SueSew

I took it back Saturday to the dealer who had given it back to me unfinished, dirty and unoiled. (Point taken - to the person on the board who noted that it 'looked' done because it had some stitching scrap under the foot!)

She kindly did the cleaning and oiling (it had already been tension-checked by the tech when it was in the first time) while I waited and apologized about the mix-up.

She was very nice, noted that I should remove the bobbin case to vacuum under it monthly, and noted that there was a nick on the bobbin case but not in a place to catch on the thread. She asked if I was applying sewing machine oil as it looked oily and I told her I never oiled it and the machine had not been oiled, cleaned, or messed with since I took it out of the box a year ago.

This morning I finally got to try it out, and it stitched ok on a very short run of my test sandwich but made a clunky noise and bobbin case looked like it was turning with the up-and-down of the needle. Odd. I tried again, gently, and it sounded the same so I stopped. I took off the throat plate. The bobbin case was moving all around every time I moved the wheel. I couldn't even get the throat plate back on.

So I took it back and showed it to the lady who was at the shop. She determined that the bobbin case was not in correctly, jiggled it and poked it until it was reseated, and told me it was working. I sure hope so.

I can't wait to get home and try it out to see if that was all that was wrong. What next? BAH! If my QDC DSM is OTF (on the fritz) I am SOL (so out of luck) because I have to finish my son's quilt ASAP before he comes home. WIM (woe is me)

LOL
Thanks for letting me vent.

dunster

Oh dear, I do feel for you. It sounds like you should have had a class in machine maintenance when you purchased the machine. To not clean a machine in a year is asking for trouble. I don't know if your machine requires oiling, but if it does that should also be done on a regular basis. I clean my machine with almost every bobbin change, and oil it frequently. It is possible to get the bobbin in wrong, and if you do then the needle will hit it, possibly causing damage. Again, a class in how to maintain and operate the machine would be helpful. Can you ask the lady to show you everything that you should be doing to maintain the machine when you take it in again? Take notes, or find the spot in the manual where all is explained, and give that machine some love and attention.

Prism99

I think, after all this, I would insist on trying out the machine in the shop, on a *long* strip of fabric, before taking it home!

momto5

You're a LOT more patient than I am...I would be hollering for a new machine at this point....and you really, REALLY do need to try it out as Prism99 said above...and (again, if this was me....) I would be explaining very clearly what my next step would be to the dealer...that said, my waiting time on this machine would be so done! There's too many machines, too many dealers and too many other places who will make things right. If all else fails, call Janome!

SueSew

UPDATE - took it back and the lady in the store showed my how she had installed the bobbin case incorrectly that morning. Then (thanks Prism, good suggestion!) she plugged it in and we did some sewing.
It worked.

I now know how to remove and reinstall the bobbin case correctly, thanks to their having done it wrong twice. I shudder to think of what else they might teach me to do wrong, so I am going to download the real manual (not the happy little user guide) that came with the machine and learn to do it right.

When I get this scrappy quilt done, it will have more than one meaning of "scrappy" associated with it!!!