Hearing a hammering sound

[KERRMINATOR]

I was running a design and part way through it, the needle started making a hammering/thudding noise. I'm not sure if it was coming from up near the head or down near the needle itself, but when I switched to a different needle, it didn't make the sound. I had to do the rotary hook maintenance at the end of the design also, and when the machine finished, it moved back to the needle that was making the sound. At the end of the maintenance, when it spins the hook, I could hear the sound again. Any ideas what's causing this?

On another note, is there a place on this site where we can "search" the forums instead of sifting through the most recent posts to the oldest posts? It would make it easier to find answers instead of accidentally re-posting something from an old thread. Thanks

[TinaK]

Kerrminator~

You can search on the forum with the search feature which is located in the top right hand side of the page just under the start topic/post reply buttons..

Good Luck~

[KERRMINATOR]

haha thanks :-P I figured I was just blind 8-)

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

Here's a thought.
If your Grabber Assembly is bent forward, then the back of the presserfoot will tap against the leading edge of the Grabber Trap and this can possibly make the sound only on one end of the needle case and even on only one needle if only one side of the Grabber Trap is bent forward.

This is just one thing to check.

Ed

[KERRMINATOR]

I checked the grabber assembly and it looks fine. I'm just avoiding that needle until I get a chance to really look at it and figure out what's up. Any other suggestions I could look into? Thanks

-Kerr

[signman]

We just traded up to the XT but our Big Red would do this a lot in the beginning, until Bob (we miss him!) told us the 'oiling' procedure was revised-instead of a couple drops in the top rail, it was raised to 10 or more-and to do it a lot more than needed if you use the same needles all the time. It's the heat of the needle running constantly drying out the felt oil pads down the shaft. When you don't rotate your favorite color threads to different needles (red, black, white, blue, etc.) those needle 'pads' get dried out fast and that starts the thumping. Pop open the magnetic panel, and also add a couple drops near the bottom of each needle shaft. After a big run of shirts or hats-add extra again to the bars for the colors used AND the shaft on each side-those also dry out. Never had the noise again in 3 years!

[KERRMINATOR]

I oiled the upper and lower parts of the needle shaft, but I still hear the sound. I'm not sure exactly how to describe the sound, since once I hear it, I stop the machine because I don't want something to break. I could possibly record it briefly...

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

Kermie,
Drop down to one knee and take a look at your needle clamps. These are what hold your needles to the needle bars and there is one slotted screw in each of the 16 needle clamps and they are silver in color (redundant, yes - I know).
Verify that all of the needle clamps are about at the same position or height with the exception of the needle that is currently in front of the presserfoot. This one will be slightly lower than all the rest.
If you find that the needle that is making all the racket is up higher than the others, it could be that the needle clamp is whacking against the underside of the needle case.

Take a lookie see and let us know,

Ed Orantes

[signman]

The first time ours was diagnosed with this...we called the tech and held the phone right to the needlebar while we ran it...and he knew what it was....isn't modern technology great?
Might save you some guessing games if you have a tech with a minute to spare and a good phone!

[KERRMINATOR]

I took "a lookie see" at the needle clamps :-P ....all looks good. Any last suggestions before I call a tech? Thanks for the quick feedback, by the way.

-Kerr

[Ian]

If you put the machine on that needle and rotate the Z shaft manually. Do you notice anything different from the needles on either side?

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

Because you say it's only on one needle, it has to be isolated to the needlecase area. And we've covered the grabber trap, needle clamp,....

Has anyone mentioned the take up lever hitting the front cover? I think Rod mentioned that earlier.

Items such as presserfoot, connecting rod, reciprocator, etc... would make the hammering sound on more than one needle.

Perplexing, I say. But I bet I could figure it out if I was in front of the machine. (Confident, yes - I know).

Ed Orantes

[KERRMINATOR]

....As it turns out, it did just need oil. As I said before, I had oiled the upper and lower parts of the needle shaft and that didn't stop the sound.....but I just had to do the 2,000,000 stitch maintenance, and it says to put 24 drops of oil in the channel so, I put in about 32, (since the machine has been running some big designs lately (60,000+ stitches).

I let the machine run on that needle with a test design and the sound went away after just a few stitches. Woohoo! :-D Thanks guys!

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

You gotta' be kidding me?....

FYI, Don't over do the 2 million oiling procedure as the excess oil will have nowhere to go but down the back side of the machine and onto your garments.

Ed