, it will continue and not show thread break. If I stop, the machine will also stop. Would I just buy the washers to replace or do I need to replace the whole Thread sensor assembly?

Yep, you replace the whole sensor - at least I would. I am guessing the foam assists with proper dampening of the sensor in the tube. My guess is that if you are rotating it too frequently, you could also be causing damage to it. There are very thin wires that attach that sensor and it's a vital part of the actifeed system. If I remember correctly, it's a acoustic sensor the listens for vibrations. We had a severed wire on one of ours a long time ago, and I back then the part wasn't outrageous. It's an easy fix. Some screws and routing a wire back to a connector as I recall.

So, your rotating the sensor - in effect holding it reduces the vibrations, and tells the system, everything is sewing ok...