NancyG

I have had a lot of trouble with the timing on my Bernina 185E. I have send you a PM.

IBQLTN

You don't have to break a needle to knock the machine out of timing. You can do that a couple of different ways. The most common is sewing over/hitting pins. They don't always break the needle.

The second one is sometimes common to folks who learned to sew 'helping' the machine by pulling it from the back side of the foot while you are sewing. If you 'pull' it from behind you can theoretically get the timing out of alignment, or so I've been told.

If the bobbin case wasn't 'clicked' into the hook I suppose it could have been slipping and may have caused the 'pile up' of thread.

A good rule of thumb when you get a thread nest is to rock the hand wheel back and forth in little increments to see if you can get it to loosen up and work it out that way rather than pulling or forcing it out.

(BTW I call thread nests goobers but when I worked for Pfaff they told me I couldn't do that. Well, I am a GRITS and goobers (peanuts) come out of the ground all tangled up in these little bitty roots and that's what a thread nest looks like to me!) LOL

I've always heard Berninas are great. I'd ask him to give you some 'examples' of the kind of operator errors that could have caused it and see if he can list any or if he's just full of himself.

maryb44662

I've had a Bernina 1260 for over 20 years and it has never been in the shop for repairs. The only thing wrong with it, the light switch (I've changed the bulb a couple of times, so it's not the bulb) doesn't work. I just use a little arm light behind it and it's doing fine. Now, on the other hand, I have a Bernette Serger and it went out of timing. The repairman charged 82.00 or so to fix that. I have a Bernina Deco 650 embroiery machine that needs repair. The bobbin shuttle won't work....but will have to wait to be fixed. I have to drive almost two hours to the repair shop. I love Bernina machines. They are one of the few that still have metal gears in them. Most have plastic. I don't sew over pins and I keep it cleaned and oiled. Love my BERNINA, she's a workhorse. Mary

beachlady

Have had my 1230 for 24 years and never had it in for repairs. Love it! Recently bought the Bernette to use in classes and Friday morning sessions and it clunked and now can not use the 1/4 inch foot. Guess the dealer is going to drill a hole in the foot to make it work correctly-something like that. We will see. I knew I was buying a machine made for Bernina, but thought it would still be reliable. Wondering now if I should have bought the Bernette.

Jackie D

I have the Quilters Edition also and have had no problems and I sew just about every day, all day long. I love my Bernina!!

ctilburg

My dealer told me when I was looking for a second smaller machine to take to class if I was using a Bernina, I would be very unhappy if I bought a Bernette. My expectations would be too high, and the Bernette would not live up to them.

scgstitcher

I bought a 1230 about 25 years ago. Then I got the Deco embroidery machine. Decided I had to have the 180 and traded of them in on that one. In the meantime I got the 1100 Bernina Serger and when the 200 embroidery machine came out it was too fast and stitches too pretty to pass up. I personally love my Berninas and wouldn't have anything else. I take them both in once a year for a good cleaning and oiling just like I go to the dr. for my annual physical. I would recomend Bernina to anyone. Just compare the embroidery on other machines. Not nearly as pretty.

irma tapia

I have a Bernina 830 (1973 model) and I have never had any problems with it outside the normal tuneups. I love my machine, it's a work horse!!! :D :lol:

sandpat

I haven't had any timing issues. Sounds to me like your guy just hasn't fixed the problem properly. I'd ask him to explain exactly how "you" are causing the problem. I don't think you are.

elseebee

I am just learning to FMQ and was having great difficulty because my machine was skipping stitches over huge areas. The owner of the shop where I bought it (who's a little snippy I might add) said it was all my problem because I didn't know what I was doing. So when I took my machine in for it's free first year maintenance, I had the girl who accepted make a note of the problem. When I picked up my machine, the owner's husband who is a Bernina certified technician said that there was indeed a problem and he took care of it. With the price of Bernina's I think the consumer needs to be persistent in demanding service. I was willing to accept responsibiilty if I was doing something wrong, but it turned out it WAS a machine programming error. So stick to your guns and insist that you get a machine that works. I love my Bernina, but with what I paid for it, I expect it to perform!