z axis timeout error, now broken needle in hook

[Etched In Thread]

I am so upset, was just telling my dad how I've not had any problems in almost 5 years, then this happens. The machine was stitching some long underlay stitches (yeah, I know,I was going to fix them for the next item). Suddenly the needle goes down, doesn't come up but halfway and gives me the x-axis error message. I don't know what to do, so I try head up. after fiddling, the head comes up, minus half of the needle. I see that a small piece is wedged in the hook. Ok, be honest, what am i looking at, and is there any temporary fix so I can finish my 2 items?? Do I need to order and replace the hook and if so, may as well service the darned thing. Any techs in the Houston area? Thanks bunches! Edna

[Judy]

Is not so bad Edna. Have you ever manually rotated the shaft before? If you can wiggle it enough to get the needle out, HOPEFULLY you'll be in good shape. I had to do that, then the hook was loose, spinning in there. Juli from Kona walked me through how to reset, tighten and gap it. That was two years ago. No problems since then that weren't operator inflicted!

HOWEVER, disclaimer here: A tech walking you through it is better than my rambling. Any techs out there?

[Etched In Thread]

OMG, I was sweating bullets! My son (who is in training to service home machines) took a look since I'm gradually going blind! We were able to pull the needle out with needle nose pliers and I tested on another hoop. I'm running it really slow right now and will gradually bump it up. I had just messed with that needle so maybe I didn't tighten it up enough? Jeez! How do you manually rotate the shaft? Where IS the shaft? I'm so clueless. Good thing I'm learning to make patterns, LOL! Thanks! Edna

[Etched In Thread]

Hi everyone,
I'm still having problems possibly related to this? I'm running the same design and can't crank it up higher than 600 or so. It keeps shredding the top thread, it's driving me nuts. Is this a symptom of the hook being damaged? I did see that the hook is $133! Finally, does anyone know of a tech in the Houston area? I thought I heard or read that Benny had moved from Sealy? thanks! Edna