gzbird101

Help! My DH bought me a Tin Lizzie 18Ls and I have nothing but problems with it from day one! from the dealer we bought it from, from the Tin Lizzie company & even the "local" (100 miles away) dealer/representative. I'm at my wits end. I used to sew on my little brother machine & grace frame and DH thought this would be "better". Right now I wish I had it back! After practicing on several different materials & threads...and practicing on a quilt sandwich I thought I woud jump in and quilt. No matter what I do I have tons of thread & loops on the back. I have tried everything. New thread, adjusted tension, adjusted bobbin...everything. Even called the dealer we got it from...no help. Tin Lizzie company said contact local dealer...made appointment. Drove 100 miles and when we got there he said he "forgot" and alreadly had someone there and to come back the next week! (after HE set up that day and time because we told him we would be traveling from a different town to ask him questions)...but said he would sell us thread! ARRRGH! I've even looked on the lizzie boards and everything they suggested I have tried! DH is frustrated, I'm frazzled and I can't quilt! Any suggestions?

lindyline

CHOCOLATE!! and lots of it.
Sorry, can't think of another solution.

ckcowl

sorry this is happening, when i first set up my HQ i went through the same thing, took me a month of frustration before i finally managed to quilt something. turns out i was not getting my bobbin case snapped in correctly. it did take being on a long distance call (michigan to utah) of about 45 minutes while they went over every step of threading and set up...suddenly that bobbin case 'snapped-in' and i was finally stitching...i have a friend who i went and helped with hers a few different times who i don't think ever managed to get hers working for her after 5 years of frustration she finally sold hers.
all i can suggest is keep contacting who ever you can (i was unlucky with the dealer/local shop...also over 100 miles away and finally have for the past 6 years only turned to the manufacturer long distance; their tech department is wonderful and they have talked me through many problems with good results.
i hope you manage to figure it out, it could be as simple as the needle being in backwards, or the bobbin case not snapped in correctly. they are fickle machines at first.

ConnieF

Let them know you are on a chat board with what 13k people here ???? and You are going to complain out loud.

Nothing more frustrating than a new toy that will not work...

Take a deep breath and even take out the needle and make sure it is put back in the right direction and all the way up in the holder.... re thread etc...

Good luck.

ConnieF I don't even have one to be frustrated with...

I have the space just no funds to get one.... :9)

moonrise

Often looping on the back is caused by either the upper threading being wrong (maybe something was overlooked?), or by the presser foot not being down.

You've probably double-checked those, but just in case. ;)

mom-6

I had similar problems with a couple of my machines and with the first one it turned out to be a minor tension adjustment which was fixed by the nice little old man that lives next door to a coworker and has worked on sewing machines for the past gazillion years (he's 96 years old!)

With the second one, I had switched out bobbins, based on color of thread and turned out the two, although they looked alike were not interchangable.

Another time I was having fits with my machine and it turned out to be a burr on the needle.

Don't know if any of these would apply in your situation, but that's what happened to me.

quiltinghere

I don't have any experience with that machine so I can't offer suggestions on it's repair. I'll leave that to the 'experts'.

Do you have a quilting friend that could come over and help you and hubby go over EVERYTHING in the set up...everything. Maybe some simple small thing is preventing it from working properly and both of you may be just overlooking it. A fresh, new pair of eyes would help...even if the quilting friend doesn't know anything about the machine. Hey it doesn't even need to be a quilting friend. Sometimes people who know nothing about something will ask 'just the right' question :).

As far as the dealer ... why are you going to his store to have him fix the machine at your home? Shouldn't he be coming to you? I'd remain civil and start talking Better Business Bureau to both the dealer and the Corporate Headquarters. Start documenting EVERY conversation. Date, Time, and who said what. Ask a person to spell their last name because you're taking notes, they'll know you mean business! There are a number of phone number look up locations on the web that allow you to post comments on services received from companies. I'd mention that to the dealer too and use it if necessary to get this issued resolved.

SueDor

Is the needle in right? Have you checked the needle tension, and thread tension? Rethreaded it and the bobin?

mlaceruby

I know it can be frustrating!
don't have this machine but as others have said it is most likely something simple
We have all had these problems!
My suggestion take everything off the machine and start over.
Instruction book in hand, put in a new needle, new thread, rethread the bobbin(making sure the thread is running in the right direction).
then adjust the tension to what the manufacturer suggests
if you still have problems set the tension almost as high as it will go and test.
is it better or worse? or the same
now set it as low as you can and retest
if there is still not a difference
maybe it is the machine and not user error

brushandthimble

create a check list of what you have done,
post a picture of the stitching, someone may have an idea you have not checked.
here are a few things I have done/checked

needle in correctly (once had mine in backwards)
rethread machine, check directions to confirm it is threaded correctly
floss the thread in the tension disk
correct size needle for type of thread
bobbin threaded and inserted correctly

wish I could help more